After 26 years, one can still hear the sound of heartbreak in the voices of Jerry and Patty Wetterling.
On an autumn afternoon, Nov. 3, the Wetterlings met with many members of the media at the edge of their driveway to share their feelings. The week before, an Annandale man was arrested for possessing child pornography. That man, Daniel Heinrich, is still considered a person of interest in the abduction of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling Oct. 22, 1989.
As Patty Wetterling said in her meeting with the media, Heinrich’s arrest brought more questions. In the past 26 years, the Wetterlings have been haunted and hounded by questions and more questions: Who? Why? Where is Jacob? Does anybody know? What are some people not telling?
That anguish, that sorrow, that heartbreak still reverberates in the voices of the Wetterlings every time they talk about the loss of their son. But along with the heartbreak, one can also hear a passionate hope and determination in their voices. They are absolutely committed to the cause of child safety. In nearly three decades, the abduction of their son, so near to their home, has led to many good changes: legal, social and psychological. The name “Jacob Wetterling” has truly become a clarion call for child safety, for emergency alerts, for the tracking of dangerous people and – last but not least – for hope. Hope for Jacob’s return and hope for all the children in the world who are neglected, abused, abandoned, abducted.
It is unpleasant for the Wetterlings to have to confront again and again the brutal, ugly facts of the latest arrest of a child abuser, such as the case of Daniel Heinrich, who may or may not be responsible for Jacob’s disappearance. It was especially painful Nov. 3, an autumn day so like the one when Jacob was viciously taken by that masked gunman 26 years ago, so close to home, on an autumn evening when he, his brother and a friend did something as blithely everyday-happy as bicycling to a nearby convenience store to get a movie video to watch back home.
After all these years, the Wetterlings have constantly emphasized the fact that we, all human beings, should consider any child as everybody’s child. We should cherish and protect all of them, anywhere and everywhere.
The arrest of Heinrich on child-pornography charges is yet another horrible reminder of the insidious dangers that lurk, ready to harm children, even in our comfortable midst. And wisely, the Wetterlings not only warn about such dangers, but they also know so deep in their hearts that we must remake the world, every day, a step at a time, so all children anywhere, everywhere are valued, loved, cherished and made safe.
We cannot hear that message often enough. It is, in fact, what “Jacob’s Hope” is all about.
