- Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, kidnapping, and armed burglary in connection to the abduction of Jayme Closs and the murder of the 13-year-old girl’s parents.
- On Tuesday, two sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Patterson hosted a Christmas party while he was holding Jayme hostage at his family’s house in Gordon, Wisconsin.
- According to the report, Jayme was forced to hide under a twin bed while Patterson’s family was over.
More than two months after police say Jake Patterson killed Jayme Closs’ parents and took the 13-year-old girl hostage, he reportedly hosted Christmas party at his family’s house where authorities say he was keeping the teen captive.
This is according to two law enforcement sources who spoke with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a report published Tuesday.
According to the report, Jayme was forced to hide under a twin bed while Patterson’s family was over.
One of the sources said Patterson “told (Jayme) that if she made a noise or tried to escape, he would kill her.”
The law enforcement sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told the newspaper that the party consisted of Patterson's father, sister, and their respective dates.
There was no indication that the family members knew Jayme was being held in the home, the sources said.
The Journal Sentinel reached out to Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald for comment, but he said that he could not confirm whether the gathering took place or not.
Jayme made a daring escape from the home on January 10, after Patterson had left for the day. A neighbor came across her on the street and they went to another neighbor's house to call police.
Patterson was arrested later that day and charged with kidnapping, armed burglary, and two counts of intentional first-degree homicide. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life in prison sentence.
While Patterson's father cried in court during his son's arraignment, he later told CNN: "All I care about right now is Jayme's family."
Patterson's grandfather, Jim Moyer, told ABC News that the family had no idea what he was up to.
"Nobody had any clues up until this thing happened," Moyer said.
Read the full report at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel »
- Read more about the Jayme Closs case:
- On the day Jayme Closs escaped, the man accused of kidnapping her applied to a job, calling himself an 'honest guy'
- The man suspected of kidnapping Jayme Closs killed her parents so he could get to her, investigators say
- Everything we know about Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs, who was found alive 3 months after her parents were brutally murdered
- The man suspected of kidnapping Jayme Closs and murdering her parents is a 21-year-old who grew up an hour from the teen's family
