AMBER ALERT WI - Jayme Closs, 13, Barron, missing after parents found shot to death, 15 Oct 2018 *endangered* #9

[Deleted member 158085]

3 things that stood out to me from Whiskers awesome post...

"The Smrekars reported hearing two high-powered gunshots after 12:30 a.m. Monday."
"Where deputies found the bullet-riddled bodies"
The family’s dog was alive inside the residence when deputies responded.

Why only 2 shots heard, if the bodies were "riddled" with bullets?
Riddled bodies = overkill. It was personal.
Dog alive and unharmed? Dogs act on instinct to protect their pack and would attack a stranger...

The dog was an itty bitty thing. Likely easily controlled. Possibly timid rather than protective. Or possibly just out of the way in a crate somewhere.

 

[Gardener1850]

Thanks

Also looking at google maps aerial view of the area, it looks like all the houses are pretty close. But I keep hearing that their neighbors wouldn't have heard. But this really kinda looks like suburb area and I just have to believe someone saw something.

Are you sure you are looking at the right house? They don't live in a suburb at all. They live on a two lane hwy road. And the nearest neighbor is about 200 or 300 yards away (based on other posters measurements). The lots are heavily wooded between houses.

ETA: Here is a google street view of their house: Google Maps

 

[zecats]

Anyone know where the hunting cabin is located the Closs family has used? Not sure if it's a family cabin or rental.

James’ Facebook page shows him and his cousins at a cabin and photo is near F&8 Bar in Weyerhaeuser WI. Someone calls it the cousin’s cabin so seemingly not a rental.

 

[Shade13]

Are you sure you are looking at the right house? They don't live in a suburb at all. They live on a two lane hwy road. And the nearest neighbor is about 200 or 300 yards away (based on other posters measurements). The lots are heavily wooded between houses.

ETA: Here is a google street view of their house: Google Maps

Yah my mistake, I seen it

 

[Gardener1850]

When my grandpa died, the cars had to be moved for the ambulance/coroner stretcher access. May have had to do the same here.

That makes sense BeeGirl. Thanks. I didn't think they would want to mess with a crime scene but I guess they could have taken photos first.

 

[MsBetsy]

3 things that stood out to me from Whiskers awesome post...

"The Smrekars reported hearing two high-powered gunshots after 12:30 a.m. Monday."
"Where deputies found the bullet-riddled bodies"
The family’s dog was alive inside the residence when deputies responded.

Why only 2 shots heard, if the bodies were "riddled" with bullets?
Riddled bodies = overkill. It was personal.
Dog alive and unharmed? Dogs act on instinct to protect their pack and would attack a stranger...

I have never seen it stated that the bodies were riddled with bullets. What is the source?

 

[IceIce9]

Not recent by any stretch, but still happened and still could have connections with former in-laws. My mother has been divorced from her first husband for almost 40 years, but she still attended his mother's funeral a few years back because they occasionally kept in contact after the divorce/annulment. There were no children in that marriage, so similar situation to Jayme's parents - just a thought.

Even in marriages that ended long ago there could possibly be long simmering resentments.

A colleague of mine was married for several years to a man who insisted that he did not want children. Their marriage ended, he remarried- and almost immediately began a family with wife #2. Four children in eight years.

Years later my colleague still wonders why he refused to have kids during his marriage to her, but is dad to four kids in his second marriage.


Other resentments could involve money, vacations, lifestyle, who knows what else?

Or former in-laws could harbor resentment against a former son-in-labor daughter-in-law, whether real it imagined.

Again, what makes sense in a case where nothing makes sense?

 

[Alethea]

The last post in the last thread asked what the difference between abduction and kidnapping is.

Abduction is the unlawful taking of another person. Kidnapping is a type of abduction where the person kidnapped is forcibly taken and held against their will.

The broader term of abduction includes situations where the person may be taken unlawfully but not against their will. Parental abductions are the most common form of abduction. The child might not be held against their will but they were taken by fraud or against a court order. Assisting a child runaway is another form of abduction, as the child is not taken against their will but they are taken unlawfully as they are supposed to be under the supervision of their parents.

 

[Mdawg008]

When my grandpa died, the cars had to be moved for the ambulance/coroner stretcher access. May have had to do the same here.

Sorry for your loss. If a person passes from natural causes they would certainly move vehicles as needed, however, this being a crime scene it’d be very rare for them to move any vehicles for any other reason than to perform forensics at their facility.

