BARRON, WI (WTAQ) – Barron County Sheriff Officials confirmed in a Friday news conference that 13-year-old Jayme Closs has been found safe and a suspect in her disappearance is in custody after an 88-day investigation.
Investigators have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson of Gordon.
After being rescued, Closs was taken to a hospital for evaluation and was released to her aunt on Friday.
Barron County Sheriff Christopher Fitzgerald says Patterson “planned his actions and took many steps to hide his identity” and that Patterson had no prior criminal record.
He also said Patterson made efforts to change his physical appearance.
Jayme was reported missing on Oct. 15, after her parents were found fatally shot in their home near Barron.
Friday afternoon, Fitzgerald said they have recovered a shotgun that is consistent with the evidence found at the scene of the Closs home. He also said they learned the door to the Closs home was shot at, not kicked in.
Investigators believe that Closs was the only target and Patterson did not know anybody in the Closs home, but Fitzgerald said they do not have any evidence that indicates that they met online or through social media.
It was learned on Friday that Jake Thomas Patterson worked at the same Jeannie O’ Turkey plant that Closs’s parents worked, but it was only for a short period of time, and it is not believed that he knew her parents from work.
Closs, missing from her Barron County home since last October, was found in the Town of Gordon at around 4:45 Thursday evening.
According to investigators, a woman encountered Closs in Douglas County while she was walking her dog.
Closs escaped from the cabin that she was being held at a time that Patterson was not home.
Fitzgerlad says the woman acted quickly and took her to a neighboring home for safety and contacted authorities.
“Jayme was taken against her will and escaped from the residence at which she was being held in. We also don’t believe at this time the suspect had any contact with the family. We do believe that Jayme was the only target,” Fitzgerald said. “It is just amazing, the will of that 13-year-old girl.”
According to Fitzgerald, Closs was able to give investigators a description of the suspect and a vehicle. The vehicle was eventually found, pulled over and the Patterson was arrested.
He is currently being held on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the murder of Closs’s parents and one count of kidnapping.
He will make an initial court appearance on Monday.
“For 88 days I have said we would work tirelessly to bring Jayme Closs home. We have done just that,” Fitzgerald announced.
Diane Tremblay, the administrator for Wisconsin’s Barron County School District explained what the last 88 days have been like in the school district.
“It has been 88 days of hope for her safe return, 88 days of prayers, and 88 days of our close community with the same goal in mind.”
