Jayme Closs Escapes

A wonderful young girl, Jazmine Barne... What we can learn from the Jayme Clos...

Jayme Closs Escapes

A Wisconsin man, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson, was arrested for the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs and the murder of her parents. The missing teenager was discovered alive Thursday, January 10, 2019, after she escaped her captor and walked out of the woods. At 4:40 p.m., Jayme found Jeanne Nutter walking her dog. The woman noticed Jayme was disoriented and said Jayme had no idea where she was. Jayme’s hair was matted and her clothes were dirty. Jayme was wearing an over-sized sweater, but wasn’t wearing a coat. She was wearing over-sized slippers on her feet.

Jayme had been held hostage for 88 days, and may not have showered during that time. Jayme gave a description of the killer and his vehicle. Authorities pulled his vehicle over 10 minutes later and Jake Patterson was arrested without incident. Patterson was apparently driving around looking for Jayme. Patterson had held her near his family’s remote home outside of Gordon, Wisconsin. The murder weapon was found in the Gordon home. Patterson has no criminal history.

Jake Patterson came to the Closs’ home to kidnap the 13 year old at 1:00 a.m. on October 15, 2018. Patterson blasted into the home with a shot gun and used the shot gun to kill both of Jayme’s parents and to take Jayme hostage. Around 1:00 a.m. on October 15, 2018, Barron County dispatcher received a 911 call from Denise Closs’ cellphone, which they were able to trace to the family’s home. The caller wasn’t able to relay information to the dispatcher, who heard “a lot of yelling.” When deputies arrived minutes later, they found Denise and her husband, James, fatally shot inside, but Jayme was nowhere to be found.

Jayme indicated she did not know Patterson before he took her hostage. Patterson had worked at Jennie-O’s in Barron, Wisconsin for 1 day, and quit the second day. Denise and James Closs (Jayme’s parents) had worked at Jennie-O’s in Barron for over 27 years. Patterson took Jayme to his father’s home in Gordon, Wisconsin, 70 miles directly north of Barren. Patterson had been raised in the home. His parents still owned this home in a heavily wooded area and Patterson periodically stayed there.

I’m not blaming anyone other than Jake Patterson for the abduction, but I do feel we need to get better at recovering victims. Honestly, if Jayme wouldn’t have escaped, she wouldn’t have been found alive, and that is often the case. Shortly after the kidnapping, back on October 25, 2018, police reported that people should be on the lookout for a red Dodge Charger. Patterson was arrested in a red vehicle, but they didn’t offer the vehicle model.

My third book, Last Call, (is at the publisher, but might not be released until September 2019) is a case involving a similar type of abduction. The investigator, Jon Frederick, uses driver’s license data to eliminate suspects. Even when you lack information to identify the killer, you can still rule people out. This is rural America and making the list smaller can result in workable numbers.

Every year, 1500 children are kidnapped in the U.S. Girls ages 12 to 17 are the ones most commonly abducted. I don’t know that Patterson came to know Jayme online, but a warning I give when I speak to young people is that the FBI estimates there are 15,000 sex offenders online at any given time. Courts have recently ruled that we do not have the right to routinely take away internet access from sex offenders. Attorneys argue it’s a violation of their rights. I think we also need to consider the rights of the community to be safe.

God Bless you Jayme! I admire the gritty resilience you had to exhibit to survive this!

Thanks for listening,

Frank January speaking engagements:

January 14, 2019, Monday, Frank will be speaking on forensic work and his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the Paynesville library at 7:00 p.m. The Paynesville library is located at 119 Washburn Avenue in Paynesville, Minnesota. Frank will be at the library before and after the presentation to sign and sell books.January 19, 2019 Frank will be presenting on the creation of his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the Pierz Library at 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. He will be signing books from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for all who wish to attend. The Pierz Public Library is located at 117 Main Street S., Pierz, MN.January 20, 2019 Frank will be signing books at Barnes and Noble in St. Cloud from 11:00 to 2:30 and will answer questions related to forensic psychology for those interested in the field. Barnes and Noble is located at 3940 West Division Street in St. Cloud, Minnesota.January 25, 2019, Friday, Frank will be speaking on forensic work and his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the Belgrade library at 6:30 p.m. The Belgrade library is located at 324 Washburn Avenue, Belgrade, Minnesota. Frank will be at the library before and after the presentation to sign and sell books.January 26, 2019 Frank will be speaking on a Writing True Crime panel from Sisters in Crime at the Delano Public Library at 10:30 a.m. Located at: 160 Railroad Ave. E. Delano, MN 55328January 28, 2019, Monday, Frank will be speaking on forensic work and his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the Waite Park library at 6:00 p.m. The Waite Park library is located at 253 5th Avenue North, Waite Park, Minnesota. Frank will be at the library before and after the presentation to sign and sell books.January 29, 2019, Tuesday, Frank will be speaking on forensic work and his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the Albany library at 6:00 p.m. The Albany library is located at 400 Railroad Avenue, Albany, Minnesota. Frank will be at the library before and after the presentation to sign and sell books.January 30, 2019, Wednesday, Frank will be speaking on forensic work and his latest thriller, The I-94 Murders, at the St. Michael library at 6:30 p.m. The St. Michael library is located at 11800 Town Center Drive, St. Michael, Minnesota. Frank will be at the library before and after the presentation to sign and sell books.