 

[coffeeandacig]

I have never seen it stated that the bodies were riddled with bullets. What is the source?

Whiskers16 post on first page of this thread:

Police response

• Deputies arrived to the home less than four minutes later [1]
• Deputies arrived just 4 minutes after the call ended [15]
• No one was in sight and no vehicles were in the immediate area [1]
• "Where deputies found the bullet-riddled bodies" [4]

Whiskers16 has the citation and source for the direct quote.

 

[jalbitz]

I don't have a link to it handy but you posted a video earlier that showed the medical examiner in the driveway. Is the trash can visible behind the truck in that video?

In every video I have seen, the garbage can was NOT behind the truck.

 

[Alethea]

Huge rewards don’t seem to help. Most go unpaid, jmo.

None of the undocumented immigrants who knew CR came forward even with the $230k and likely amnesty they would get for providing information on Mollie's murder. I can't imagine a situation more perfect for enticing someone to come forward with more information. And yet, nothing. I do not think people are actually motivated with rewards in cases of murder. If you have a conscience, you will come forward without payment. If you don't want to get involved or have enough to hide yourself, no monetary payment will entice you.

 

[SausagePizza]

Just reading everybody's input today, and wanted to say hi sleuths. Monday morning is just around the corner.

 

[MsBetsy]

There are numerous fundraisers in Jayme and the family name that has made numerous dollars combined.

Plus the parents employer may possibly pay for the parents funeral for good sake.

So why hasn't the reward been upgraded? Just asking.

I think it will be.

 

[LaylaD]

@Whiskers16 - thank you for the great recap!

As to the shots the neighbors heard, here is the best that I have found, from a 10/17 CNN phone interview Ashleigh Banfield did with the neighbor.

CNN.com - Transcripts

JS, CLOSS` NEIGHBOR: We had come home about 11:30. We went to bed about quarter after 12:00. We were not sleeping and we heard the first shot and just a couple seconds is the second shot. And I asked my husband, I said, were those gunshots? Because they were so loud? And he said, yes, and he said, it`s a big gun and I rolled over and looked at the time on my clock, and it said 12:38. My clock is off by seven minutes per the Sheriff`s department, so this happened roughly around 12:30.

BANFIELD: And you said you heard those two shots and by your best recollection, those shots were a couple of seconds, like two, three, four seconds in between?

JS: It was just bang and bang. That close together.

————
BBM
I noticed that the time mentioned was 12:38, with the clock being off by seven seconds. Any chance that the clock seeven seconds was slow instead of seven seconds fast, placing the time they heard the shots at 12:45? This would have a much shorter window of time between when the shots were fired/heard (perhaps the fatal shots to JC) and when the 911 call was placed.

 

[kas]

How long do the police and fbi usually remain at the crime scene? I talked to my sister today and she said when they drove by the Closs home yesterday there was still a number of police and fbi vehicles there.

 

[rainynights]

Whiskers16 post on first page of this thread:

Police response

• Deputies arrived to the home less than four minutes later [1]
• Deputies arrived just 4 minutes after the call ended [15]
• No one was in sight and no vehicles were in the immediate area [1]
• "Where deputies found the bullet-riddled bodies" [4]

Whiskers16 has the citation and source for the direct quote.

It's creatively hidden at the bottom of Whisker16's post, behind the button titled "Spoiler - Sources" (scroll to bottom, and just above attached images).

If you click that button, the list of sources will be revealed, which are ordered by numbers within brackets.

For the "bullet-riddled bodies" see Daily Mail article, below (that specific sentence is noted in a photo caption):

• [4] Daily Mail, "Desperate search for 'missing and endangered' 13-year-old girl after her parents are found shot to death in their home", Two adults found dead in Wisconsin home and a 13-year-old girl is missing | Daily Mail Online

 

[pittie_mcclure]

In every video I have seen, the garbage can was NOT behind the truck.

The garbage can was not there because I remember thinking that could just be his natural spot to pull into since they work different shifts and want to keep the driveway clear. I thought "pull in" because there was no garbage can there.

 

[alwaysonmymind]

Jayme Closs remains missing and endangered per Barron County Sheriff.

Hmmmm. Now I'm wondering why she's not listed as being kidnapped or abducted.

Barron County Sheriff's Department

 

[Mysteries1974]

I do not know if Jaymes namus profile is of use. I did not put a DNA profile up when I submitted her. I think Brenda Galarza May have put the DNA profile up. I thinks it’s useful but I don’t know.
Missing Person Case