Dogwalker, Couple Describe Intense Moment They Found Jayme Closs

GORD

ON, Wisc. – Police are still trying to figure out how Jayme Closs got away from the home she was held.

She escaped from captivity herself but was helped by neighbors in Gordon, Wisconsin.

“It has been 88 days of hope for her safe return, 88 days of prayers for Jayme, her family, friends, our students, staff and community, 88 days of faith that our authorities would never give up and they certainly did not, and finally 88 days of our close knit community with the same goal in mind and that was to bring Jayme back home and into our arms,” said Diane Tremblay, District Administrator for Barron Area School District.

It’s been a long, difficult road for the Barron, Wisconsin community since Jayme Closs was kidnapped.

After her safe return, many in the area couldn’t contain their emotion.

“Oh gosh, I cried in my living room by myself with my cat. Emotional.” said Jamie Staves who lives in nearby Prairie Farm.

Banners and balloons welcomed the 13-year old home after months in captivity. But many questions remain after her discovery.

“Just why. Why would you take a thirteen year old girl from her family and why would you kill her family?” asked Staves.

Nearly three months since her abduction, Jayme Closs was discovered in Gordon, Wisconsin when a woman passed by walking her dog and heard Jayme’s calls for help.

“I’m lost and I don’t know where I am. She several times said she didn’t know where she was and I told her,” explained Jeanne Nutter, who came across Closs near her cabin on Eau Claire Acres Circle in Gordon.

She soon realized who she had found and brought the teen to a neighbor’s house to call the authorities.

“The door opened, she just opened it and the dog came in and then she walked Jayme up into the kitchen and said this is Jayme Closs call 911,” said Peter Kasinskas, who helped Jayme after her escape.

Peter and his wife, Kristin, jumped into action calling 911 and waiting with Closs for law enforcement to arrive.

“It’s like I was seeing a ghost in front of me because we’ve seen her for months on billboards and commercials and to see her standing there in front of me was just insane,” said Peter Kasinskas.

Closs told the couple details about her alleged kidnapper and the bloody scene she was taken from in Barron.

“I asked her who did this and she knew. She said the name of the suspect,” said Kristin Kasinskas. “She had never seen Jake before this incident. She did say that Jake killed her parents and then just took her.”

Kristin is a teacher at Northwood School in Minong.

She taught the suspect, Jake Patterson, when he was eleven and twelve years old.

She doesn’t remember much about him but describes him as quiet and smart.

“I had no idea that he was my neighbor number one and number two that he could be involved in something like this,” said Kristin Kasinskas.

After the Kasinskas’ waited with Jayme for about thirty minutes, Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, making sure Closs was safe.

Shortly after that, they located Patterson and took him into custody.

“Having two kids of our own, it’s scary to think that there’s somebody in our area that’s capable of doing something like this,” said Peter Kasinskas.

The Gordon neighbors who helped her on Thursday are impressed with Jayme’s bravery to escape her dire situation.

“I’m so proud of her to find that inner strength to get out of there. That takes a lot of courage. She’s a brave little kid,” said Nutter.