Sheriff says detectives talking to abducted teen Jayme Closs

BARRON, Wis. (AP) —Detectives are interviewing a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who authorities say managed to escape from a cabin months after being abducted from her home.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Friday at a news conference that investigators don’t think Jayme Closs had ever interacted with 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson before they say he killed her parents and kidnapped her in October. He said he doesn’t know if Jayme was abused by her captor and that detectives are interviewing her about her ordeal.

Authorities say Jayme escaped Thursday from a cabin near Gordon and they arrested Patterson on homicide and kidnapping charges.

Gordon is in Douglas County and about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the Closs’ home in Barron County. Fitzgerald said Patterson has a tie to Barron County, but he didn’t specify except to say it wasn’t a connection to the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron where James and Denise Closs worked.