Wisconsin sheriff: Jayme Closs found alive, suspect in custody

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, authorities said Thursday.

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 Thursday 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 4:43 p.m. Thursday, 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.

Jayme Closs has been missing since her parents, James and Denise Closs, were found shot to death Oct. 15 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 Oct. 23 but it yielded no clues.