Crime & Justice

$50,000 Reward Still Up in the Air in Jayme Closs Case

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Many believe that the money should go to Jayme, who escaped from her kidnapper on January 10.

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FBI/Handout/Reuters

Days after missing Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs escaped from her suspected kidnapper Jake Patterson, authorities are working to determine who should receive the $50,000 reward originally allocated for information about her disappearance. The reward is the combination of two $25,000 offers, CNN notes: One from the FBI, and another from the Jennie-O Turkey Store, which employed Closs’ slain parents. CNN reports Wednesday that many believe that the reward should go to Closs, who fled from her kidnapper’s home on January 10 after he told her he would be out for five or six hours. She was eventually discovered by a woman walking her dog, who contacted authorities. After both of her parents were murdered on October 15, Closs had been missing for 88 days.

More information also surfaced about Jayme’s alleged kidnapper Wednesday: the New York Post reports that Patterson applied for a job at a liquor store on the day before Jayme fled, characterizing himself on his job application as “an honest and hardworking guy.” And CNN reports that Patterson’s father, who sobbed throughout his son’s arraignment and originally sat on the prosecution’s side of the courtroom, told the outlet that he has a letter for Jayme’s surviving family. “All I care about right now is Jayme’s family,” he reportedly said. “I want to get them a note.”

Read it at CNN

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