Scary New Details About The Wisconsin Girl Who Went Missing After Her Parents Were Found Dead In Their Home
She is not a suspect in her parents' murder.
Photo via Facebook The small town of Barron, Wisconsin rarely, if ever, makes national headlines. With a population of just over three thousand, a double murder and kidnapping case is almost completely unheard of.
However, at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 15, police received a strange 911 call that led them to the Closs home just outside of town. It was later determined that the call had come from 46-year-old Denise Closs's cell phone when dispatch tried to call back and got her voicemail recording.
The call itself was somewhat out of the ordinary, as the caller did not directly speak with the operator. The operator interpreted that there was a struggle ensuing and that someone seemed to be crying for help. Police continue to analyze the unusual call as they search for information about what really occurred that night.
Upon the police’s arrival, they found two deceased adults: Denise Closs and her husband, 56-year-old James Closs. James was found injured with multiple gunshots near the door, which had been kicked in. It is unknown at this time if he was alive when officers arrived. Denise's body was found in the bathroom, where she may have barricaded herself to call 911.
According to Daily Mail, the cause of their deaths has not yet been released to the public pending an autopsy, although police have confirmed that gunshots had been fired in the home in proximity to the bodies.
If a double murder wasn’t enough to shock the residents of Barron as well as the nation, the absence of the couple’s daughter, Jayme Closs, certainly was.
CBS This Morning reports that an Amber Alert is currently in effect for the missing 13-year-old and that authorities believe that she is in danger. A description released to the public described Jayme as being 5 feet tall and weighing 100 pounds with strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. She is not considered a suspect in her parents’ murder case.
Nearly 25 hours after the bodies were found, police received reports that a girl matching Jayme’s description was spotted in Miami, over 1700 miles away from the Closs home. A drive from Barron to Miami would take nearly 25 hours, so the time frame is plausible. The girl was reportedly accompanied by two well-dressed, bearded, possibly Middle-Eastern men.
The men were reportedly driving a black Ford Explorer with a Wisconsin license plate reading I60WER and were caught on CCTV footage at a gas station. While the lead seemed credible at first, it was later determined to be unlikely that it involved Jayme.
As the nation searches for Jayme, police are working to follow up with every possible lead. Back in Barron, friends, family members and neighbors continue to hope for the best, offering any and all information that could be helpful to the investigation.
Joan Smrekar, a neighbor of the family, described hearing gunshots on Monday night to a local Wisconsin news station, WEAU 13 News. However, she didn’t call police because she thought that someone was shooting an animal, a relatively normal occurrence in the rural area.
“There's deer, there's bear, you name it out here so no it didn't really bother us to hear shots. It’s just something that we hear and with hunting season coming,” she said. Searches to the fields around the Closs home did not find any additional evidence.
Family members report that they last saw her at a family gathering on Sunday afternoon, hours before the incident. A family member, Ed Downing Sr., described the family’s feelings following the deaths of the Closs' parents and Jayme’s disappearance to NBC News.
“It was just unbelievable, unbelievable. How can this be happening to us? To a small community like that, you know. It’s unreal,” he said in shock.
The search for Jayme remains urgent, and anyone with information that might lead to her safe return is encouraged to call 911 or the 24-hour tip line at 855-744-3879.
Emily is a freelance writer based in Colorado. She is interested in politics, feminism, and psychology and enjoys photography and outdoor activities in her spare time.