Suspect Decided To Kidnap Jayme Closs After Seeing Her On School Bus, Complaint Says

A criminal complaint says a Wisconsin man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs spotted her getting on a school bus one day and made up his mind to take her. 

Monday, January 14th 2019, 3:40 pm

By: News 9


A criminal complaint says a Wisconsin man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs spotted her getting on a school bus one day and made up his mind to take her. 

Prosecutors filed the criminal complaint Monday charging Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, with two counts of intentional homicide, kidnapping and burglary. Investigators believe Patterson broke into the Closs home near Barron, Wisconsin, in October 2018, killed Jayme's parents and kidnapped her. The complaint says he confessed.

The criminal complaint says Patterson told investigators he was driving to his job at a cheese factory one day near Almena, Wisconsin, when he stopped behind a school bus and watched Jayme get on. 

The complaint quotes Patterson as saying when he saw Jayme, "He knew that was the girl he was going to take."

The filing also says Patterson went to the Closs home twice with the intent of taking Jayme but was unable to do so because too many people were around before he was able to kidnap her.

Closs has told police she tried to hide from Patterson, but he dragged her out of her home and threw her in the trunk of his vehicle. The complaint states Jayme and her mother hid in the bathroom as Patterson came to the front door. They heard a gunshot and knew Patterson had killed her father. 

Patterson then broke down the bathroom door, shot her mother and taped Jayme's hands and ankles, according to the complaint. He then dragged her to his car and threw her in the trunk. 

Investigators believe Patterson held her captive for nearly three months before she escaped and asked a woman walking her dog for help. The complaint says that during her captivity Patterson would sometimes have people over but would hide the girl and told her that "bad things would happen to her" if anyone found out she was there.

 Speaking with Gayle King on "CBS This Morning," Closs' family said they are focusing on making Jayme feel safe and loved.

"I have to pinch myself," her aunt Sue Allard told King. "I woke up this morning and finally, I didn't have that pit in the bottom of my stomach any more."  

Patterson is due in court Monday afternoon. 

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