Officials Hunt For Missing Wisconsin Girl After Parents Are Found Dead

Authorities aired concern that a missing 13-year-old girl could be in danger after deputies responding to a 911 call discovered the bodies of two adults early Monday at a home in western Wisconsin that the teen was living in.

The Barron County Sheriff's Office said in a press release posted on Facebook that investigators determined teenager Jayme Closs is “missing from the residence and is considered missing and endangered.”

A spokesperson for the BCSO told Oxygen.com on Monday that while an Amber Alert has yet to be issued due to there being no suspect or vehicle number at this time (necessary criteria, according to the AMBER Alert Wisconsin website), authorities are looking to put one as soon as possible.

Deputies went to the home in Barron after dispatchers received a 911 call from an unknown person at around 1 a.m. Monday, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said. He said they found the bodies of Jayme Closs' parents, though he didn't release their names. He also said there had been gunshots, but he stopped short of saying that's how the couple died.

Investigators don't have any leads or suspects, but they have enlisted the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI, which has agents who specialize in missing children cases, the sheriff said. He said Jayme is not considered a suspect in her parents' deaths.

"At the end of the end of the day, I want a 13-year-old here safe and sound. That's our goal. That's our only goal right now," Fitzgerald said at a news briefing.

Deputies searched the area around the family's home with drones and infrared equipment, but they didn't find any clues as to her whereabouts. Fitzgerald said investigators are frustrated they haven't developed any leads and asked for the public's help with any information about what could have happened to the girl.

“We’ve searched the area around the residence to make sure she didn’t just run outside [or] go into the woods,” Fitzgerald told WQOW News 18 in a filmed statement posted to Facebook on Monday afternoon. “We’ve used drones, we’ve used infrared … we searched the school, we’ve met with her friends, we’re working very closely with the Barron Riverview Middle School where she attends school — we have officers there today. We’re working with anybody that may have any bit of information.”

Jayme is described as 5-feet tall and 100 pounds, with strawberry-blond hair and green eyes.

Barron is about 80 miles northeast of Minneapolis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

[Photo: Barron County Sheriff’s Office]