Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and abduction after he allegedly kidnapped 13-year-old Jayme Closs after he murdered her parents, 56-year-old James Closs and 46-year-old Denise Closs.
Patterson took Closs against her will on October 15, 2018. Police confirmed that Closs found in town at 4:43 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, and that Patterson was taken into custody 11 minutes later.
“Jayme was taken against her will and escaped from a residence at which she was being held and found help,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said in a press conference.
via NBC 5 Chicago:
Jayme went missing on Oct. 15 after police discovered someone had broken into the family’s home outside Barron and fatally shot her parents, James and Denise Closs. Jayme was nowhere to be found, with the Barron County Sheriff’s Department describing her as likely abducted.
Kristin Kasinskas heard a knock on her door Thursday afternoon, according to the Star Tribune. It was her neighbor, who had been out walking her dog, with Jayme alongside.
In the 20 minutes Jayme was in their home, Kristin and Peter Kasinskas tried to make her feel more comfortable, they said. They offered her water and food, but she declined both. Jayme was quiet, her emotions “pretty flat,” Peter Kasinskas said.
About Jake Thomas Patterson’s Life, Family & Past
At this time, not much is know about Patterson’s past and police have just begun to gather information about the individual. At this time, it is not clear where exactly Patterson lived or if he lived with anyone.
Police say that Patterson, from Gordon, Wisconsin, was unemployed and had no previous criminal history. His mother’s name is Deborah and his sister’s name is Katie.
Authorities said that Patterson, who was hiding in the home he grew up in, only killed James Closs and Denise Closs because he wanted to abduct their daughter, as she was his “only target.”
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Daphne Ronning — a neighbor of Patterson’s — said that Patterson’s family moved to Gordon about 15 years ago. After his parents moved away, Ronning says that Patterson and his brother continued to live in the home.
Gordon is about 40 miles south of Lake Superior and about 65 miles north of Barron, which is where Closs is from. Gordon is home to approximately 650 people in a heavily forested area where tree logging is the top industry.
That is all the information available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available.
