Jayme Closs was the 13 year old daughter of James and Denise Closs. The family lived in Barron Wisconsin and on October 15, 2018, an intruder broke into the Closs household, at around 1AM, fatally shot James and Denise, and abducted Jayme Closs. Her father was killed as he went to the door to see what was going on and her mother was shot after the intruder shot into the bathroom where Jayme and her mom were hiding. The intruder tied Jayme and put her in his trunk, driving for only 20 seconds before pulling over and turning off his car avoid the police who were answering Denise’s 911 call. Police had actually passed the car that Denise was tied up in all the way to the house, but were focused on responding on the call rather than the mysterious vehicle.

After driving 70 miles to Gordon, Wisconsin, Jayme was finally let out of the trunk and into a home. She then went missing for 88 days. During that time, Jayme was locked in a cabin and forced under a bed for hours with no food, water, or bathroom breaks. She also played board games, watch TV, and she would even sleep in the same bed as the perpetrator. The one thing that never happened to her is that she was never sexually assaulted while being held captive.On January 10, 2019, after her kidnapper told Jayme he would be leaving the house for a few hours. Jayme waited, then pushed away the heavy bins that were confining her under the bed, put a pair of her abductors sneakers on and left the house. She ran to a local neighbor, Jeanne Nutter who was walking her dog and said that she was Jayme Closs. The whole community had never stopped searching for Jayme after the brutal murder and kidnapping that took place months earlier. The two went to a nearby house and called 911.

It took only moments before police tracked down the kidnapper, 21 year old Jake Thomas Patterson. Patterson confessed to murdering both James and Denise and kidnapping Jayme Closs. He also told police that he had seen Jayme one morning getting on the bus which started his fascination with the young girl. On May 24, 2019, Jake Thomas Patterson pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was sentence to two life sentences plus and extra forty years for his crimes. While in court during his sentencing, Patterson seemed to be extremely remorseful and even expressed that he would rather be dead than have committed the crimes that he did.

Jayme Closs is extremely brave for taking the actions that she did in order to escape her kidnapper. She never knew if she was going to get out, or be murdered like her parents. Jayme did not want to allow for Patterson to take control over her and she did not want him to win. If it wasn’t for her escaping, it is very possible that Jayme could have never been found. A statement written by Jayme that was read at Patterson’s sentencing reads, “He thought he could own me but he was wrong, I was smarter. I watched his routine and I took back my freedom.”