Jayme Closs Was Abducted By A Loner Who Killed Her Parents

Thomas Patterson was a 21-year-old antisocial freak who desperately wanted a girl to keep him company. Instead of going the normal route of wooing a woman; he decided to abduct a 13-year-old girl, Jayme Closs.

In the early morning of October 15, 2018, Patterson went to the family house of Jayme Closs in Barron, Wisconsin, to abduct her. He shot and k-illed her parents because he wanted to leave no witnesses.

He took her home and kept her as his own, he would force her under his bed whenever he went out.

Patterson claimed they just played games together, watched TV, slept in the same bed, had conversations, and did a lot of cooking together. There was no se-xual assault.

The day Jayme escaped, January 10, 2019, Patterson had shoved her under his bed before he left his cabin. As soon as he was gone, she mustered enough courage to run to freedom. Once she was outside, she met someone who conveyed her to safety.

Patterson was arrested and sentenced to life in prison

Jayme Closs Was Abducted By A Loner Who Killed Her Parents

On October 15, 2018, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson abducted 13-year-old Jayme Lynn Closs after fatally shooting her parents, James and Denise Closs, at their home just outside of Barron, Wisconsin, at 12:53 a.m.[3] Patterson took Closs to a house 70 miles (110 km) away in rural Gordon, Wisconsin, and held her in captivity for 88 days until she escaped on January 10, 2019, seeking help from neighbors

Police took Patterson into custody; shortly after, he told them he kidnapped Closs and murdered her parents. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. On May 24, 2019, Patterson was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional consecutive 40 years. After her recovery, Jayme Closs lived with an aunt and an uncle.

Jayme has become an advocate for other missing and exploited children. Her story has been widely reported on and has raised awareness about the issue of child abduction and the need for greater support for victims and their families.

Jayme Lynn Closs (born 2005) is the only child of James and Denise Closs of Barron, Wisconsin. In October of 2018, Jake Patterson drove to the Closs home to kidnap Jayme Closs. Activity in the home deterred him, as he was afraid he would leave witnesses. Patterson made a second attempt two days later but again aborted for the same reason. On October 15, he made a third visit, this time armed with a shotgun. Shortly before 12:53 a.m. Central Time (05:53 UTC), Patterson parked his car at the end of the driveway. Wearing a black coat and ski mask, he approached the front door of the home, carrying the shotgun. James Closs, 56, shone a light on Patterson through a glass pane in the front door. Closs apparently mistook him for a police officer and asked him to show him his badge. Patterson called out, "Open the fucking door!" James responded again by asking Patterson to identify himself. Patterson then fired the gun, fatally shooting Closs. Forcing his way into the house, Patterson checked every room in the house because he wanted "no witnesses left behind." He found the bathroom door locked and began trying to knock it down. Inside the bathroom were Denise Closs, 46, and Jayme. Denise was comforting Jayme, who was crying loudly. At 12:53 a.m., Denise Closs made a 911 call.

While Denise Closs did not speak, the operator heard a disturbance and yelling before the phone call disconnected. When the dispatcher called the number back, they reached the voicemail of Denise. Patterson bound Jayme's wrists and ankles using duct tape, then fatally shot Denise Closs.

 He dragged Jayme outside, almost slipping on blood, placed her in the trunk of his car, and drove away. The police arrived four minutes after the 911 call.  Patterson later told investigators that he pulled over 20 seconds down the road from the house.[13] Deputies sped by with emergency lights and sirens on. Neighbors said they heard two gunshots but dismissed them since hunting was common around their homes. After arriving at his cabin, Patterson made Closs change into a different pair of pajamas.

Less than two weeks after Jayme's abduction, a man burglarized the Closs family home, stealing some of Jayme's clothing. He was arrested, but not considered a suspect in the abduction and double murder

During Closs' captivity, Patterson would threaten her that "bad things would happen" to her if she tried to escape. Whenever Patterson left the home, he would hide Closs underneath his bed, and would barricade the bed with bins filled with weightlifting equipment, so that she could not see out, and so that it would be apparent if she made any attempts to escape. Patterson's father would regularly visit the cabin on Saturdays, so Patterson would hide her under the bed on those days, additionally turning up the radio to drown out any noise she might make.

Patterson would hide her under his bed for up to 12 hours at a time, with no food, water, or bathroom breaks. At Christmas time, Patterson left his home to visit his grandparents in Superior, Wisconsin, 45 minutes away from his home in Gordon, and left her under his bed for several hours. On one occasion, Closs says she accidentally moved one of the bins, and Patterson threatened that bad things would happen if she did it again. Closs says on one occasion when she upset Patterson, he hit her "really hard" on the back with a curtain rod.

Patterson believed that Closs was too afraid of him to make any escape attempts. He "never put special locks on doors because she wouldn’t escape." They also slept on the same bed.[2] Patterson would rarely let Closs out of the cabin, only doing so for brief walks on the lawn after checking for bystanders.

On the afternoon of January 10, 2019, Patterson told Closs he was leaving for a couple of hours. He put her under his bed before boxing her inside with his belongings, per his usual routine. After he departed, Closs pushed out the objects around the bed. She ran from the house wearing a light shirt, leggings, and a pair of Patterson's sneakers. Closs came across a local woman, Jeanne Nutter, walking her dog, Henry. Nutter recognized Closs from news reports and immediately took her to a neighbor's house. After police were called, Closs told them "Jake Patterson" had killed her parents, taken her, and kept her prisoner just a few houses away from her current location in the neighborhood. The neighbors described Closs as calm, quiet, dazed, and surprised that they recognized her from news coverage.

The police arrived around 4:45 p.m. and removed Closs from the area for her safety. The description Closs provided for Patterson and his vehicle enabled deputies to spot his car just minutes afterwards when Patterson, knowing that Closs had escaped from his residence and in search of her, drove by the house. After a deputy stopped him, Patterson exited his vehicle and said, "I did it." He was arrested shortly after and brought to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Superior for questioning.

A hospital admitted Closs under guard. The next morning, they released her to the custody of her aunt, Jennifer Smith. Hormel, the parent company of the Jennie-O plant where Closs's parents worked, announced on January 24 that they would grant $25,000 reward money to Closs for rescuing herself. Continue reading