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| Jacob Erwin Wetterling |
| DOB : February 17th, 1978 Age :31 years Height : 5' 0" - 152 cm Weight : 75 lbs - 34 kg Eyes :Blue Hair : Brown Missing since October 22nd, 1989 from St.Joseph, MN Circumstances : Jacob's photo is shown age-progressed to 29 years.Wetterling, his brother and a friend rented a videotape from the Tom Thumb convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota during the evening hours of October 22, 1989. The group rode their bicycles back to his home at approximately 9:15 p.m. They were approached by an unidentified Caucasian man who was wearing a mask and dark-colored clothing. He was armed with a shotgun. The man ordered all three boys to lie down in a nearby ditch. He asked Jacob's brother's age, then told him to run away and not look back or he would get shot. He did the same with Jacob's friend. After letting the two boys go, the man grabbed Wetterling. The suspect walked towards a wooded area with Wetterling shortly afterwards. Neither of them have been heard from again. The boys described the man as being approximately 40 - 50 years old and 5'8. He had broad shoulders and spoke in a low, raspy voice. Wetterling was last seen wearing a a red St. Cloud Hockey jacket with a large St. Cloud Police Department emblem embroidered on the back, an orange reflective jogging vest, a red t-shirt, a blue mesh jersey, blue sweatpants, white socks and white Nike high-top running shoes with a gray stripe. Authorities received two possible tips about Wetterling's case during the early stages of the investigation. Witness reported seeing an unidentified man in his fifties glaring at customers inside the Tom Thumb convenience store. He was in his fifties, about six feet tall with a large build and receeding white hair. Two months after Wetterling disappeared, an unidentified man molested a twelve-year-old boy approximately ten miles from the location of Wetterling's disappearance. The boy had just finished ice skating and was walking home alone when he was pulled into a car and molested. Afterwards he was pushed out. The man instructed the boy to run from the area or risk being shot. The latter suspect's description matched Wetterling's abductor, as did the manner of the crime, but sketches of the two men failed to produce any leads in Wetterling's case. Rumors floated that Wetterling's father, a chiropractor, was involved in his son's case. Investigators believe that the speculation was created after his father's religion was publicly disclosed. He is Ba`hai, a religion that believes all people are created as one race. Authorities eliminated both of Wetterling's parents as possible suspects early in the investigation. They did consider the possibility that Wetterling's abduction was a hate crime against his father, however. Many officials believe that the abductor may have followed the boys from the store, kidnapping Wetterling afterwards. Wetterling's father believes his son was stalked, possibly for several days before he was abducted. Wetterling's family still lives in the same home they lived in back in 1989, and they have the same phone number. They have received several phone messages from people claiming to be Wetterling, but the calls always turned out to be hoaxes. His case remains unsolved. Wetterling played hockey, soccer, baseball and football at the time of his disappearance. His family members have founded The Jacob Wetterling Foundation, an organization devoted to missing children |
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