Father of Jayme Closs kidnapper says his heart is broken for her family

The father of Jayme Closs’s kidnapper says he is heart is broken for the 13-year-old Wisconsin girl and her family after his son faced court and was ordered to stand trial. 

Jake Patterson’s father Patrick wept and told his son he loved him as the 21-year-old waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Barron County Court on Wednesday.

He is charged with kidnapping Jayme and gunning down her parents Denise and James in cold blood on October 15. 

His father told ABC News after the court appearance that he is still trying to make sense of what happened. 

‘My words can mean nothing after such a tragedy has taken place. I most definitely want Jayme’s family to know, everyone to know, that our hearts are broken for their family,’ Patrick said.  

Jake Patterson’s father Patrick says his heart is broken for Jayme Closs and her family after his son was ordered to stand trial in Wisconsin for kidnapping the 13-year-old and murdering her family

Patterson, 21

Jayme

Patterson, 21, is charged with kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme and gunning down her parents Denise and James in cold blood in Wisconsin on October 15

‘I’m very sorry for everything that has happened.

‘I wish for a complete healing of Jayme’s mind, heart and soul.’

His son Jake showed no emotion during his brief court appearance, which will now go to trial after he waived the preliminary hearing. 

Emotion flicked across Patterson’s face when he was escorted past his father, sister Katie and brother Erik.

His father could be heard saying: ‘Love you Jake’. 

Patterson’s siblings echoed their father, saying: ‘We love you’, as he shuffled past in handcuffs and orange prison overalls. 

It was the first time Patterson had appeared in person and stood in the same room as Jayme’s relatives.

More than a dozen of Jayme’s relatives were in the courtroom and had earlier acknowledged that it was ‘going to be a hard day.’ 

According to the criminal complaint released shortly after Jayme was found, Patterson told investigators he knew Jayme ‘was the girl he was going to take’ after he saw her getting on a school bus near her home. 

He made two aborted trips to the family’s home before carrying out the attack in which he killed Jayme’s mother in front of her.

Jake Patterson waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Barron County Court on Wednesday and the case will now go to trial, as he'll be arraigned on March 27

Jake Patterson waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Barron County Court on Wednesday and the case will now go to trial, as he’ll be arraigned on March 27

In the days that followed, thousands of people volunteered to search for Jayme. Investigators believe Patterson hid Jayme in a remote cabin in Gordon, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Barron, before she escaped and got help from a woman walking her dog.

Jayme told police that on the night she was abducted, she awoke to her dog’s barking, then woke her parents as a car came up the driveway. 

Her father went to the front door as Jayme and her mother hid in a bathtub, according to the complaint. Jayme told police she heard a gunshot and knew her dad had been killed.

Patterson — dressed in black and wearing a facemask — broke down the bathroom door. He taped Jayme’s mouth, hands and ankles before pulling her out of the bathtub and shooting her mother in the head, the complaint said.

He dragged Jayme outside, threw her in the trunk of his car and drove off, according to the complaint. 

Patterson took her to a cabin and said no one could know she was there or ‘bad things could happen to her,’ the complaint said.

When he left or had friends over, he sealed her under the bed with tote boxes and weights so she couldn’t crawl out, sometimes for hours, according to the complaint. 

When his father visited, Patterson told investigators, he turned up the radio to conceal any noise she might make. 

She was forced to live in a squalid basement ‘cell’ strewn with soft toys, filthy bedding and women’s clothes.

The 21-year-old kept Jayme at his remote cabin for 88 days, in Gordon, Wisconsin, until Jayme managed to escape in January. Pictured: Jayme tucking into a steak alongside her grandfather at his home 

The 21-year-old kept Jayme at his remote cabin for 88 days, in Gordon, Wisconsin, until Jayme managed to escape in January. Pictured: Jayme tucking into a steak alongside her grandfather at his home 

Patterson is charged with murdering James (left) and Denise Closs last October 15

Denise Closs

Patterson is charged with murdering Jayme’s parents James (left) and Denise Closs (right) last October 15

The secret den complete with a scruffy mattress and cuddly stuffed pig is beneath Patterson’s tumbledown forest cabin in rural Gordon.

A stash of kids’ backpacks, including one with panda ears, can be seen piled up in one corner of the 8ft by 8ft room in images obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. 

When Jayme escaped from a cabin in Douglas County she flagged down a woman for help. 

She was able to provide a description of the car Patterson was driving, and he was arrested minutes later.

According to a search warrant affidavit, the red Ford Taurus Patterson was driving was taped up and taken to a secure evidence garage. 

The FBI’s evidence response team searched the car the next day and found his cellphone on the front seat.

The phone was released to the Wisconsin Department of Justice to be analyzed by someone trained in the forensic extraction of data. 

Last month it was revealed Wisconsin investigators have examined call logs, photos and videos stored on Patterson’s cellphone as investigations continue. 

The image above shows the filthy basement den where authorities believe Jayme Closs was held prisoner by her alleged abductor

The image above shows the filthy basement den where authorities believe Jayme Closs was held prisoner by her alleged abductor

The den was filled with soft toys, a dirty mattress, women's clothing, and women's makeup 

The den was filled with soft toys, a dirty mattress, women’s clothing, and women’s makeup 

The 13-year-old was held captive for 88 days in a rural cabin in Wisconsin (pictured) before her eventual escape

The 13-year-old was held captive for 88 days in a rural cabin in Wisconsin (pictured) before her eventual escape

Jayme was found at the Eau Claire Acres estate near the town of Gordon, which is about 70 miles away from her home in Barron where she was abducted

Jayme was found at the Eau Claire Acres estate near the town of Gordon, which is about 70 miles away from her home in Barron where she was abducted

Search warrant documents filed in Barron County Circuit Court said evidence on the phone could be used ‘to determine the chronological context’ of what happened. 

The documents said authorities were looking for a contact list, a log of incoming and outgoing calls and the dates and times of those calls, texts or other messages and social media communications.

They were also seeking emails that were sent to or from the cellphone, evidence that would tell them where the phone was during their months-long investigation, and any pictures or videos on the device. 

Jayme was this week pictured smiling enjoying a steak dinner with her grandfather months after her terrifying kidnapping ordeal was brought to an end. 

The photo, shared to a Facebook group, showed Jayme tucking into a hearty meal alongside her grandfather at his home in Wisconsin – after he promised to buy the teenager ‘a big steak’ when she was found. 

‘Were so blessed!!! We had to share!!’ A caption alongside the emotional Facebook post read.

‘Grandpa said since day one he was gonna buy Jayme a big steak when she was found!! Well here it is he bought her steak and they had lunch together at his house!!’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk