Mom pens emotional letter to son who has been missing for 26 years

(WTXF) - The mother of a boy who was abducted 26 years ago at the age of 11 has written an emotional letter to her son, reaffirming that she will never stop searching for him and pleading with him to come home.

In 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in the small, rural town of St. Joseph, Minnesota by a masked man with a gun while riding his bike near his house.

Despite 26 years having gone by since then, Jacob's parents, Patty and Jerry, have never given up hope that they will find him.

On February 17, Jacob would have turned 38-years-old.

To celebrate their son's birthday, the Wetterlings - who according to the Huffington Post still live in the same home where they raised Jacob - honor a tradition each year.

Patty says that they always have a family dinner where they eat Jacob's favorite food, steak. Patty also says that they laugh and hug their grandchildren.

Patty served on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's board of directors for three years.

This year, she wrote a letter to Jacob and posted it on Jacob Wetterling Resource Center's website.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!

Birthdays are supposed to be about parties, hats and noisemakers, cake, ice cream, friends singing and making wishes but not yet. Not this year, again. How I wish to wrap my arms around you and hug you tight! I have watched the tape of your last birthday party over and over. We rented a suite at the Holiday Inn for your party. You and Aaron raced back and forth in the pool and took turns throwing each other in the deep end. It was so much fun!

I want you to know that since you were stolen away from us, people everywhere have been searching, praying and hoping for your safety and for answers. Last fall, 26 years later, news of possible answers had your story as the number two news coverage in the region. That's pretty amazing 26 years later. People care. There are more good people than bad in the world and people still hope.

My birthday wish is for you to come home. We need to find you. I have another wish for every child who is home safe today, that they will never have to endure abduction or sexual exploitation of any type. We are working just as hard on prevention as we are on searching because this is so wrong…so unfair. I remember how much it bothered you when things were unfair. Me too, it bothers me too.

I am hoping and praying that people will remember you on February 17 and we ask that everyone hug their kids a little tighter, tell them that they love them and take time to play a game or read books. My wish is also that parents will support agencies that help to find our missing kids and help other victims. Today, we ask everyone to volunteer, attend events, send financial support and share safety information. The non-profit work continues on a daily basis. Sometimes sexual exploitation and abduction are on the news, and sometimes not, yet we all rely on the support and expertise of these agencies when we need them. They are there for us. They need our support as well.

And once again today, February 17, we will light our candles, fix your favorite foods and cake, and thank God for the gift of you.

We love you Jacob and we'll never stop searching for you!

I so wish for a happy birthday for you…

Mom

In November, Jacob's long-standing cold case received a huge break, the Huffington Post reports.

Officials in Minnesota named a person of interest in the case - 52-year-old Daniel James Heinrich, who was arrested on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography.

A People magazine feature written in 1989 reported that Jacob, his brother Trevor, 10, and a friend, Aaron Larson, 11, were coming home from a convenience store and found a man in a mask waiting for them at the end of the Wetterling's dead end street around 9:00 p.m. on October 22, 1989.

"He told them to lie face down in the gutter," Jerry told People. "Then he asked them their ages. He told Trevor to run into the field or he'd shoot. Then he had Aaron turn over, and he looked at his face and told him to run. He grabbed hold of Jacob."

And even after their emotional struggles, the Wetterlings are staying strong in their resolve to find Jacob.

"We hope and pray that … we will have the answer to the one question we have asked forever: 'Where's Jacob?'" Patty told reporters outside her home in November. "Somebody knows. We're waiting for those answers."