Free After 31 Years, He Found Love in an Online Game
After his release, a video game was all Mr. Jacobsen had — until he met Lindy Lambert.
Valentine's Day 02.13.26 By Mrinali Dhembla
Ron and Lindy on their wedding day in August 2025. (Photo courtesy of Ron Jacobsen)
After 31 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Ronald Jacobsen didn’t think he’d ever adapt to all the technological advancements that had happened during his wrongful imprisonment, much less find love because of them.
In 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — Mr. Jacobsen was finally freed from a Georgia prison where he had spent decades unjustly incarcerated for a rape and kidnapping. A year later, he was exonerated based on the new DNA evidence that proved his innocence.
But life post-release was not as blissful as Mr. Jacobsen had imagined it would be. It was hard to find footing in a world which he said had become “unrecognizable” since the early 90s, when his freedom was taken. Simple tasks like getting a driver’s license, applying for insurance, or opening a bank account were now daunting.
“Technology was a learning curve especially with passwords, usernames and all this other stuff. I got so frustrated,” Mr. Jacobsen said. “One day, I told the paralegal on my case I was coming to the city to return all the devices I had.”
But technology soon grew on him and he found himself really enjoying playing video games — especially Forge of Empires. The game was also a way for him to briefly escape his trauma and connect with people virtually, which gave him the opportunity to have more social interactions during the pandemic.
“This game was all I had. I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have a life,” he said. “I had made [the game] another prison for myself.”
Adjusting to his new normal had been difficult enough, so finding love, was definitely not on his post-release wishlist. In fact, he was hesitant to establish any new relationships — romantic or otherwise — as he was struggling to rebuild the ones he had lost due to his wrongful incarceration.
But then he found Lindy Lambert.
Ron Jacoben's Journey to Love
Ron Jacobsen (second from right) returns to his hometown of New York City for the first time in 30 years on Nov. 4, 2020. Mr. Jacobsen was released on bail on Nov. 3, after DNA evidence proved his innocence in 2019. His lawyer Vanessa Potkin (second from left) met him at Pennsylvania Station. (Image: Daniele Selby/Innocence Project)
Ron and Lindy on their wedding day in August 2025. (Photo courtesy of Ron Jacobsen)
Ron Jacobsen and Lindy Lambert. (Photo courtesy of Ron Jacobsen)
Ron Jacobsen's wife Lindy Lambert. (Photo courtesy of Ron Jacobsen)
Mr. Jacobsen and Ms. Lambert in Newfoundland. (Photo courtesy of Ron Jacobsen)
Mr. Jacobsen met Ms. Lambert through the Forge of Empires chat, where hundreds of gamers interacted under usernames, often different from their real identities.
“One night we were there by ourselves. I said, ‘Look, this is my real name. Google it,’” said Mr. Jacobsen, recounting one of his first conversations with Ms. Lambert.
For Mr. Jacobsen it was crucial to be with someone who would accept his past and understand what it meant to have been exonerated by DNA.
“Laying in prison for 31 years, I always wondered, if I’m not proven innocent, I’m never gonna get out … and I’m gonna [wrongfully] be on a sex [offender] registry. I’ll never find love, because I will always be discriminated against,” he recalled.
But all that changed when he met Ms. Lambert.
“I never thought I would find love like this in my life,” Mr. Jacobsen said.
As luck would have it, Ms. Lambert had a passion for genealogy and a depth of knowledge of DNA.
“All that was really tough to read and just heartbreaking,” Ms. Lambert said of Mr. Jacobsen’s story. “I cannot imagine the horrors he went through on a day-to-day basis.”
Their relationship blossomed, and after a year and a half of deep discussions and interactions online they decided to meet in person.
And there’s been no going back since then — together the two have found home in each other. Mr. Jacobsen moved from New York to the South to be with Ms. Lambert in June 2024.
“The Ron that Lindy has the chance to know and love, and build a relationship with is very different from the Ron I initially met,” said Innocence Project social worker Kyana Campblin, who has supported Mr. Jacobsen since his release. “He was very closed off. [But] he has grown so much … especially now that he’s partnered with Ms. Lambert, he is willing to build community and connection.”
Mr. Jacobsen proposed to Ms. Lambert while on a trip in Newfoundland, Canada in that same year.
“In the middle of my camper, he proposed to me! And then I said, ‘Well, you never bought me a ring.’ And he said, ‘Well, let’s just fix that,’” she recalled.
That evening, they visited seven different stores and picked out a ring they liked. Less than a year later, they were married.
A celebration of love and second chances
The wedding was a quick affair. Ms. Lambert reached out to their local church and the preacher gave them a wedding date just one week later. They were joined by a few family and friends, and many of their church friends.
“When I was in prison, I thought I’d never have the chance to be with someone like this,” Mr. Jacobsen said, adding that he’d been engaged before he was wrongly imprisoned, but that relationship ended while he was serving time. “But Lindy accepted me for who I am. She understands the DNA, the case, and the stigma, and she still loved me. And that’s what I needed.”
Ms. Lambert said that she just loves Mr. Jacobsen — it doesn’t matter what hardships are in his past. “I love him to pieces. I’m just absolutely mad about him,” she added.
Mr. Jacobsen has not yet been compensated for his wrongful conviction. The couple hopes that he will eventually get his compensation and that it will not only bring closure but enable them to invest money for the future and take a trip to Norway — where Mr. Jacobsen has cultural ties — to get a new set of wedding rings with Nordic runes on them.
As for any marriage advice from Ron:
“She’s always right,” he said jokingly.
Ms. Lambert readily agreed.
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