Timeline: The Jayme Closs case
Updated: March 27 | Posted: Jan. 11
Jayme Closs, the 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who vanished after her parents were found shot to death in their Barron, Wis., home in October, was found alive Jan. 10 after she flagged down a woman walking her dog in northwestern Wisconsin.
Here's a look back at the case.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Oct. 15, 2018
Authorities launch a search for Jayme Closs after her parents — James Closs, 56 and Denise Closs, 46 — are found dead in their Barron, Wis., home. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says that Jayme was home at the time of the homicides and that she isn't a suspect in her parents' deaths.
Oct. 22, 2018
Investigators release photos of two vehicles they say were near Jayme's home around the time her parents were shot to death and she disappeared. A community gathering is held that night at Riverview Middle School in Barron, where Jayme is a student.
Oct. 23, 2018
More than 2,000 volunteers stream into Barron to search for Jayme. Volunteers, walking about 10 feet apart, comb an area of about 2 to 3 miles.
Oct. 24, 2018
The FBI offers a $25,000 reward for information leading to Jayme. The reward later climbs to $50,000.
Nov. 1, 2018
The Barron County Sheriff's Office says it has shut down its around-the-clock command center set up to organize the search. Fitzgerald, the sheriff, calls the move a transition "from a 24/7 reactive operation to a more deliberate and methodical effort to progress the investigation," because of a declining number of tips.
Nov. 17, 2018
With the start of the firearms deer season, Wisconsin officials ask hunters across the state to keep an eye out for any evidence that might provide a break in the case.
Dec. 12, 2018
Barron residents light a 16-foot "tree of hope" for Jayme at Riverview Middle School.
Jan. 7, 2019
Authorities announce plans to provide an update on the investigation. The sheriff says he'll update the media about new partners and an expanded team that's working to find Jayme.
Jan. 10, 2019
Jayme is found alive at 4:43 p.m. after emerging from a heavily wooded area and flagging a woman walking her dog in Gordon, Wis., a town of several hundred residents about 60 miles north of Barron.
Jan. 11, 2019
Sheriff Fitzgerald tells reporters at an emotional news conference that the suspect, Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, of Gordon, Wis., took Jayme against her will and has been arrested in connection with her kidnapping and the killing of her parents.
Authorities, he said, believe Jayme was the only target and that Patterson did not have any prior contact with the Closs family.
Jan. 14, 2019
Patterson is charged with kidnapping, two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and armed burglary in Jayme's abduction and the slaying of her parents.
A criminal complaint is filed that says Patterson made up his mind to take the teen when he spotted her getting on a school bus, and he made two aborted trips to her family's home before finally carrying out an attack in which he killed Jayme's mother in front of her.
The complaint also says Patterson forced Jayme to hide under a bed in his remote cabin for hours at a time.
He makes his first court appearance where his bail is set at $5 million.
March 27, 2019
Patterson pleads guilty to kidnapping Jayme Closs and killing her parents during a court hearing. Earlier in March, he wrote a letter to KARE-TV that he intended to plead guilty.