Barron County authorities said Friday that 13-year-old Jayme Closs was the main target of the man suspected in her kidnapping and the murders of her parents.
Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, of Gordon, Wis., was arrested Thursday and was being held in the murders of James and Denise Closs and of kidnapping the girl. He is being held in the Barron County Jail and has not yet been charged.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Patterson planned his actions and took steps to hide his identity from law enforcement and the general public. It appears Patterson went to the Closs home in October with the intention of abducting Jayme, and did what he had to do — including killing her parents — to get her, Fitzgerald said.
Patterson had no criminal history in the state of Wisconsin and was unemployed, Fitzgerald said.
FOUND IN HIS CHILDHOOD HOME
A neighbor said Patterson’s parents moved to the town of Gordon home about 15 years ago, and that Jake and his brother were raised there and attended Minong High School, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
MORE: Jayme ‘in shock,’ while neighbors, gun ready, waited for police with her
Wisconsin court records show that Patterson’s brother, Erik, has a criminal history and was once sentenced to a year of probation for a charge of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.
Ownership of the remote cabin was transferred to a credit union shortly after Jayme was abducted, the Associated Press reported.
Records show that Patterson’s father transferred the title of the cabin near Gordon to Superior Choice Credit Union on Oct. 23. That was eight days after the attack at the Closs family’s home near Barron, which is roughly 60 miles south of Gordon. The cabin was appraised at $79,300.
The circumstances of the transfer were not clear.
SUSPECT BRIEFLY WORKED WITH PARENTS
Patterson also has a tie to Barron County, the sheriff said.
The Associated Press reported that Patterson worked at the same plant as James and Denise Closs for one day nearly three years ago.
Steve Lykken, president of the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barren, said in a statement Friday that Patterson was hired one day and quit the next, telling the employer that he was moving from the area.
The obituary for James and Denise Closs said they worked at the plant for 27 years.
‘THE WILL OF THAT 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL TO SURVIVE’
Authorities are not seeking any other suspects. Fitzgerald said authorities were conducting search warrants for more evidence on Friday morning.
“It’s amazing, the will of that 13-year-old girl to survive and escape,” Fitzgerald said.
Jayme was coming out of nearby woods when she was found by Jeanne Nutter, who was walking her dog near a cabin she owns with her husband. Nutter took Jayme to the home of her neighbor, Kristin Kasinskas.
“She kind of flung the door open and said, ‘Call 911, this is Jayme Closs!’” Kasinskas told KARE11.
Kasinskas is a teacher in the Northwood School District. She said she taught Patterson in middle school, but remembered only that he was quiet. She added that she did not see him during the months Jayme was missing.
The Douglas County sheriff’s office received a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. Thursday from Kasinskas.
Deputies responded immediately and Jayme for medical treatment. Shortly after, they identified a vehicle that Jayme told them belonged to Patterson.
Authorities will provide more updates on the case at 4 p.m. Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
