AMBER ALERT WI - Jayme Closs, 13, Barron, missing after parents found shot, 15 Oct 2018 *endangered* #27

[YNWA-Gerrard]

Just a question.. some old photos show the door with glass door...

Was that on at the time of shooting?? Or removed. I think if it was it would be pain for perp... unless there’s 2 perps or he has locked open.

Sorry if this already asked.

 

[mickey2942]

I find it odd, that the neighbors heard the gunshot, and did not call the police. I know that they voluntarily had their house searched by officers.

It just seems "off" to me.

If I heard 2 gunshots at 12:00 am, in my neighborhood, you bet I would call the police in a heartbeat.

 

[DissociativeFugue]

I find it odd, that the neighbors heard the gunshot, and did not call the police. I know that they voluntarily had their house searched by officers.

It just seems "off" to me.

If I heard 2 gunshots at 12:00 am, in my neighborhood, you bet I would call the police in a heartbeat.

Same. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t.

 

[Celt1997]

If I heard 2 gunshots at 12:00 am, in my neighborhood, you bet I would call the police in a heartbeat.

BBM.

That is the crux of the point right there. In your neighborhood it may be out of the ordinary. There is a lot of rural space in the USA, and a large portion of the people who live there are used to gunshots at all hours of the day/night - most all of which are not nefarious at all.

 

[mickey2942]

BBM.

That is the crux of the point right there. In your neighborhood it may be out of the ordinary. There is a lot of rural space in the USA, and a large portion of the people who live there are used to gunshots at all hours of the day/night - most all of which are not nefarious at all.

I live in Montana, extremely rural area, and folks are not shooting guns at all hours of the night here. It is usually dead silent around here.

 

[DissociativeFugue]

That’s a good point. It would indeed depend on the individual area as to whether locals calling the police over gunshots would be appropriate or not.

Has anyone figured out how far apart the two houses are, though? I’m trying to imagine how loud the gunshots may have sounded to the neighbors. If they were
high-powered, loud gunshots obviously from a very close vicinity, that does make me think that it’s pretty strange for them to have disregarded it. But if it sounded like it could have been from a bit of a distance, I probably would not have thought much about it either.

 

[mickey2942]

The neighbors heard the shots at 12:30, and verified to each other, the husband said, "It sounds like a big gun.".

The 911 call came from inside the house at 12:58, someone asking for "help".

That is 1/2 hour later. That seems significant to me. When the neighbors heard the shots, did they look outside? Do they have dogs? Did they hear dogs barking? Did they just hear 2 gun blasts and roll over and go to sleep?

 

[YNWA-Gerrard]

Same. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t.

I could see both sides ... where they were scaring any kind of animal away from car ..

But if your doing that why two shots and loud af shotgun to wake up neighbors..
If neighbors thought just scaring a bear... would u look outside...

Who wants to walk into a bear @ 6 am. Call the police call your neighbors??

If anything they are odd...probably don’t wanna get middle of nothing @ 1 am

 

[pepper 34]

That’s a good point. It would indeed depend on the individual area as to whether locals calling the police over gunshots would be appropriate or not.

Has anyone figured out how far apart the two houses are, though? I’m trying to imagine how loud the gunshots may have sounded to the neighbors. If they were
high-powered, loud gunshots obviously from a very close vicinity, that does make me think that it’s pretty strange for them to have disregarded it. But if it sounded like it could have been from a bit of a distance, I probably would not have thought much about it either.

I measured about 0.18 miles between the Closs house and the neighbor who called 911.

 

[proctorelites]

I live in an area where one hears gunshots at random times. very country. If I hear gunfire near my house I'd sit straight up in bed, listen for more to determine if its gunshots. Possibly open my door to listen for other noises. That's how crimes slip by neighbors. I dislike calling the police. However wrong that may be, unless I hear somebody screaming, crying help or, see somebody being harmed i will not call the police. Gunshots, tires squealing, dogs barking, other loud noises still no voices or screams, I may fret over it and relay it to 911 as "idk, but I heard some noise nearby, maybe its nothing, worries me, b/c of gunshots". I'm disinclined to believe the neighbors were wrong for not calling. I've dealt with police, it's often more trouble than its worth to me. So I want to be absolutely sure before I'll call. which allows time to slip by, I recognize tht fact & thts what I think occurred w/ the neighbors.

 

[Maybelline]

Yeah, I can add that one to my list of possible scenarios.

I pop in every few days and it is SO disheartening that they sheriff isn't doing anything new to spur leads. No press conferences (even if there arent super duper major updates). Not releasing the 911 call (redacted or otherwise). Nothing. We are just sitting here watching a bad situation get worse by the day and leads get fewer and the case get colder.

In my opinion, and this is something I just arrived at recently, the 911 call provides evidence of Jayme being badly hurt and/or killed, and the Sheriff's office is holding back the tape simply because it is now EXCLUSIVELY evidence insofar as a future trial and conviction. If they truly believed that she may be alive out there, I cannot imagine they would be withholding it entirely.

I just have to believe that the audio is not being released because it is just muffled noise from another room and would serve no purpose.

 

[crhedBngr]

Just a general question. I know that WS has policies about not sleuthing anyone that is not a POI. They also have the same policies about sleuthing family members and I understand why and I get it. Are these policies only for public forums? Are we allowed to have private conversations and discuss the above?

Yes, you are allowed to have private conversations. You simply start a conversation and invite other members to join it.

