BARRON, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on a Wisconsin teenager who was found alive three months after disappearing following her parents’ deaths (all times local):
10:25 a.m.
Wisconsin authorities say they believe 13-year-old Jayme Closs was “the only target” of a man suspected of kidnapping her and killing her parents in October.
At a news conference Friday, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald identified 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson as the man suspected in the crimes.
He says Patterson “planned his actions and took many steps to hide his identity” and that Patterson had no prior criminal record.
Fitzgerald says Jayme managed to escape from a cabin on Thursday and approached a woman who was walking her dog. That woman alerted a nearby neighbor, who called 911.
Fitzgerald says Closs was medically cleared, is out of the hospital and is being interviewed by law enforcement.
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10:20 a.m.
Authorities say they have jailed a 21-year-old man on kidnapping and homicide charges in the October killing of a Wisconsin couple and abduction of their teen daughter, who was found alive.
Douglas County Sheriff Thomas Dalbec said at a news conference Friday that Jake Thomas Patterson was arrested Thursday after Jayme Closs was found near Gordon, where Patterson lives.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says investigators believe Patterson killed Jayme’s parents because he wanted to abduct her, and that Patterson “took many steps to hide his identity.”
On Thursday, Closs walked away from a cabin where she had been held. Dalbec says Patterson was arrested based on a description of his vehicle that Jayme was able to provide.
Jayme approached a woman out walking her dog in a neighborhood, who notified a neighbor who called 911.
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10 a.m.
The woman who was the first to encounter a missing Wisconsin girl who vanished after her parents were killed says the teen called out to her for help, said she was lost and grabbed onto her before telling her who she was .
Jeanne Nutter tells The Associated Press her many years as a social worker in child protection helped her keep Jayme Closs calm as they sought help.
Closs is the 13-year-old girl who vanished Oct. 15 after her parents were fatally shot at their home about 60 miles to the south in Douglas County.
Nutter says Jayme had walked away from a cabin not far from her place where she had been held. Nutter says her goal was to get Jayme to a safe place where the police could be called, so they went to a neighbor’s house.
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9 a.m.
Elizabeth Smart says it is a “miracle” that a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl missing for nearly three months has been found safe .
Smart was 14 when she was abducted from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. She was rescued nine months later.
Jayme Closs disappeared in October after her parents were killed inside their home in Barron, Wisconsin. She was found Thursday in a town about an hour’s drive away after approaching a woman walking her dog, saying she’d been held against her will.
Smart posted Friday on her Instagram account that she was thrilled Jayme had been found. Smart says that while the country celebrates this “happy occasion,” the girl’s family should be given “space and privacy on their road to finding a new sense of normal and moving forward.”
Smart says “whatever other details may surface, the most important will still remain that she is alive.”
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8:20 a.m.
A woman who helped a Wisconsin girl who’d been missing for three months following her parents’ deaths says the girl told her she’d been held against her will.
Kristin Kasinskas says she took 13-year-old Jayme Closs into her home after the girl and a woman she’d approached for help came to her door Thursday afternoon in the small town of Gordon.
Kasinskas says Jayme told her the name of the person who’d been holding her captive. Kasinskas says she recognized the name but didn’t know the person.
Kasinskas tells NBC’s “Today Show” that Jayme talked about being locked up or hidden when the person had to leave, but that the girl didn’t detail how she got away.
Jayme was reported missing on Oct. 15, after her parents were found fatally shot in their home near Barron, about an hour’s drive south of Gordon.
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7:35 a.m.
The grandfather of a Wisconsin girl who went missing after her parents were killed in October says he received a call late Thursday that he’d been praying for, informing him his granddaughter had been found alive .
Robert Naiberg told The Associated Press on Friday that his daughter called him with news that 13-year-old Jayme Closs had escaped her captor near the small town of Gordon, about an hour’s drive from where her family lived.
Naiberg says Jayme reported that she’d been held by “a guy in the woods” but was able to escape.
Witnesses say Jayme approached a woman walking her dog Thursday, asking for help. The woman took her to a nearby home owned by Peter Kasinskas.
Kasinskas tells Minnesota Public Radio News that Jayme told him she’d been abducted, that her parents had been murdered and that she left a nearby house after she’d been left alone.
Investigators confirm a suspect is in custody but say no other details would be released until a Friday news conference.
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6:45 a.m.
The aunt of Wisconsin teenager who disappeared after her parents were killed in the family’s home says the girl escaped from where she was being held and ran to a woman walking her dog for help.
Jen Smith tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” that investigators told her that her niece, 13-year-old Jayme Closs, had escaped and was being treated at a hospital Thursday.
Smith says she was given no other details about the case, other than being told a suspect was in custody.
Investigators confirm they have a suspect in custody, but say no other details would be released until a Friday news conference.
Jayme had been missing since Oct. 15. Police discovered someone had broken into her family’s home in Barron, killed her parents and apparently abducted her.
Jayme was found in the Town of Gordon, about an hour’s drive north of Barron.
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12 a.m.
Investigators are expected to explain how they located a Wisconsin teenager missing for three months alive and took a suspect into custody.
Authorities say 13-year-old Jayme Closs was found Thursday afternoon in the Town of Gordon in Douglas County, Wisconsin. A suspect was apprehended minutes later. Jayme was taken to a hospital for an evaluation.
Jayme had been missing since Oct. 15, when police discovered someone had broken into her family’s home in Barron, killed her parents and apparently abducted her. The Town of Gordon, where she was found, is about an hour’s drive north of Barron.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Jayme approached a woman walking her dog but authorities have released no details. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department has scheduled a news conference Friday morning.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sheriff: Jayme Closs found alive, suspect in custody
BARRON, Wis. (AP) - Authorities in northwestern Wisconsin say a 13-year-old girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed has been found alive.
The Barron County Sheriff's Department said on its Facebook page that Jayme Closs has been located Thursday and that a suspect was taken into custody.
Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the sheriff's office in Douglas County, about 70 miles north of Barron County, located the girl. A suspect was apprehended a short time later. The statement did not say where Jayme was found or give any further information about the suspect.
The sheriff's office plans to hold a news conference Friday morning to discuss the case.
Jayme Closs has been missing since her parents were found dead Oct. 15 at the family's home near Barron.
(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
