Outside Riverview Middle School in Barron County, Wis., where Jayme Closs was a student, a 16-foot evergreen shines brightly with blue and green lights in the early morning dawn. It was lit in a vigil Dec. 12 and affixed with a large green ribbon -- Jayme's favorite color -- as a symbol of the community's commitment to keeping hope alive for her safe return.
For nearly three months, Barron was on edge, faced with a gruesome and horrific crime, without any clues to Jayme's whereabouts or condition. Multiple reports said she approached a woman walking her dog in Gordon at around 4 p.m. The pair then went to a home to call 911.
A massive search with 2,000 volunteers not far from her rural home turned up no evidence. Local law enforcement said investigators were looking into the family's past, as well as more than 2,000 tips that came in. In the start of the new year, there was little to show for the investigative effort. Then the Douglas County, Wis., sheriff's office contacted the Barron county sheriff's office that she had been found and a suspect was in custody.
"We promised to bring Jayme home and tonight we get to fulfill that promise," Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald wrote in a statement on Facebook. "From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!"
In Barron Friday morning, local residents were overjoyed at the news that the teen was found alive. With three months to analyze the horrendous crime in their own community, some assumed the worst.
"Everybody thought she was gone," Pete Sinclair said. "We figured we'd find her during deer hunting (season) in a cornfield some place. North (Wisconsin) was the one place we never thought she'd be. We thought she'd be in Minneapolis, Chicago if they found her."
But others kept Jayme present, and remained optimistic.
"I was hoping," Roxy LeBlanc said. "I always say hope and prayers work wonders."
