After being reunited withJayme Clossnearly three months after a 21-year-old man allegedly abducted her and killed her parents, the teen’s aunt is vowing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
“As a family we will get through all of the healing process Jayme has. It will be a long road but we are family strong and we love this little girl so much!! We will do anything and everything!!” she wrote, adding that her “beloved sister” and brother-in-law can rest in peace knowing that their daughter “is safe.”
“We will make sure forever,” she added.
In the first photographshared of the teen since she was found, which was taken on Friday, Jayme was seen smiling with her dog Molly and Smith on Friday.
In more images from the happy day, which were provided to PEOPLE, Jayme can be seen smiling with her uncle Steve Naiberg, who is the brother of Jayme’s mother. In another, she and her cousin Lyndsey Smith, Jennifer’s daughter, have their arms wrapped around each other.
Courtesy of Jennifer Halvorson
Jennifer Halvorson, who has become close friends with Jayme’s aunts, told PEOPLE that both Jayme and her family had a “really good night” on Friday.
“I heard Jayme had a good night. She slept well,” Halvorson shared. “They’re doing well. I think everyone just finally had a sense of some peace. They all had a really good night.”
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Jennifer Halvorson
Jayme Closs and cousin Lindsey Smith.Jennifer Halvorson
Nutter told reporters on Friday that she was out for a walk with her golden retriever when she noticed Jayme, who “wasn’t dressed for the weather,” and was without a coat or gloves, according toCNN.
“I went to her and she just sort of grabbed onto me and she told me who she was,” she told theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I’ve been a social worker my whole life. I was in child protection [services], so I believe my CPS personality just turned on.”
Halvorson told PEOPLE on Friday that Jayme is “glad” to be reunited with her dog Molly.
Also on Friday, Jayme’s second cousin, Jodie Arnold, called her a “complete badass,” telling PEOPLE, “As far as I’m concerned she saved herself,” and credits Jayme’s “perseverance and will to live” for her freedom.
Abducted - Find Jayme Closs/Facebook
Police announced on Friday that they’d arrested 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson, of Gordon, and charged him with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping.
He is currently in the Barron County Jail and police are not looking for additional suspects, authorities said at a Friday press conference.
Patterson is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to enter a plea. It was unclear if he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.
source: people.com
