Kidnapped Wisconsin girl found alive

A 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who went missing in October was found alive in a rural town after escaping from the house where she was held, authorities said Thursday. Authorities took suspect Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, into custody shortly after Jayme Closs appeared in Gordon, Wis. “It’s amazing, the will of that 13-year-old girl, to survive and escape,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at a news conference. “And that comes from the hope and the prayers of this community.”

Closs disappeared after her parents, James and Denise Closs, were found shot to death on Oct. 15 in their home near Barron, Wis. Their daughter was quickly ruled out as a suspect, investigators said. Since then, detectives pursued thousands of tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos, and recruited volunteers for numerous searches. Gordon resident Kristin Kasinskas told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that a neighbor walking a dog brought Closs to her door Thursday afternoon and told her to call 911.

Patterson is from Gordon and had no prior criminal record in the state. He is being held on two counts of intentional homicide for the murder of Closs’ parents and one count of kidnapping, Fitzgerald said. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

Local hospital officials have medically cleared Closs and law enforcement is interviewing her. Authorities are working on reuniting her with surviving members of her family.