An updated 20/20 episode, local showings of Chris Newberry's documentary, and a show of support for the Jodi Huisentruit family
"Where are you Jacob?" an updated version of the original 20/20 episode (featuring Jared) will premiere THIS FRIDAY July 17 at 8PM CST on ABC.
Another video update and our first Substack guest, Chris Newberry
(In our heads, all three of us were onscreen together, but we’ll work on that for future video posts.)
We cover the updated 20/20 episode airing this Friday 7/17; the upcoming showings of Chris Newberry’s documentary, “Echoes in the Night: The Search for Jacob Wetterling,” in St. Cloud, Cold Spring, St, Michael and Woodbury; and our support for the family of Jodi Huisentruit—the Long Prairie native and missing news anchor from Mason City, Iowa.
Updated 20/20 episode airs this Friday, July 17
The new episode includes updated interviews with Patty Wetterling, Caroline Lowe, and a full length interview with Jared—the 12-year-old survivor who was kidnapped in nearby Cold Spring just 9 months prior to Jacob’s abduction. View the trailer at https://www.facebook.com/reel/2535150866965783
Launch event and local showings of Chris Newberry’s film “Echoes in the Night”
Please join us for upcoming showings of Chris Newberry’s documentary, “Echoes in the Night: The Search for Jacob Wetterling.” The official launch takes place on Saturday, August 8 at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud, with additional theater screenings scheduled in Cold Spring, St. Michael, and Woodbury.
Echoes in the Night premiered at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival on Saturday, April 18, 2026. It was recognized as a “Best of the Fest” entry.
In October of 1989, eleven-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted on a quiet road in St. Joseph, Minnesota. The crime sent shockwaves across the country and the story became more tragic as the Wetterlings achingly searched for answers and kept the light on for Jacob for 26 years. Incredibly, that’s where Director Chris Newberry’s film begins, just as the perpetrator is finally caught and the entire investigation into Jacob’s disappearance is re-examined. Echoes in the Night focuses on the family’s ceaseless search for answers, the work they’ve done in Jacob’s memory to change the way missing children cases are investigated and resolved.
View details about the film at:
https://www.jacobwetterlingfilm.com
Purchase your tickets for the St. Cloud launch event at: https://paramountarts.org/event/echoes-in-the-night-the-search-for-jacob-wetterling/
A Show of Support for the Jodi Huisentruit Family
Jodi’s case has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. We ask that you please follow updates from these vetted sources, approved and endorsed by the Huisentruit family.
Official Facebook page maintained by Jodi’s family
Jodi’s Hope - https://www.facebook.com/hope4jodi
Official website maintained the Find Jodi Team, endorsed by the Mason City Police Department and Jodi’s family
Upcoming Author Events
Additional events, links and details will be added as they become available. Dates and times subject to change. Please check back for final confirmation.
If you’re interested in having Patty and Joy do a book signing and/or speak at your upcoming event, please contact Jim Cihlar at Minnesota Historical Society Press.
9/19/2026, 1:30 PM, Lyon County Museum, Marshall, MN (tentative)
9/30/2026, 6:30 PM, North Mankato Warming House, North Mankato, MN
10/17/2026, 5:00 PM, Huron Event Center, Prairie Ballroom, Huron, SD
Book Clubs
We are visiting book clubs and discussing Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope on Zoom! In return, we ask that your book club make a donation of any amount to the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. Message us for details. We look forward to sharing Dear Jacob with you!
Follow Joy at JoyTheCurious.com
If you’re not already following Joy’s Substack, you can find her at JoyTheCurious.com.
Now in Paperback
Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope
Order from one of these online retailers or wherever you like to buy books!
Excerpt from the new Afterword
By Joy Baker
Sometimes a person comes into your life for reasons you can’t possibly un-derstand. When Patty and I first started working on this book, Jacob was still missing. We thought we were working on a legacy piece that would bring attention to his case, highlight Patty’s advocacy work, and serve as a spark of hope for other families of missing children. We were wrong. It became so much more.
As we worked on those early pages together, we couldn’t possibly have known what was in store for us or what our friendship would have to endure. To see it through would mean going there together—through the darkness, the sadness, and the unfathomable grief. Could we even do it? Would people be receptive to it? Would our friendship survive it?
It has been a remarkable journey.
At that charity gala in 2013 when Patty and I first met, I was forty-six; she was sixty-five. I had just given up my dream of starting a new writing career and gone back to working full-time at what I knew—marketing. Patty was a well-known keynote speaker, a child safety advocate, a national figure in Washington, DC, and probably the most famous Minnesotan I’d ever met. She just oozed drive and purpose. Like everyone else at the gala, I was blown away by her powerful message of hope and her belief in the overall goodness of humankind.
So I was more than a little nervous about approaching Patty that evening and introducing myself as the blogger who had been writing about her missing son for the past two months. Did she know who I was? Had she been following my blog? Was I making a difference? I was desperately trying to figure out my own purpose in life and hoped maybe this was it. By writing about Jacob’s case and asking people to “think Jacob” with me, maybe I could somehow create change.
It didn’t go as expected. Patty saw my writing less as “making a difference” and more “like stalking or something.”
Audiobook
People often ask us if there’s an audiobook version of Dear Jacob and the answer is, yes! It was published by Dreamscape Media at the same time the hard cover was released last year. It’s narrated by Rebecca Stern who does an amazing job voicing this emotional story.
The audiobook has also been updated with the new cover art and afterword —which is read by Joy in her own voice.
You can find the audio version of Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope on all the major audio platforms, including Audible, Audiobooks.com, the Apple Books app, Hoopla, Libby, Libro.fm, Google Play Books, and Scribd. If you’re interested in listening to a sample of Dear Jacob, click the following link.
https://www.audiobooks.com/book/stream/717092
Rankings and reviews
If you enjoyed reading Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope, please give it a positive rating and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you purchased your book. We love reading your reviews!
Ask for Dear Jacob at your local library
We love libraries, and would especially love if every library in America had a copy of Dear Jacob on its shelves. Many times there’s an online form you can fill out to request a specific book, but of course it’s just as simple to pick up the phone and call your friendly librarian. Thank you for your supporting your local library!
Hello Joy, I recently watched the special about Jacob Wetterling that I believe was a Dateline or 20/20 special. It is just incredible that the case was solved, with a huge Thanks to you and your hard work! I live in Central PA, and for almost 14 years, I have been following the case of a missing young woman from my area. Her name is Kortne Stouffer. Kortne vanished without a trace from her home in Palmyra, PA. Our local news, WGAL, has been following this and will be airing a special about the case next week. I wondered after seeing your work, if this is something you may be interested in? This young woman’s family and friends have been tirelessly looking for her. Thanks for reading.