25 years later, search continues for abducted Minn. boy

MINNEAPOLIS -- On Oct. 22, 1989, 11-year-old Minnesota boy Jacob Wetterling was abducted by a masked man as he was riding his bike home. Twenty-five years later, the search for him continues.

Jacob's mother Patty, now an advocate for missing children, told CBS Minnesota that she and her husband will spend the somber anniversary surrounded by friends and family.

"We really don't sit around and mourn and be sad," Patty Wetterling told the station. "That wouldn't be what Jacob would like. It's kind of honoring our family and keeping it together."

That October day 25 years ago, Jacob had been riding his bike with his best friend and younger brother Trevor to a store to rent a video in St. Joseph's Township, outside St. Cloud, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. As they headed home, they were confronted by a masked man with a gun, who ordered the boys to lie face-down in a ditch. He reportedly asked each their ages, before ordering them to run into the woods and not to look back.

Jacob, however, he didn't let go. The boy hasn't been seen since, and today, he would be 36-years-old.

Patty Wetterling told the station they haven't given up hope. Neither have investigators. Wednesday, Stearns County Sheriff John L. Sanner released a statement saying his office, the FBI and Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension remain "steadfastly committed to providing answers as the passage f time has in no way diminished our resolve."

New billboards have been placed in the St. Cloud area showing Jacob's picture and an age-progressed image, showing him as he might appear today. The billboards also include the tipline for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - 1-800-The-Lost.

"It's a gentle reminder that he's still missing," Patty Wetterling told the station. "It's a call to action."

There are new billboards up in the area where he was taken, and Patty Wetterling says she hopes it will help someone have the courage to come forward with information that will give her and her family answers.

According to CBS Minnesota, the family has never had a memorial for Jacob.

"At what point do you say, 'Oh, I'm tired, and I'm giving up?' I want to look Jacob in the eye and say, 'I never gave up,'" Wetterling said.

If you have any information about Jacob Wetterling's disappearance, please call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.