One afternoon, 21-year-old Jake Patterson was sitting in his car behind a school bus when 13-year-old Jayme Closs, who was boarding the bus, caught his eye. Immediately, he was drawn to her. He had to have her. Once this seed planted in his mind, there was no going back for him; he knew that was the girl he was going to take.
On October 5, 2018, he drove to the home of the Closs family in Barron, Wisconsin, with the plan to abduct the 13-year-old, but feared there would be witnesses, so he left. He showed up again a couple days later, but again, backed out last second. Then, one week later, on October 15, he stopped by the Closs home again at around midnight and parked on their driveway. Garbed in a black coat and ski mask, he approached the home with a shotgun and began pounding on the door, yelling for them to ‘’open the fucking door’’. James Closs, the father of 13-year-old Jayme, shone a flashlight through a small decorative glass window by the door but refused to let him in. He had mistaken the man for a police officer and requested he reveal his badge. Without further ado, Jake fired his gun once through the window, killing him, before barging inside and checking every room to ensure there would be no witnesses for what more he was about to do. When he noticed that the bathroom door was suspiciously locked, he shot it down and tore down the bath curtain, only to find Jayme Closs, his targeted victim, crying loudly while being embraced by her mother, Denise, in the bathtub. Denise had already dialed 911 but did not speak; soon, the line would be disconnected.
First, the perpetrator ordered Denise to duct tape her daughter’s mouth shut; she complied, but struggled, so he completed the task himself. He then tied Jayme’s wrists and ankles and duct tape before fatally shooting her mother in the head. He subsequently dragged her outside to where his car was parked, placed her in the trunk, and drove away, bypassing the several police cars that were speeding toward the Closs home 20 seconds too late. He whisked Jayme away to his remote cabin in Gordon, Wisconsin, where she would be held hostage for 88 days.
During her captivity, Jake would oftentimes force Jayme to hide under his bed and barricaded it with laundry baskets, weights, and tote bags whenever he would leave the house or had family over. There, she would sometimes stay for up to 12 hours with no access to food or water. He had warned her that he would know if she attempted to escape, and once threatened to kill her if she dared move. On one occasion, having noticed she disobeyed his orders tried to get out from that space, he struck her on the back hard. To keep her under control, he would often yell at her and hit the walls.
The end of the brave girl’s captivity would occur three months later on one cold afternoon on January 10, 2019, after her captor left home for a while. She managed to push her way through all of the objects barricading her under the bed and ran outside, flagging down down the nearest person she could find for help: a woman walking her dog. Immediately, the woman had recognized her and took her to the closest house to call 911. Once the police arrived, they waited for Jake’s arrival and arrested him. He confessed immediately.
Jake was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Jayme has since been reunited with her family. The $25,000 reward money that was previously posted for Jayme’s rescue was all given to Jayme for rescuing herself. One year after the traumatizing event in her life, Jayme says, she is getting stronger every day.
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