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Undated file photo provided by Barron County, Wisconsin, Sheriff's Department, shows Jayme Closs. Courtesy of Barron County Sheriff's Department via AP, File

13-year-old girl who went missing after parents were killed in October found alive hour from her home

The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page that Jayme Closs has been located.

A 13-YEAR-OLD northwestern Wisconsin girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed has been found alive in a rural town about an hour from her home.

The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page that Jayme Closs has been located and that a suspect was taken into custody.

Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Jayme was expected to be reunited with her family last night night.

Fitzgerald said authorities in Douglas County, about 70 miles north of Barron County, located the girl.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on its website that Jayme was found in the Town of Gordon at 4.43pm, and that a suspect was taken into custody 11 minutes later.

Neither statement gave any further information about the suspect. Jayme’s grandfather, Robert Naiberg, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Jayme was being treated at a hospital.

Sue Allard, Jayme’s aunt, told the Star Tribune that she could barely express her joy after learning the news last night.

“Praise the Lord,” Allard said between sobs.

It’s the news we’ve been waiting on for three months. I can’t wait to get my arms around her. I just can’t wait.

Conference

The Barron County sheriff’s office plans to hold a news conference this morning to discuss the case.

Gillian Drummond, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and Leonard Peace, a spokesman for the FBI in Wisconsin, declined to comment yesterday evening. Both agencies have been involved in the search for Jayme.

Jayme had been missing since her parents, James and Denise Closs, were found shot to death on 15 October in the family’s home near Barron. Investigators said Jayme was quickly ruled out as a suspect.

Detectives pursued thousands of tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos and conducted numerous searches in the effort to find Jayme.

Some tips led officials to recruit 2,000 volunteers for a massive ground search on 23 October but it yielded no clues.

Fitzgerald said in November that he kept similar cases in the back of his mind as he worked to find Jayme, including the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, who was taken from her Salt Lake City home in 2002, when she was 14 years old.

She was rescued nine months later with the help of two witnesses who recognised her abductors from an America’s Most Wanted episode.

“I have a gut feeling she’s (Jayme’s) still alive. I’ve always been a glass half-full kind of guy,” Fitzgerald said at the time.

The Town of Gordon lies about 40 miles south of the Lake Superior shoreline and 65 miles north of Barron, where the Closs family lived. Gordon is home to about 645 people. The area is heavily forested. Logging is the top industry in the region.

Town Chairman Denny Kline said Jayme was found about six miles east of town. He described the area as a small-town development with single-family, cabin-like homes.

Scanner

He said he first learned Jayme had been found while listening to a police scanner, adding that he heard Jayme was walking down the road and someone stopped near her.

Kline said he heard over the scanner that Jayme told them who she was and they brought her to their home.

“A lot of people were very concerned, did a lot of praying and all that,” he said.

Prayers were answered, for finding her, anyway.

Resident Kristin Kasinskas told the Star Tribune that a neighbour waking a dog knocked on her door yesterday afternoon. Standing with her was a skinny, dirty girl with matted hair, wearing shoes too big for her feet.

“This is Jayme Closs! Call 911!” the neighbor said to Kasinskas. Jayme was quiet, her emotions “pretty flat,” Kasinskas’ husband, Peter, said.

The woman who found Jayme asked the newspaper not to use her name.

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    Mute Jaci Black
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    Jul 13th 2018, 12:01 AM

    Beyond sad, Rest in Peace Ava.

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    Mute Miriam Vincent
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    Jul 13th 2018, 12:19 AM

    I have a daughter of similar age. I can’t even begin to imagine the horror.

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    Mute dec dunne
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    Jul 13th 2018, 8:21 AM

    @Miriam Vincent: I am the same rip

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    Mute Margate
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    Jul 12th 2018, 11:52 PM

    Rip little beauty.

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    Mute Dee Gunning
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    Jul 12th 2018, 11:23 PM

    Poor little pet. RIP

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    Mute Red Pirate 71
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    Jul 13th 2018, 12:37 AM

    These cowboys operating at the expense of Kids safety. What a nightmare.

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    Mute Siobhan Rosemary
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    Jul 13th 2018, 9:04 AM

    A man and woman arrested? Is this the parents or who operated this?

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    Mute Mark McDermott
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    Jul 13th 2018, 11:44 AM

    Poor kid, RIP.

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    Mute Christine Downey
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    Jul 13th 2018, 12:42 PM

    Why is the HSE involved? This is a story from the uk.

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    Mute Zenith Quinn
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    Jul 13th 2018, 1:41 PM

    @Christine Downey: The UK have a HSE too.

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    Mute Kath
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    Jul 13th 2018, 5:13 PM

    @Christine Downey: HSE in UK is health and safety executive not Irish HSE (health service executive).

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    Mute Karl
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    Jul 13th 2018, 11:12 PM

    @Christine Downey: wow!

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    Mute Sean taoiseach
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    Jul 14th 2018, 9:44 PM

    Always ready to blame the operators but ask yourself when was the last time when your kids begged for a bouncy castle did you once stop and question the licence or otherwise of the supplier. A tragic accident a little soul lost may she rest in peace

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