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Jayme Closs’ Alleged Kidnapper Applied For Job Day Before She Escaped, Described Himself As 'Honest And Hardworking'
Jake Patterson reportedly wanted to work at a Wisconsin liquor store and embellished his job experience to get the gig.
The man suspected of killing a Wisconsin teen’s parents and then holding her captive in a remote cabin for nearly three months reportedly described himself an “honest and hardworking guy” when he applied for a job at a liquor store one day before the girl escaped.
Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, was charged Monday with murder and kidnapping in addition to armed robbery for allegedly abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, back in October. He had no prior links to Closs and allegedly told police he decided to abduct her after spotting her getting on a school bus.
Patterson reportedly applied for a job at Saratoga Liquors in Superior, Wisonsin, a 40-mile drive from the cabin he allegedly kept Closs at for months, KARE 11 in Minneapolis reports.
He appeared to have applied online, and on that application he wrote “I’m an honest and hardworking guy. Not much work experience, but I show up to work and I’m a quick learner.”
Patterson was applying for a night warehouse position, according to WISN 12 NEWS in Milwaukee.
On that same application, he wrote that he was at a Marine Corps Boot Camp in San Diego in 2017 for five months. What he neglected to include was the fact that he was discharged by the Marines and didn’t even finish two months of boot camp. Also, his brief stint was in 2015, not 2017.
He wrote that he worked at Bohman Concrete in Hayward, Wisconsin between April 2018 and November 2018 but that also appears to be an embellishment as law enforcement said he was unemployed when he allegedly kidnapped Closs.
He did work at the Saputo Cheese Factory in Almena, but as Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright noted during Patterson’s first court appearance earlier this week, that was only for two days.
Patterson was fired from the cheese factory job after he neglected to show up for a shift, according to WISN.
Just one day after Patterson applied for the liquor store job, Closs escaped the cabin and ran to neighbors for help.
[Photo: Barron County Sheriff’s Department]