Having said that, I think the private-conversation rules are more relaxed than the public forums on WS.

I've been trying to find rules for private conversations, but haven't been successful. I'll keep looking.

ETA: Here you go. Found this under the "FAQ" section.

Conversations and Other User Interactions

• How do Conversations (aka Private Messages or "PMs") work?
• How do I start a Conversation with someone?
• How do I delete a conversation from my inbox?
• Can I "favorite" an important conversation in my inbox?
• How do I add more people to a Conversation?
• What is the purpose of "following" someone?
• How do I see who I'm following and who's following me?
• Can I stop someone from following me?
• How do I control which users I "ignore"?
• How do I view someone's profile page?
• How do I disable email notifications for Conversations?

 

[WiseOwl]

I find it odd, that the neighbors heard the gunshot, and did not call the police. I know that they voluntarily had their house searched by officers.

It just seems "off" to me.

If I heard 2 gunshots at 12:00 am, in my neighborhood, you bet I would call the police in a heartbeat.

This is what the neighbours had to say about the night in question according to the NY Daily News 22 October 2018:

Joan Smrekar said 'it was not uncommon to hear hunters out shooting in the area but the sheer volume of these shots made her feel they were different. She asked her husband if it was gunshots they heard and he said yes, and that it was a big gun'. She also said their dog was bothered by something but was not barking, and that her clock said 12.38 but was off by 7 minutes or so , so was more like 12.30 am.

If only they had called the police......

 

[YNWA-Gerrard]

I just have to believe that the audio is not being released because it is just muffled noise from another room and would serve no purpose.

You could be right. But 911 operator stated yelling. I don’t know about you. But if I hear yelling.... you can usually make out something... if it was just muffled noise I would think family atleast hear it.

 

[psych-nurse]

I live in an area where one hears gunshots at random times. very country. If I hear gunfire near my house I'd sit straight up in bed, listen for more to determine if its gunshots. Possibly open my door to listen for other noises. That's how crimes slip by neighbors. I dislike calling the police. However wrong that may be, unless I hear somebody screaming, crying help or, see somebody being harmed i will not call the police. Gunshots, tires squealing, dogs barking, other loud noises still no voices or screams, I may fret over it and relay it to 911 as "idk, but I heard some noise nearby, maybe its nothing, worries me, b/c of gunshots". I'm disinclined to believe the neighbors were wrong for not calling. I've dealt with police, it's often more trouble than its worth to me. So I want to be absolutely sure before I'll call. which allows time to slip by, I recognize tht fact & thts what I think occurred w/ the neighbors.

Same with me. I live in a rural area with a part time police department. We have a coyote issue and I have heard gunshots late at night. To bother the police of a neighboring town for a non emergency is a concern I would have as well.

 

[jayaxx]

I just have to believe that the audio is not being released because it is just muffled noise from another room and would serve no purpose.

I dont think so any more. I feel like audio with "no perceived purpose" at this point has a huge purpose, that being to stimulate more leads and warm up a cooling case. I sadly think there is something on that tape that contradicts their belief that she is alive and well.

 

[Steelslady]

BBM.

That is the crux of the point right there. In your neighborhood it may be out of the ordinary. There is a lot of rural space in the USA, and a large portion of the people who live there are used to gunshots at all hours of the day/night - most all of which are not nefarious at all.

Last night, a hunter was out at 1:30 am shooting. Some neighborhoods, that would be very odd. For us, this is normal during most of the year. Even late at night, early morning, farmers shot at animals going after their chickens and other animals. When I first moved up here, it was so unnerving- I wasn't used to it at all. Now it's so normal, I don't think anything of it.

 

[JRW]

I wonder if anyone has looked at food delivery drivers in the area... with both parents doing factory work and a daughter that is involved in sports and dancing I wouldn't be surprized if there was alot of pizza or take out on the menu from time to time. I know with my husband and my schedule and my kids schedules sometimes ordering out is so much easier. A driver that routinely goes to their house may observe the layout and the outside and the families schedule... (if they order late at night, if its usually just mom or dad or both home etc.) Also a delivery person wouldn't look out of place driving by multiple times at odd hours if they wanted to check out the place and observe a pattern.

 

[Lillymac]

The neighbors heard the shots at 12:30, and verified to each other, the husband said, "It sounds like a big gun.".

The 911 call came from inside the house at 12:58, someone asking for "help".

That is 1/2 hour later. That seems significant to me. When the neighbors heard the shots, did they look outside? Do they have dogs? Did they hear dogs barking? Did they just hear 2 gun blasts and roll over and go to sleep?

Good questions. I can't believe they didn't at least stay awake for a little bit to make sure things were status quo. I hear shots frequently, but I stay on alert afterwards for awhile. Hard to imagine they heard nothing or saw no blinking lights.
And why were they not alerted immediately of what happened next property over? Did LE think at that early point there was no danger to anyone else? What if the perps were hiding in their house holding them hostage...for some reason LE didn't think so apparently. jmo

 

[Lillymac]

Last night, a hunter was out at 1:30 am shooting. Some neighborhoods, that would be very odd. For us, this is normal during most of the year. Even late at night, early morning, farmers shot at animals going after their chickens and other animals. When I first moved up here, it was so unnerving- I wasn't used to it at all. Now it's so normal, I don't think anything of it.

Hunting what at 1:30 a.m.??? Here in Texas that's highly illegal!! Called spot lighting and if caught, you go to jail.