Deputies search for Wisconsin girl whose parents are dead

Updated: 7:57 p.m. | Posted: 3:27 p.m.

Authorities searched Monday for a 13-year-old girl they believe is in danger after her parents were found dead in their western Wisconsin home.

Deputies went to the home in Barron after dispatchers received a 911 call from an unknown person at around 1 a.m. Monday, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said. He said they found the bodies of Jayme Closs' parents, later identified by the Barron County Sheriff's Department as James Closs, 56 and Denise Closs, 46. He also said there had been gunshots, but he stopped short of saying that's how the couple died.

An Amber Alert was issued late Monday afternoon.

Investigators don't have any leads or suspects, but they have enlisted the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI, which has agents who specialize in missing children cases, the sheriff said. He said Jayme is not considered a suspect in her parents' deaths.

Deputies searched the area around the family's home with drones and infrared equipment, but they didn't find any clues as to her whereabouts. Fitzgerald said investigators are frustrated they haven't developed any leads and asked for the public's help with any information about what could have happened to the girl.

"At the end of the end of the day, I want a 13-year-old here safe and sound. That's our goal. That's our only goal right now," Fitzgerald said at a news briefing.

Officers also were at Jayme's middle school talking with her friends and acquaintances, hoping to develop some leads, officials said.

Fitzgerald said that an Amber Alert hadn't been issued earlier because no suspect or vehicle had been identified in her disappearance.

Jayme is described as 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, with strawberry-blond hair and green eyes.

Barron is about 80 miles northeast of Minneapolis.