Extreme preparation Jayme Closs’s kidnapper carried out before abducting teen

Jayme Closs was just 13 when she was forced to watch her parents murdered in front of her before she was kidnapped from her home in the dead of night.

Killer and kidnapper Jake Patterson kept Jayme hostage for 88 days before the brave teenager managed to escape.

She had been tied with tape, bundled into a car boot and driven 70 miles from her home in Barron, Wisconsin.

Her kidnapper had barged his way into her home in the early hours of October 15, last year.

Dressed from head to foot in black, Patterson hid his face behind a mask and was also wearing a hat and gloves.

As soon as he walked up the front door, the family dog, Molly, realised something was wrong and started barking.

Jayme's father, James, heard the commotion and got up to answer the door.

Patterson didn't just kick his way into the family home, he shot his way in, according to detectives who worked on the case.

James was shot at point blank range trying to protect his family from the twisted 21-year-old.

But before he was killed the devoted father had told his wife and daughter to hide in the bathroom where he hoped they would be safe.


Jayme and her mum, Denise, climbed into the bath and pulled the shower curtain closed.

The pair sat in silence, hoping the intruder would leave without searching the house.

But Patterson wasn't there to rob the house – he was there to abduct Jayme and he wasn't leaving without her.

He kicked the bathroom door down and ordered Denise to tape her own daughter's mouth closed.

When she struggled with the tape, he snatched it off her and did it himself, also binding the 13-year-old's hands and ankles.

Then, as her horrified daughter watched, he shot Denise in the head and left her body in the bath.

Patterson then dragged Jayme out to his car, slipping on the blood of his innocent victims as he pulled her to his boot.

Speeding away from the house, the killer passed several police cars who were rushing to the scene and made his way to his father's remote cabin, 70 miles away from where Jayme had lived with her family.

Patterson had been watching Jayme for weeks after first catching sight of her as he drove down the highway on his way to his part-time job.

The teenager was getting on a bus to go to school and as soon as her kidnapper laid eyes on her, all his energy was turned to how he could abduct her.

First, he quit his job so he could divert all his attention to his sick plan.

Then he shaved his head so would leave no DNA at her home after he had killed her family.

Next, he began to prepare the cabin that would be Jayme's prison for 88 days.

The night of the murders and kidnapping was not the first time Patterson had been to the Closs family home.

He had twice before driven past, determined to carry out his evil plan.

The first time he deemed it was too risky because there were too many people in the house.

And the second he drove away again because he could see Jayme's dad, James, inside.

But after his third successful attempt, Closs finally had his prize and he was determined she wouldn't escape.

Jayme's family launched a desperate appeal to find her and harrowing press conferences followed.

Jayme's aunt, Jennifer Naiberg, said at the time: "Jayme, we need you here with us to fill that hole we have in our hearts.

"We all love you to the moon and back and we will never stop looking for you."

Her grandfather, Bob Naiberg, added: "Please run away or something. Somebody’s got you or get to a phone, call grandpa. He’ll come and get ya wherever you are."

Police have never released the details of what happened to Jayme inside the cabin but Patterson went to extreme lengths to ensure she never escaped.

When he went out, he barricaded the teenager under the bed with boxes.

He would even place heavy weights on top of them so he could see if she had moved.

Jayme told police she was often left trapped like this for up to 12 hours, with no food, or water, or able to use the bathroom.


However, one detail that has emerged is that Jayme was beaten during her time as a prisoner, assaulted for months on end.

Chillingly, despite keeping Jayme locked up in the basement, Patterson threw his family a Christmas party at the cabin.

He was careful to make sure the radio was on so no one could hear if Jayme did shout for help.

Bizarrely, he also tried to create a domestic relationship with his victim.

In a letter to a friend, he said how they would cook together, often making his favourite Mexican food.

Terrified Jayme had been forced into an impossible situation – play along and placate her kidnapper or suffer his wrath.

Then, on January 20 this year, courageous Jayme saw her chance to escape – and took it.

Patterson had gone out but she managed to free herself from her prison under the bed,

She threw on his jeans, his shoes and one of his shirts and fled the cabin.

Jayme wasn't wearing a coat despite the well below freezing temperatures and her only thought was of escape.

Retired trauma counsellor Jeannie Nutter was out walking her dog when she heard Jayme's frantic cries for help.

She said: "I had my dog with me. We start walking and I’m getting towards my driveway and I hear somebody calling, 'I need help. I’m lost and I don't know where I am'.


"And as she got closer to me, and we actually touched, she said, 'I'm Jayme', and I looked at her, and I just said, 'I know'."

Jeannie immediately took Jayme to neighbour Peter and Kristin Kasinskas' home and there they called the emergency services, not knowing when Patterson would be returning home.

Kristin said: "When she was in our home like we would have protected her with our lives too it was like she was our kid."

Despite everything she had been through, Jayme still managed to give police an accurate description of Patterson's car and he was arrested about five minutes away.

As soon as officers approached his car, he said "I know why you want to talk to me, and I did it".

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