AMBER ALERT WI - Jayme Closs, 13, Barron, missing after parents found shot, 15 Oct 2018 *endangered* #29

[The Dude]

Makes no more sense to me to initially drive down the highway. Park on the side of the highway and go in and shoot up occupants and take a girl. That makes no sense to me. Coming in and leaving thru the back makes just as much sense. Especially if one of those back roads eventually comes out on the highway or a main road. And if they weren't going very far. I think every possibility of escape should be checked out. jmo

I'm not following you here. Why doesn't it make sense to you that straight into a vehicle and *poof* gone down the highway is the fastest way outta Dodge? Occam's Razor and all. On the other hand, why would you go through the woods in the dark with a likely shoeless Jayme in tow? It would keep you in the general vicinity long after LE show up, and you still need a way to get out of the area. Is the car parked somewhere else? Hot air balloon? I dunno.

 

[Rubiconbob]

Makes no more sense to me to initially drive down the highway. Park on the side of the highway and go in and shoot up occupants and take a girl. That makes no sense to me. Coming in and leaving thru the back makes just as much sense. Especially if one of those back roads eventually comes out on the highway or a main road. And if they weren't going very far. I think every possibility of escape should be checked out. jmo

Never understood why not look back way to walk half mile away... drive truck or jeep to atv trails ..... if your local u likely know backways to a lot places...dog tracker would seem good start but not foolproof..

 

[bizzle2]

Makes no more sense to me to initially drive down the highway. Park on the side of the highway and go in and shoot up occupants and take a girl. That makes no sense to me. Coming in and leaving thru the back makes just as much sense. Especially if one of those back roads eventually comes out on the highway or a main road. And if they weren't going very far. I think every possibility of escape should be checked out. jmo

Can't get on board with anything that doesn't involve immediately getting on Hwy 8. Heading out back to the railroad tracks would take a lot of time. Driving along the tracks would mean the perp would have to drive really slow, even in a 4wd vehicle, so that would add more time too. I'm not even sure it's doable in a car/truck without seeing the railroad tracks myself.

Not saying I'm 100% sure that it didn't happen that way, but I'm 100% sure it would be much easier and more logical to jump directly onto Hwy 8.

 

[1987]

might not even be a car involved. could just be a atv.

 

[Mistermagoo]

1. Yes, there are railroad lines, small trails, farm drives, etc. in the area immediately and to the North and East behind the house. There is also a larger North/South highway to the East and Northeast. This is the area that was searched in the second search which was the large 2,ooo people search....... The first search was around 200 people searching West along the Highway 8 ditches from the Closs house to the Turtle Lake area........... No search was ever done going to the East toward town, because LE came from that direction to the Closs home, and passed no one going East at the time of the crime..... I know of no LE shown interest in searching to the South....... I think that is the direction she was taken at this time.....MOO

 

[bizzle2]

Never understood why not look back way to walk half mile away... drive truck or jeep to atv trails ..... if your local u likely know backways to a lot places...dog tracker would seem good start but not foolproof..

Just seems a little far-fetched to me. Hard to take anything off the table so can't rule it out. But walking that far through the woods would take a long time, especially with an extra hundred pounds

 

[Mistermagoo]

1. Yes, there are railroad lines, small trails, farm drives, etc. in the area immediately and to the North and East behind the house. There is also a larger North/South highway to the East and Northeast. This is the area that was searched in the second search which was the large 2,ooo people search....... The first search was around 200 people searching West along the Highway 8 ditches from the Closs house to the Turtle Lake area........... No search was ever done going to the East toward town, because LE came from that direction to the Closs home, and passed no one going East at the time of the crime..... I know of no LE shown interest in searching to the South....... I think that is the direction she was taken at this time.....MOO

Imgur
(very) generic map of where the searches were as opposed to the house. ( found on another site posted by a local )
Red x on hwy 8 is the residence. Orange colored x north of Barron is the Barron county justice center. blue circle on hwy 8 is where they did first search. Blue circle north east of house is where they did second search. Green line is county hwy T ( which a few people stated would be the safest and smartest route to not be seen )

 

[Lillymac]

Can't get on board with anything that doesn't involve immediately getting on Hwy 8. Heading out back to the railroad tracks would take a lot of time. Driving along the tracks would mean the perp would have to drive really slow, even in a 4wd vehicle, so that would add more time too. I'm not even sure it's doable in a car/truck without seeing the railroad tracks myself.

