Suspect in Jayme Closs case tried to kidnap her twice, complaint contends

The suspect accused of killing James and Denise Closs and kidnapping their 13-year-old daughter, Jayme, first spotted her when he was on his way to work, as she was getting into a school bus, according to a criminal complaint released Monday by the Barron County District Attorney.

“The defendant states, when he saw [Jayme] he knew that was the girl he was going to take,” the complaint states.

But he did not know her name until after he abducted her, and only learned the names of her parents from news programs and social media posts about the killings, the complaint states.

The startling criminal complaint comes on the same day that Jake Patterson, 21, made his first court appearance in Barron County to face charges of intentional homicide, kidnapping and armed burglary. A judge ordered Mr. Patterson held on $5 million bail and ordered that a DNA sample be collected.

The judge also ordered that Mr. Patterson could not posses firearms, and could not have contact with Jayme and Mr. Patterson’s neighbors who were involved in Jayme’s escape.

Mr. Patterson faces up to life in prison is convicted of the homicide charge.

Last Thursday, Jayme was found alive about 70 miles from her home in rural northwestern Wisconsin. Mr. Patterson is accused of shooting and killing Jayme’s parents before abducting the 13-year-old from her home Oct. 15.

But after going missing for 88 days, Jayme was found walking down a road in Gordon, Wis., in frigid weather without a coat and gloves. She had fled the home where law enforcement says she was being kept, and came across a woman walking her dog. That woman then took Jayme to a nearby home and called police.

The complaint is based on information from deputies, Jayme and Mr. Patterson, and represents the first time their perspectives have been made public.

Mr. Patterson told investigators that he had been to the house twice previously before Oct. 15 to try to kidnap her, the complaint states.

A week prior, he drove to the home but was scared off because there were all kinds of cars in the driveway, he told investigators in the complaint. A day or two later, he again drove to the Closs home but saw the lights were on and people were walking around, so he decided not to go through with the plan, he told investigators.

But on Oct. 15, Jayme told investigators that she got up to learn why her dog was barking and saw a vehicle coming up their driveway. The suspect then shot and killed her father at the door as she and her mother hid in the bathroom, the complaint states, and her mother held her in a bear hug.

Mr. Patterson then broke down the bathroom door and told her mother to put tape over Jayme’s mouth, but she struggled to do so, according to the complaint. He then put tape around Jayme’s mouth himself, bound her by the hands and ankles, and then fatally shot her mother, the complaint states. He dragged her out to the trunk of his car and drove her back to his home, the complaint states.

Once Jayme was in captivity, the suspect took her clothes and other items and destroyed them to hide evidence, the complaint states.