Jake Thomas Patterson saw Jayme Closs, 13, get on school bus and decided he wanted her – so he killed her parents and kidnapped her, US police say
- Police say Patterson did not even know his kidnap victim’s name when he decided to abduct her
A man suspected of killing a Wisconsin couple, kidnapping their teenage daughter and holding her captive for three months decided to abduct the girl after spotting her getting on a school bus, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, told investigators he was driving to his job at a cheese factory one day when he stopped behind a school bus and watched 13-year-old Jayme Closs get on.
At that moment, he said, “he knew that was the girl he was going to take,” the complaint said. Police have said the two did not know each other and Patterson did not even know Closs’ name until he abducted her.
Prosecutors formally charged Patterson on Monday in the slayings and the abduction in Barron, about 90 miles (145km) northeast of Minneapolis. He was also charged with an additional count of armed robbery and was scheduled to make his first court appearance later in the day.
Jake Thomas Patterson arrested for kidnapping Wisconsin 13-year-old Jayme Closs and murdering her parents
Investigators believe he broke into the Closs home in October and then hid Jayme in a remote cabin before she escaped on Thursday. He had gone to the home twice intending to kidnap her but was not able to do it because too many people were around, the complaint said.