Jayme Closs, missing after parents’ deaths, is found alive in Wisconsin
US teenager Jayme Closs has been found, according to authorities, following her three-month disappearance. Photo: Facebook
A teenage girl who went missing from the house where her parents were killed has been found, the authorities said on Thursday night, three months after her disappearance rattled a small town in Wisconsin and prompted a large-scale manhunt.
A suspect has been taken into custody.
Jayme Closs, 13, was found Thursday evening by police officers from a county north of her home in Barron, Wisconsin, according to a Facebook post from the Barron County Sheriff’s Department.
Jayme disappeared in October at the same time that her parents were found killed in their home.
Shortly after the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department notified the authorities in Barron, a suspect in the case was taken into custody, according to the post.
The double homicide along with Jayme’s disappearance in October has riveted Barron, a town of just more than 3400, fueling unease among residents who used to feel comfortable leaving their doors unlocked.
Early in the morning on October 15, police discovered Jayme’s parents, James and Denise Closs, dead on their property.
James Closs’ body was in the doorway, his wife’s was inside the house and Jayme was missing.
According to the sheriff, evidence indicated that Jayme was home at the time of the attack, though he would not describe the evidence.
When deputies arrived, only Jayme’s dog, Molly, was there.
A spokeswoman for the Barron County Sheriff’s Department said officials were not releasing any more information on Thursday (local time).
A news media briefing was scheduled for Friday morning.
Tweet from @RobElgasABC7
Tweet from @MissingKids
In a text message conversation on Thursday night, Jayme’s uncle, Jeff Closs, said that authorities had not told the family the circumstances of Jayme’s discovery.
Closs said that they heard the news at about 7.30 pm on Thursday and that her family had not yet seen her.
She was in a hospital and being evaluated, he said.
“We’re very happy that she is alive,” Mr Closs wrote. “We don’t know much else.”
Just when you start to give up hope, he wrote, “then we got the greatest news ever”.
