Jayme Closs kidnapping suspect Jake Patterson formally charged: Latest updates

Jayme Closs kidnapping suspect Jake Patterson formally charged: Latest updates

 After her parents were brutally murdered and she was kidnapped for 88 days, 13 year old Jayme Closs escaped. Barron County police are praising her for helping lead them to arrest the single suspect. USA TODAY

    

BARRON, Wis. – A 21-year-old Wisconsin man was formally charged Monday with killing a western Wisconsin couple, kidnapping their daughter Jayme Closs and holding her captive for 88 days.

Jake Thomas Patterson faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, one count of kidnapping and one count of armed burglary after police say he blasted open the family’s front door just outside Barron with a shotgun, shot the couple to death and took 13-year-old Jayme against her will.

Authorities believe Patterson targeted Jayme, but it remains unclear how he knew about the shy middle school student and why he went after her.

Jayme was missing for nearly three months after her parents’ murders on Oct. 15. Investigators got their long-awaited break in the case Thursday when the teenager fled the home in the Douglas County Town of Gordon where Patterson allegedly kept her. Gordon is nearly 70 miles north of the Closs home, and about 40 miles south of Superior.

Jake Patterson, 21, was arrested on kidnapping and first degree murder charges after Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs was found alive. (Photo: Barron County Sheriff's Department)

Looking thin and unkempt, Jayme stumbled upon Jeanne Nutter in Gordon and asked for help. Nutter and her neighbors contacted police, and officers arrested Patterson minutes later while he appeared to be driving around looking for the teenager.

More: After 88 days of horror, how Jayme Closs and her small town of Barron can heal

More: Jayme Closs kidnapping suspect was a quiet student who hoped to join Marines

What's next?

Patterson is expected to appear in court via video at 3:30 p.m. CT on Monday. Jayme is staying with an aunt and spent the weekend reuniting with family. 

• The hearing is not expected to last more than 30 minutes.
• Patterson will most likely appear via video from the Barron County jail as the charges are read to him. His attorneys, however, may request that he appear in person.
• The criminal complaint is expected to shine a light on what happened at the crime scene in Barron.
• Details on what happened during Jayme's nearly three months held captive have not yet been released, however, more details are expected to be shared this week as interviews continue.

Jayme Closs poses with her aunt, Jennifer Smith, and her dog, with whom she was reunited Friday. The photo was posted on the Healing for Jayme Closs Facebook page. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

Patterson, a graduate of the K-12 school at Northwood School District in Minong, is accused of holding Jayme at a home belonging to his parents where he grew up. Neighbors and former students have described him as a quiet man who largely kept to the background. He wrote in his school's yearbook that he planned to join the U.S. Marine Corps, but it's unclear whether he ever followed through. 

Three years ago, he was hired to work at Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron — where Jayme's parents were longtime employees — but quit after one day, the company said.

Police have said there's no evidence suggesting the family knew Patterson before the incident, or that he and Jayme communicated on social media.

Jayme continues to heal

After being held in a hospital overnight for safety precautions, Jayme was reunited with family and friends in Barron on Friday.

• Jayme is staying with an aunt in Barron who continues to stress that she is in good spirits.
• Jayme's aunt, Jennifer Smith, posted a picture on social media Friday showing her smiling with her dog.
• Smith also stated in a Facebook post that Jayme had a great first night's sleep, but it will continue to be a long road to recovery.

source:https://bit.ly/2HfIcjh