Patterson allegedly held party with Closs captive
Houseguests unaware of abducted teen’s presence
Of all the lies Jake Patterson is accused of telling the world in the past few months, one stands out as especially cruel.
He held a Christmas Day gathering for family members at “Patterson Retreat,” the former family home that Patterson is accused of turning into a prison for Jayme Closs, 13.
While the family marked the holiday, the houseguests had no idea that another person was there – the terrified girl Patterson held captive, forced to stay hidden under a twin bed, sources told reporters for the USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald wouldn’t confirm the Christmas gathering, saying he wouldn’t know whether such an event took place.
Two law enforcement sources separately said the visitors included two members of Patterson’s immediate family and the people they were dating.
“The family was there,” one source said. Patterson “told (Jayme) that if she made a noise or tried to escape, he would kill her.”
The sources would speak only on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.
One source identified Patterson’s father and sister as the family members who made the Christmas visit to the ramshackle house at 14166 S. Eau Claire Acres Circle in Gordon, a town of about 750 about 70 miles north of Jayme’s hometown of Barron.
The second source confirmed that the investigation found that those family members visited Patterson on Christmas.
There is no indication that any of the guests knew Jayme was imprisoned beneath the bed, the source said.
Jayme would endure an additional 16 days of captivity at the Gordon house before freeing herself and running from the home Jan. 10. She encountered a passerby who took her to a neighbor’s house and called the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Department.
Patterson held the teen captive since gunning down her parents and dragging her from her family’s rural Barron County home in the early morning of Oct. 15, according to a criminal complaint filed in Barron County Circuit Court.
He is charged with kidnapping, armed burglary and two counts of firstdegree intentional homicide in the deaths of Jayme’s parents, James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46. If convicted, he could face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Charges have yet to be filed in Douglas County. Those would include any crimes committed at the Gordon house.
Authorities said Patterson forced Jayme to hide beneath the bed when guests visited or when he left the house, surrounding it with containers so she couldn’t be seen and weighing them down to keep her from escaping. He played music in the room when others were in the house to drown out any noise she might make, the criminal complaint says.
If she tried to move or made her presence known, Patterson told her something bad would happen, according to Jayme’s statement to police.
The Christmas gathering is among several allegations of Patterson’s bizarre behavior over the months that Jayme was sought by hundreds of law officers, her face featured on countless flyers and news stories.
Patterson allegedly planned to kidnap Jayme after seeing her at a school bus stop.
He spun a web of lies while applying for at least one job in Superior, a 45minute drive away.
He told potential employers he had spent months in the Marines; actually, he washed out after five weeks.
He fudged by two years the period in which he served in the Marines, though it’s relatively easy to verify dates of military service.
He called himself an “honest and hardworking guy” but didn’t mention the string of recent jobs – at a turkey processing plant, a cheese factory and a wood pellet manufacturer – that lasted one or two days.
According to the criminal complaint, he visited a grandparent in Superior for 12 hours during the time Jayme was his captive.
There’s been no indication that family members had a clue about Patterson’s secrets.
Patterson’s father, Patrick, dropped off a note for the Closs family last week at the Barron County Courthouse.
“All I care about right now is Jayme’s family. I want to get them a note,” he told CNN.
A grandfather, Jim Moyer, told ABC News that the family had no idea of what Patterson was up to.
“Something went terribly wrong. ... We are absolutely heartbroken. It’s wrenching to deal with,” he said.
Patterson’s defense attorneys said more will be revealed about their client’s behavior and motives as the case proceeds. They did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Other details of the case have been revealed.
At the time of his arrest, Patterson allegedly bragged to law officers that his meticulous planning for the murders and kidnapping – including painstaking steps to disguise his car, dressing in all black and shaving his head to avoid leaving DNA evidence – paid off.
“The defendant stated he basically assumed he had gotten away with killing James and Denise and kidnapping (Jayme) since he hadn’t been caught for the first two weeks,” the criminal complaint says. “The defendant stated he never would have been caught if he would have planned everything perfectly.”
When confronted by sheriff ’s deputies after Jayme escaped, Patterson allegedly told them, “I know what this is about. I did it.”