BARRON, Wis. (AP) – A 21-year-old man killed a Wisconsin couple in a baffling scheme to kidnap their teenage daughter, then held the girl captive for three months before she narrowly managed to escape and reach safety as he drove around looking for her, authorities said.
Jayme Closs, 13, was skinny, disheveled and wearing shoes too big for her when she approached a stranger and pleaded for help Thursday near the small, isolated north woods town of Gordon, where police said she was being held by Jake Thomas Patterson.
FILE – This undated file photo provided by Barron County, Wis., Sheriff’s Department, shows Jayme Closs, who was discovered missing Oct. 15, 2018, after her parents were found fatally shot at their home in Barron, Wis. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, that Closs who went missing in October after her parents were killed has now been located and that a suspect was taken into custody. (Courtesy of Barron County Sheriff’s Department via AP, File)
FILE – In this Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, volunteers cross a creek and barbed wire near Barron, Wis., on their way to a ground search for 13-year-old Jayme Closs who was discovered missing Oct. 15 after her parents were found fatally shot at their home. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page that that the teenager Closs has been located Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, and that a suspect was taken into custody. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, File)
Within minutes, Patterson was pulled over and jailed on kidnapping and homicide charges for what authorities said was his meticulously planned shotgun attack at the girl’s home in October.
The news that Jayme was safe set off joy and relief 60 miles (96 kilometers) away in her hometown of Barron, population 3,300, ending an all-out search that gripped the state, with many people fearing the worst the longer she was missing.
“My legs started to shake. It was awesome. The stress, the relief – it was awesome,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said, describing the moment he learned Jayme had been found.