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Kidnapping suspect moved to new jail

By: Associated Press//January 15, 2019//

Kidnapping suspect moved to new jail

By: Associated Press//January 15, 2019//

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Jake Thomas Patterson makes his first appearance on video before Judge James Babler at the Barron County Justice Center in Barron, Wis., Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. Patterson, a Wisconsin man accused of abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs and holding her captive for three months, made up his mind to take her when he spotted the teenager getting on a school bus, authorities said Monday. (Adam Wesley/The Post-Crescent via AP, Pool)
Jake Thomas Patterson makes his first appearance on video before Judge James Babler at the Barron County Justice Center in Barron on Monday. Patterson, a Wisconsin man accused of abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs and holding her captive for three months, made up his mind to take her when he spotted the teenager getting on a school bus, authorities said Monday. (Adam Wesley/The Post-Crescent via AP, Pool)

BARRON, Wis. (AP) — The man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents has been transferred to a different jail.

Twenty-one-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson had been held in the Barron County Jail since his arrest Thursday. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says he moved Patterson to adjoining Polk County on Monday night.

Fitzgerald confirmed that one of Jayme’s relatives works at the Barron County facility, but he called the transfer an “administrative decision” and said no one threatened Patterson. He says Patterson will be jailed in Barron County for court appearances.

Investigators believe Patterson broke into Jayme’s home near Barron in October, killed her parents and abducted her, then hid her for nearly three months in a cabin in remote Douglas County. Jayme escaped on Thursday. Deputies arrested Patterson minutes later.

A new criminal complaint offers the most detailed accounting yet of how 13-year-old Jayme Closs was abducted from her home and held captive for three months after an intruder killed both of her parents.

Patterson is accused of hiding her in a 2½-foot space under his bed for hours at a time, warning her that if she tried to flee “bad things would happen.”

The complaint filed Monday says Patterson kept Jayme trapped in his remote cabin. Finally last week, she mustered up the courage to escape. Police say she fled the cabin and found a neighbor who called 911.

Patterson was arrested minutes later and charged on Monday. The complaint says he did not know Jayme but saw her get on a school bus one day and decided he would take her. His motivation remains unknown.

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