Jayme Closs Update: Family Reveals Moment They Found Out She Was Coming Home
Kidnapping victim Jayme Closs has finally been reunited with her family. The brood revealed on "Good Morning America" on Monday the moment that they knew the teen was safe and coming home.
Robert Naiberg, Closs’ grandfather, said that he could barely communicate when he found out the news. "I was overwhelmed. I couldn't talk," Naiberg told the ABC morning show. "I was the first one she gave a hug too. I was standing in my daughter Jennifer’s hallway, and she gave me a big hug."
Closs’ cousin Jake Allard was also there when she was reunited with family. He said she couldn’t stop smiling when she arrived with her aunt, Jennifer Smith. "It's unreal how everybody in the afternoon, about four hours, got her room ready for her," Allard said. "When Jennifer and her husband went to pick her up, the room was empty. When they got back, it was all done."
"Jayme's dog was there. He crawled right up on her lap and snuggled up to her," he added.
Smith took to Facebook to mark the joyful occasion, posting a photo of Closs smiling and cuddling with her dogs. "Jayme had a pretty good night's sleep," Smith wrote in a post. "It was great to know she was next to me all night. What a great feeling to have her home."
Naiberg told "GMA" that the family chose to record the video of her parents’ funeral to help Closs find some closure after their death. "They taped the funeral for her, but they're not going to show it to her ..." Naiberg said. "When she's ready."
Allard also expressed concern over how Closs may process the tragedy with her parents as she is a shy and quiet girl. "My biggest concern was that she was real close to her mother," Allard added. "Her mother was really good to her. Her dad was too."
Closs was abducted by Jake Patterson, 21, in October. Patterson is thought to have killed both her parents, Denise and James Closs, before kidnapping the 13-year-old.
Closs eventually escaped the hold of Patterson and was discovered last week by a woman walking her dog along a rural road in Gordon, Wisconsin. Closs was held in captivity for three months in a house that was located approximately 70 miles from her Barron home, where her parents were killed.
Patterson has been arrested and charged with kidnapping Closs and killing her parents. He is slated to appear in court Monday, Yahoo News reported.
There was no word whether the Closs family will appear at the hearing.
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