Jayme has been missing since her parents, James and Denise Closs, were found shot to death Oct. 15 in the family’s home near Barron. Investigators said Jayme was quickly ruled out as a suspect.
Detectives pursued thousands of tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos and conducted numerous searches in the effort to find Jayme. Some tips led officials to recruit 2,000 volunteers for a massive ground search on Oct. 23, but it yielded no clues.
Town Chairman Denny Kline said Jayme was found about six miles east of town. He described the area as a small-town development with single-family, cabin-like homes.
He said he first learned Jayme had been found while listening to a police scanner, adding that he heard Jayme was walking down the road and someone stopped near her. Kline said he heard over the scanner that Jayme told them who she was and they brought her to their home.
“A lot of people were very concerned, did a lot of praying and all that,” he said. “Prayers were answered, for finding her, anyway.”
Resident Kristin Kasinskas told the Star Tribune that a neighbor waking a dog knocked on her door Thursday afternoon. Standing with her was a skinny, dirty girl with matted hair, wearing shoes too big for her feet.
“This is Jayme Closs! Call 911!” the neighbor said to Kasinskas. Jayme was quiet, her emotions “pretty flat,” Kasinskas’ husband, Peter, said.
St. Peter Catholic Church in Cameron held the funerals for Jayme’s parents, James and Denise Closs, last fall. The church hosted a happier service Sunday night for residents of Barron and Cameron to celebrate the reuniting of Jayme with family.
“I know this community can do anything now,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told people attending the church service. “I have seen it. We’ve done the impossible, and it starts with a 13-year-old girl and it ends with a community of 44,000 strong.”
Patterson is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 6.
