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Mother Of Jayme Closs Kidnap Suspect Is 'Totally Distraught'
“It’s going to take a while for her to deal,” says a neighbor of Deborah Frey, the mother of Jake Patterson.
The mother of the man accused of going to “great lengths” to kidnap a 13-year-old girl and keep her captive for months after spotting her getting on a school bus is reportedly distraught over her son’s alleged crimes.
Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, was charged Monday with murder and kidnapping in addition to armed robbery for allegedly kidnapping Jayme Closs after killing her parents James and Denise Closs back in October.
He allegedly entered the home, located near Barron, Wisconsin, by blowing the front door open with a shotgun blast. He then allegedly fatally shot the couple and abducted Jayme, who, after nearly three months of being held captive in a cabin, managed to escape on Thursday. Authorities say Patterson went through great lengths to kidnap the teen.
Patterson’s mother Deborah Frey is reportedly beside herself.
“She is totally distraught,” Michael Bogenschneider, a neighbor, told the New York Post.
Bogenschneider and Frey both live across the street from one another in Haugen, Wisconsin, a town with a population of just 285.
Patterson was reportedly unemployed during the time he allegedly held Closs captive. Before that, he worked at a cheese factory for two days. On Monday, Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright described the great efforts he allegedly took to conceal himself in order to get away with the kidnapping, including purchasing a mask and stealing license plates and putting them on his car when he went to the Closs home. Wright said that Patterson shaved his head and face in an attempt to avoid leaving his DNA at the crime scene and that he disengaged the dome light of his car so that he would be less visible.
Bogenschneider said Frey sent him several emotional text messages over the past few days.
“It’s going to take a while for her to deal,” he told the Post.
He said that the home where she lives has become a drop-off point for flowers from friends and neighbors, who are worried about her.
Frey reportedly just remarried two months ago. She and Patterson’s father divorced in 2008, according to online court records. Neighbor Daphne Ronning told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the parents moved away but that Patterson and his older brother, Erik, continued to stay in the cabin where he allegedly held Closs captive. The brothers then reportedly went into foster care for some time.
[Photo: Barron County Sheriff’s Department]
