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Is Jayme Closs Entitled To The $50K Reward, Since She Technically Rescued Herself?
The neighbors who called 911 when the teen appeared at their door say she should get the money.
Who should get the $50,000 reward for rescuing Jayme Closs, 13-year-old Wisconsin teen who escaped captivity after being kidnapped nearly three months ago?
Some, including the neighbors that she ran to for help, say it should be Closs herself.
"Because she got herself out," Kristin Kasinskas said. She and her husband Peter called 911 after Closs and another neighbor, Jeanne Nutter, who was walking her dog when the teen approached her Thursday, banged on their door for assistance.
The couple said they have not been offered the reward money, but they told CNN that if they were, they wouldn’t want it. They think that if the money belongs to anyone, it should be Closs herself.
Closs had been missing since Oct. 15 when Jake Thomas Patterson allegedly broke into her family's home outside Barron and fatally shot her parents, James and Denise Closs. Last Thursday, after nearly three months of seemingly futile searching, Closs managed to escape her captor and seek help. In doing so, she volunteered information about where she was being held captive and who was holding her against her will.
The FBI had offered a $25,000 reward for any information leading to her rescue and her parents’ former employee Jennie-O Turkey Store tacked another $25,000 to that reward.
But, because she technically rescued herself, what will happen to that money?
"That's a question for someone else other than me," District Attorney Brian Wright told CNN.
Meanwhile, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald, told the national news outlet that his department will soon discuss the matter with the FBI.
During last week’s press conference he called the teen a hero for her actions.
“It’s amazing that will of that 13-year-old girl to survive and escape,” he said.
Barron Area School District Superintendent Diane Tremblay also celebrated Closs’ ability to save herself.
“We want to thank Jayme for being so courageous and for finding an opportunity to come back to us,” she said. "What an extraordinary young lady."
Since her escape, Closs has been reunited with family in Wisconsin.
[Photo: FBI]
