Jayme Closs will receive a reward after all; here’s how much

Jan 24, 2019

By Herb Scribner

Jayme Closs will get a reward after all.

What’s happening: A company that donated $25,000 to the reward fund for finding missing Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs announced Thursday that the teen, who recently returned to her hometown, will receive the reward money, CNN reports.

Closs spent about three months in captivity, according to law officials, before she appeared in Gordon, Wisconsin, earlier this month. Gordon is about 70 miles from her hometown of Barron, and about an hour away.

Hormel Foods, which is the parent company for Jennie-O Turkey Store, which donated the money to the reward fund, said Closs’ parents — James and Denise Closs, who were allegedly murdered by Jake Patterson, who is accused of kidnapping Jayme — were longtime employees of the store.

“On behalf of the entire Jennie-O and Hormel Foods family, we are overjoyed at the news of Jayme’s safe return,” Jim Snee, Hormel’s CEO, said in a statement Wednesday. “Her bravery and strength have truly inspired our team members around the world. Barron is an incredibly strong community and one that never lost hope. We celebrated with the community, and the world, that Jayme is home.”

Steve Lykken, the president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, said he hoped the money would go into a trust fund for Jayme’s future and present needs, according to The Washington Post.

“While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme’s brave escape and that she is back in Barron,” Lykken said, according to The Washington Post.

Flashback: I reported earlier this month that the FBI and The Jennie-O Turkey Store each contributed $25,000 to a reward fund for anyone who could help find her.

But, as authorities said at the time, Closs rescued herself, and deserved the reward.

“Jayme was the hero in the case. Jayme was the champion that finally said enough is enough,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said, according to my report. “We can’t be more proud of Jayme.”

Fitzgerald said he was speaking with the FBI about the future of the reward.