BARRON (WQOW) – The Closs home, where Jim and Denise were murdered and Jayme was kidnapped, has been demolished.
The Closs family lived there happily for years. Jayme spent most of her life in that home.
That all changed October 15, 2018. Weeks earlier, Jake Patterson had seen Jayme get off the bus and walk into that home. That’s when he decided he would take her. On October 15, he shot Jim Closs as Jim was investigating the car in the driveway. Jayme and Denise hid in the bathroom. Denise clutched her daughter in the bathtub and called 911, until Patterson forced his way in and made Denise put duct tape on Jayme. As he pulled Jayme out of the bathroom, he shot and killed Denise.
Jayme was kept in Patterson’s Gordon home for 88 days until she, knowing his schedule, escaped and found a neighbor to call 911 on January 10. Patterson was taken into custody and confessed.
Jayme herself said she couldn’t return to the house. “I felt safe in my home and I loved my room and all of my belongings. He took all of that,” she said in a letter she wrote that was read by a guardian at Patterson’s sentencing. “I don’t want to even see my home or my stuff because of the memory of that night. My parents and my home were the most important things in my life.”
Patterson pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. On May 24, he was sentenced to two life sentences, plus 40 years for the kidnapping. He has no chance of parole.
The home on State Highway 8 in Barron stood empty since October.
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