Timeline In the Case of Missing WI Teenager Jayme Closs
Investigators say she was found alive on Thursday and that a suspect is in custody.

MILWAUKEE – Notable events in the disappearance and discovery of Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who went missing after her parents were killed in the family home. Investigators say she was found alive on Thursday and that a suspect is in custody.
- October 15, 2018 – James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, are found shot to death in their home in Barron, a town in western Wisconsin. Authorities issue an Amber Alert for 13-year-old Jayme Closs, and the search for her begins.
- October 16, 2018 – Investigators say they don’t consider Jayme a suspect in her parents’ deaths. Authorities also dismiss a tip placing Jayme’s whereabouts in Miami as “not credible,” and say they believe the girl is in danger.
- October 17, 2018 – Authorities announce that investigators believe Jayme was in her family’s home when her parents were fatally shot.
- October 18, 2018 – About 100 people join a ground search for Jayme after Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald requests the help of volunteers. The search turns up nothing useful. The Wisconsin Department of Justice announces it is sending therapists, comfort dogs and school resource officers to help students at the school Jayme attended.
- October 23, 2018 – About 2,000 volunteers from as far as Minneapolis help with another ground search. Several items are found and taken for assessment.
- October 24, 2018 – The FBI offers a $25,000 reward for information leading to Jayme’s location. The amount is later doubled to $50,000 by the Jennie-O Turkey Store, where James and Denise Closs worked.
- October 27, 2018 – Funerals are held for James and Denise Closs in Cameron, a village next to Barron.
- October 29, 2018 – Prosecutors announce they have charged a man with burglarizing the Closs home but say he’s not a suspect in the case.
- December 12, 2018 – Hundreds of people attend a “tree of hope” lighting ceremony in honor of Jayme in Barron.
- January 10, 2019 – Jayme is found alive in the Town of Gordon, a rural community about an hour from her home. A suspect is taken into custody.
- January 11, 2019 – Investigators say the suspect, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson, is jailed on homicide and kidnapping charges.