Not saying I'm 100% sure that it didn't happen that way, but I'm 100% sure it would be much easier and more logical to jump directly onto Hwy 8.

And I would agree if I thought this was a random act. But if it was targeted, I believe it would have been planned out with an escape route. That's why they asked hunters to look for anything and why they searched the woods. I think the perps would take advantage of the cover of night and their knowledge of the surrounding woods.
It's just a new thought mainly cause we've worn out the driveway talk. jmo

 

[The Dude]

Imgur
(very) generic map of where the searches were as opposed to the house. ( found on another site posted by a local )
Red x on hwy 8 is the residence. Orange colored x north of Barron is the Barron county justice center. blue circle on hwy 8 is where they did first search. Blue circle north east of house is where they did second search. Green line is county hwy T ( which a few people stated would be the safest and smartest route to not be seen )

And this -

Any idea why this was a 'location of interest'? A tip?

 

[Lillymac]

I'm not following you here. Why doesn't it make sense to you that straight into a vehicle and *poof* gone down the highway is the fastest way outta Dodge? Occam's Razor and all. On the other hand, why would you go through the woods in the dark with a likely shoeless Jayme in tow? It would keep you in the general vicinity long after LE show up, and you still need a way to get out of the area. Is the car parked somewhere else? Hot air balloon? I dunno.

Now that you mention hot air balloon...you think we can get 10 pages of discussion out of it?

 

[Lillymac]

And this -

Any idea why this was a 'location of interest'? A tip?

What is it? A park, it a camping site?

 

[The Dude]

Now that you mention hot air balloon...you think we can get 10 pages of discussion out of it?

Maybe! And if not, perhaps it'll make its way into the Lifetime movie! I can see it now... Bigfoot peering down over the house laughing at the cast of Reno 911...

 

[The Dude]

What is it? A park, it a camping site?

A getaway tractor?

Hungry Hollow

 

[MesquiteO21]

Admittedly it’s been awhile since I followed this thread regularly so I’ve missed a lot of discussion, so feel free to point out flaws in my thinking. Just my thoughts but I think this was a completely random crime carried out by people just passing through or who just got off the four lane highway outside of town, high on drugs or just awful people.
If someone in the family was targeted I feel like LE would have found that connection by now.
If Jayme was spirited away by someone obsessed with her and she is being held somewhere, I think LE would have found that person and Jayme by now. It’s a very small town, everybody would know the odd behaving people, LE would have checked them all out.
If Jayme was part of this and ran off with someone, her social media footprint would be screaming this fact. We would have a suspect and in my opinion they would have been found by now.
Sadly I think Jayme was taken as the killer(s) realized her mother had called 911 and they had to get out quickly. Why didn’t they kill her is the big question. Did they run out of ammunition? It is likely in my opinion she is no longer alive but there’s always hope.
So in a nutshell, I think this is a thrill killing or perhaps a spur of the moment robbery attempt, committed by strangers unknown to the family or the people in the area. It will be hard to solve. Hopefully someone will talk.

Thank you for this, i enjoy being pulled back to the other side from time to time in order to refresh my thinking. Meaning, i've been pretty steadfast on the theory that this was pre-meditated and well planned out in advance.

One thing to keep in mind, IMO, is that someone in the family could've still been targeted with LE not being able to find the connection yet. What if they/one of them specifically were being stalked by an unknown person and were completely oblivious to it? Interviewing family and people at work and school wouldn't really yield anything since none of the Closses would've had any reason to say anything to anybody.

