Jayme Closs

 Since Jayme Closs was mentioned in my intro, I decided to make my first synopsis post about her. 

On October 15th, 2018, an intruder murdered Jayme’s parents in her home and abducted her. Her extended family and community searched long and hard to find her. She finally escaped her captor on January 10th, 2019. 

The most thorough documentary I can find on Jayme is this one.

Jayme was held captive in the home of Jake Patterson, who murdered her parents to get to her. Not much is known about what went on in the 88 days that he held her, because the courts decided they had enough to put him away for life with the two murders. They didn’t want to put Jayme through a trial on her captivity. 

The thing that stood out to me the most was that law enforcement and Jayme’s extended family had a reunification plan. This means that there was enough hope that she was alive to make plans regarding where she would live, who would have custody of her, her schooling, therapy, etc. Even into the third month, they did not completely believe that she was dead. Of course, they give the statistics that “every passing day” decreases the chances of her being found alive, but at the end of the day they still had that reunification plan. 

Jayme’s captor had no criminal history. He had fantasized about holding a girl captive in his home and decided to stop at nothing to get one. He drove around her home town of Barron and saw her getting on a school bus one day. That’s how he decided she was the one. He didn’t know her family. He and Jayme had no contact before the murders and abduction. He was also not some kind of “official” human trafficking ring known to organizations that fight human trafficking. He was just some guy holding a kid captive in his home. Most missing kids found alive are found in that exact situation. 

Jayme is now living with her aunt and uncle in Barron. Her aunt and guardian posted this selfie the day after Jayme was found. 



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