The Latest on authorities in Wisconsin finding 13-year-old Jayme Closs alive nearly three months after her parents were killed and she disappeared (all times local):
11:30 p.m.
A Wisconsin couple is describing the dramatic moments when a neighbor pounded on their door to say she had stumbled across Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old girl who had been missing nearly three months.
Kristin and Peter Kasinskas say their neighbor had a skinny, dirty girl with matted hair standing next to her. The neighbor shouted, “This is Jayme Closs! Call 911!”
Peter Kasinskas tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Jayme was quiet and showed little emotion. He says she told them she didn’t know where she was or anything about Gordon, the small town near where she was found.
Jayme’s parents were killed in October at the family’s home near Barron and Jayme went missing. The place where she was found is a little more than an hour’s drive to the north.
Authorities say they have a suspect in custody and planned to release more information Friday.
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10:50 p.m.
A town official says a Wisconsin girl who turned up safe after being missing nearly three months was found in a small forested area of cabin-like homes about 6 miles east of the small Town of Gordon.
Jayme Closs was found Thursday afternoon in northwestern Wisconsin, about 65 miles north of where her parents were shot to death and Jayme vanished from their home in October.
Denny Kline, board chairman in the Town of Gordon, says he first learned Jayme was found while listening to a police scanner, which he has for work. He says he heard Jayme was walking down the road and someone stopped near her.
Kline says he heard on the scanner that Jayme told them who she was, and they brought her to their home.
The Associated Press was not able to verify Kline’s account with authorities late Thursday. The non-emergency line at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office rang unanswered and Sheriff Thomas Dalbec didn’t respond to an email.
Authorities say a suspect is in custody but aren’t giving other details ahead of a Friday news conference.
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9:40 p.m.
Wisconsin authorities say a teenager missing since her parents were killed in October was found alive in a tiny town about 40 miles south of Lake Superior.
Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs went missing Oct. 15 when her parents were found dead in the family’s home near Barron in northwestern Wisconsin. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department posted on its Facebook page Thursday evening that she had been found alive in Douglas County, Wisconsin, which borders Lake Superior.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department posted a note on its website saying Jayme was “located” in the Town of Gordon at 4:43 p.m. Thursday and a suspect was apprehended in the town about 10 minutes later. The note offered no other details. The department’s non-emergency line rang unanswered Thursday evening and Sheriff Thomas Dalbec didn’t immediately respond to an email.
The Town of Gordon lies about 65 miles north of Barron.
Jayme’s grandfather, Robert Naiberg, tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the teen was being treated at a hospital before being reunited with family.
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9 p.m.
A Wisconsin mayor says he’s overjoyed that a teenager missing since her parents were killed in October has been found alive
Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs went missing Oct. 15, when her parents were found dead in the family’s home near Barron in northwestern Wisconsin. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department posted on its Facebook page Thursday evening that Jayme had been found alive in Douglas County, Wisconsin, which borders Lake Superior.
Authorities are planning a news conference Friday morning. They say they have a suspect in custody but won’t give more details until then.
Barron Mayor Ron Fladten says he hasn’t heard any details about Closs’ discovery. He says knowing she’s been found is “unbelievable. It’s like taking a big black cloud in the sky and getting rid of it and the sun comes out again.”
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8:55 p.m.
The cousin of a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who was missing almost three months before being found safe Thursday is thanking law enforcement and the community for support.
Lacey Naiberg posted on Facebook after the Barron County sheriff reported that Jayme Closs had been found. Jayme went missing in October after her parents were killed at the family home in northern Wisconsin.
Naiberg wrote “there are no words to describe” the feeling of having so many people come together to help. She asks people to continue to pray for “Jayme’s well-being and our families healing.”
Authorities say a suspect is in custody, but say they won’t release any more information ahead of a news conference Friday.
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8:29 p.m.
Authorities in northwestern Wisconsin say a 13-year-old girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed has been found alive.
The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page that Jayme Closs has been located Thursday and that a suspect was taken into custody.
Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the sheriff’s office in Douglas County, about 70 miles north of Barron County, located the girl. A suspect was apprehended a short time later. The statement did not say where Jayme was found or give any further information about the suspect.
The sheriff’s office plans to hold a news conference Friday morning to discuss the case.
Jayme Closs has been missing since her parents were found dead Oct. 15 at the family’s home near Barron.