Odd behavior in a small town...also a good point. But perhaps this person really didn't show any behavioral changes? Or they've been able to keep enough people at bay that no one has had the chance to observe any major changes? Or maybe LE does have their eye on someone or even a couple people but they're stuck because they don't have enough solid evidence for an arrest or even enough to issue a search warrant.

I guess i still do lean more towards this being targeted and planned just given the swiftness and "cleanliness" for lack of a better term. But I'm going to still leave open the possibility that this was just completely random. Or maybe it was completely random in that the perps and the Closses never knew each at all, but it was planned because perp(s) had been given false/bad information a la In Cold Blood, where perps thought that family had a large stash of money but actually didn't. That would account for both LE not finding any connections thus far, but also the crime itself appearing very organized.

 

[Rubiconbob]

You see kids that off their parents... there usually way off... I don’t see that with jayme.. track/basketball/friends/she seems too normal... I think a crush of hers coulda gone defcon mental and taken her... either crush she’s aware of... or crush she wasn’t aware of.... like jack ruby killing Oswald thinking he’d be a hero...the perp might of thought he’d be her savior.

Garland teen who killed her parents at age 12 headed to adult prison | Courts | Dallas News

 

[The Dude]

You see kids that off their parents... there usually way off... I don’t see that with jayme.. track/basketball/friends/she seems too normal... I think a crush of hers coulda gone defcon mental and taken her... either crush she’s aware of... or crush she wasn’t aware of.... like jack ruby killing Oswald thinking he’d be a hero...the perp might of thought he’d be her savior.

Garland teen who killed her parents at age 12 headed to adult prison | Courts | Dallas News

Sometimes normal is deceiving. Erin Caffey played piano at her church and was a roller-skating car hop at Sonic...

Erin Caffey | Photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

 

[Rubiconbob]

Maybe! And if not, perhaps it'll make its way into the Lifetime movie! I can see it now... Bigfoot peering down over the house laughing at the cast of Reno 911...

Let’s not rule out hot air balloon... almost worked for George bluth and Charles Manson

Up, Up and No Way: That Time Charles Manson Tried to Escape by Hot Air Balloon

 

[sbsuzilight]

Imgur
(very) generic map of where the searches were as opposed to the house. ( found on another site posted by a local )
Red x on hwy 8 is the residence. Orange colored x north of Barron is the Barron county justice center. blue circle on hwy 8 is where they did first search. Blue circle north east of house is where they did second search. Green line is county hwy T ( which a few people stated would be the safest and smartest route to not be seen )

Thank you for the map. That clears up some questions I had.

 

[Wrenny]

Just my thoughts but I think this was a completely random crime carried out by people just passing through or who just got off the four lane highway outside of town, high on drugs or just awful people.

53 is 4-lane, but the Closs house is about 10 miles from 53. Seems like, if someone was in the mood to do something like that, they wouldn't drive 10 miles, through a town and then stop right outside the town. If they were looking for a house off the highway, there's ones closer to the freeway. If they were looking to get away from the freeway first, because of more people around, you'd think they wouldn't pick right outside of town.

Pulling this up on the map I was looking at some satellite views. I wonder where the kids hang out after school. Looks like 6-7 blocks from the school to Kwik Trip & McDonalds. Did she ever walk the tracks home from school? Or to go into town? It's under 2 miles. When I was her age we walked places on the RR tracks. Yes, the tracks were used, we got off the track when a train was coming. In my case it was a heck of a lot shorter. Might not be shorter for her, but the occasional train would be safer than walking along the 55mph highway. I certainly walked 2 miles to do things at that age.

 

[cody22]

What is it? A park, it a camping site?

It is a meeting place for a lot of people to park vehicles and gather. Tractor shows, flea market, etc. if memory serves me correct. ... I do think LE thought she was taken North early on, but I do not know why.