Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.

I have not lived in Minnesota my whole life, but like many others across the state, I felt a flurry of emotion over the weekend after hearing the news that the remains of Jacob Wetterling were found in central Minnesota.

Covering crime and courts before I became managing editor of the Tribune, I had learned about little Jacob’s abduction on numerous occasions.                                       

Almost 27 years ago, Jacob, who was 11 at the time, was riding his bicycle with his brother and a friend on Oct. 22, 1989, when a masked gunman abducted him from a rural road near his home in St. Joseph, about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

I would have been 5 at the time of the abduction and was living across the country in Virginia. 

The case opened the hearts of many in the state and across the globe and led to changes in sex offender registration laws.

Last year, authorities took another look at the case, and were led to Danny Heinrich of Annandale, who had previously been questioned, and called him a “person of interest” in the case.

This last week, Heinrich reportedly gave authorities information that led them to recovering the remains.

Though there are still many unanswered questions, I cannot imagine what Jacob’s parents and his family have experienced all these years as they waited for answers about their little boy — only to find out now the worst possible news after all that time.

Above the heinous nature of the crime, however, what has touched me most about this case has been the people little Jacob left behind. In the middle of their heartache and sorrow for more than two decades, these people have done nothing but inspire.

In a statement posted Saturday on the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center’s website, it states:

“The Wetterlings had a choice to walk into bitterness and anger or to walk into a light of what could be, a light of hope. Their choice changed the world.” 

They lit the flame that became known as Jacob’s Hope as they decided that light was stronger than darkness and were advocates for others across the country.

It has made me question how I look at my own personal tragedies and heartaches. Do I cling for the good, the positive?

I have no doubt the Wetterlings’ ray of light will continue to shine bright in the coming weeks and months.