Audio of the 911 call moments after Jayme Closs escaped captivity in a northwestern Wisconsin home revealed a caller who is certain that her surprise visitor is the teenager who had been missing for nearly three months.
911 callers said publicity during search left them certain girl at door was Jayme Closs
"Yes, it is her," the woman told a dispatcher. "I'm 100 percent."
January 16, 2019 at 2:43AM
"I have a young lady at my house right now and she says her name is Jayme Closs," Kristin Kasinskas said late Thursday afternoon in her call to Douglas County emergency dispatch from her home near Gordon, Wis.
Authorities this week released the audio of the 30-minute call, which revealed the neighbors remaining calm while realizing the danger of the situation as authorities rushed to the scene.
"OK, have you seen her photo, ma'am?" the dispatcher asked Kasinskas, referring to the near-daily public display of Jayme's image since her parents were shot dead in their home near Barron, Wis., moments before 21-year-old Jake Patterson allegedly abducted her.
"Yes, it is her," Kasinskas replied. "I'm 100 percent it is her. One hundred percent."
"Did she show up walking?" the dispatcher asked.
"A neighbor just walked up with her to our house and asked us to call 911," Kasinskas said.
As the dispatcher paused in her questioning, Kasinskas chatted with Jayme, asking whether she was cold and maybe needed a blanket or something to drink.
Jayme's voice can be faintly heard as the conversation turned to a show on TV and the family dog.
Acting on information from Jayme, law enforcement soon located Patterson nearby driving around looking for the teen, according to murder and kidnapping charges filed Monday in Barron County. Patterson made his first court appearance where bail was set at $5 million.
The neighbor Jayme had approached, Jeanne Nutter, took over the conversation with the dispatcher and said, "When I walked into this house, they recognized her immediately from the posters."
Nutter also said Jayme told her, " 'He killed my parents. I want to go home. Help me.' "
The dispatcher asked for the suspect's name, and Nutter relayed from Jayme his identity as Jake Patterson.
As the more than 30-minute call was close to wrapping up, Nutter, a retired social worker, can be heard saying to Jayme, "You OK? I don't want you to be scared."
"What did she say?" the dispatcher asked.
"I was just asking her if she was afraid, and she said no," Nutter said.
Soon afterward, deputies arrived at the home.
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