Posted at: 10/22/2009 7:14 PM
By: David Springer

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20 Years Since Wetterling Disappearance

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- Today marks the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling. Wetterling was abducted just half a mile from his home in St. Joseph, Minnesota and has never been found.
 
"Everybody thinks about this. Law enforcement people and we're hoping that everyone thinks about this when you're thinking about your kids,” says Olmsted County Sheriff Steven VonWald.
 
Olmsted County Sheriff, Steven VonWald, was captain of the patrol when Jacob Wetterling was abducted in 1989. But he says when it comes to protecting children; we've come a long way in 20 years.  
 
"The big difference between now and then is the technology really. The instantaneous - being able to get the information out quicker." "If you have a description of a vehicle or something it's going to get out there boom, boom, boom. Everybody is going to know about it,” says VonWald.
 
But experts like Victor Vieth, of the National Child Protection Training Center in Winona, say parents shouldn't rely on technology to protect their children. He says the best defense is to simply talk to them.
 
"So for example say to your son, what would you do if someone came up to you, pointed a gun to your head and said get in the car or I'll kill you? What would you do? And most kids would say I'd get in the car. Well, that's the wrong answer. The correct answer is I'll run away,” says Vieth.
 
Both men say our children are safer than they were 20 years ago, but that doesn't mean we can protect everyone all the time. Such is the case for 7-year-old Somer Thompson of Florida who disappeared while walking home from school Monday. Her body was found in a landfill just yesterday.

Still, they say with the Wetterling case, until they find evidence of his death there is still hope, however slight it might be. 
 
"Something like Jacob's thing - you never quit looking,” says VonWald.

Police say we always need to be on the watch for anything strange or suspicious, especially in our own neighborhoods. And they say if you see something, report it.