Patty Wetterling
Patty Wetterling is an advocate of children's safety particularly focused on protecting children from abduction and abuse. Her advocacy began after her son was abducted in 1989. She is also currently running for a seat in the United States Congress representing Minnesota.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and later moved to St. Joseph where she raised four children with her husband Jerry. On October 22, 1989, their son Jacob Wetterling, then 11 years old, was abducted at gunpoint by a masked man. An extensive search was carried out, but Jacob and the abductor have not yet been found. Four months after the abduction, the Wetterlings founded the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to education about child safety.
Wetterling is the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate in the 2004 U.S. House of Representatives race for Minnesota's sixth Congressional district. Her opponent is the incumbent, Mark Kennedy. Wetterling decided to run in the race after Stillwater, Minnesota lawyer Janet Robert withdrew. In the 2002 U.S. House of Representatives election, Robert spent $2 million in an unsuccessful bid against Kennedy.
Also in early 2004, news reports circulated that new evidence is being considered in the abduction of her son. News outlets in the Twin Cities indicated that another boy had been assaulted not long before Jacob disappeared. Police were also ruling out the long-held belief that the abductor had gotten away in a car.