Wisconsin teen missing after parents’ death may be in Miami

A teenager in Wisconsin who vanished from her home after her parents were found dead may have been spotted in Florida with two men, officials said Tuesday.

Officer Michael Vega, a Miami police spokesman, said a person fitting the description of Jayme Closs, 13, was seen at a gas station in the city — more than 1,600 miles from her home in Barron, Wisconsin — in a black Ford Explorer on Monday afternoon.

Video from the Sunflex gas station shows the vehicle pulling up to a gas pump on Monday afternoon with its front passenger window rolled down. A person sitting in the front seat appears to either climb into the backseat or reach in the back. Another person on the driver’s side appears to get out of the vehicle.

A witness said two well-dressed men, appearing to be Middle Eastern and believed to be in their 30s, were in the car, according to police. The men are described as having beards and are said to be about 5 feet 7 or 5 feet 9 and 200 to 250 pounds.

The witness said a young girl who looked like Jayme was inside the car.

Jayme is described as 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, with green eyes and blonde or strawberry hair.

“If it was her, she was in a black Ford Explorer with a possible WI plate of I60WER,” the department said. “If you have any information please call 911 immediately.”

Jayme has been missing for more than 36 hours since Barron County sheriff’s deputies responded to her home at around 1 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Monday after receiving a frantic 911 call from someone crying for help.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at a news conference Tuesday that the call was made from a cellphone and that the caller didn’t interact with the operator.

“That’s what’s unusual about that 911 call. There was no one communicating with our dispatcher,” he said.

Fitzgerald said yelling could be heard on the call, but he gave little other information.

When deputies arrived, they found the bodies of James Closs, 56, and his wife, Denise, 46, whom Fitzgerald identified as Jayme’s parents.

Fitzgerald indicated that the Closses had been shot, saying, “This was a gunshot crime scene,” but he noted that no weapons were found nearby.

Jayme wasn’t home when law enforcement arrived, and “we are considering her missing and endangered,” Fitzgerald told NBC affiliate WEAU of Eau Claire.

Asked about possible suspects, Fitzgerald told reporters that detectives “have questioned a lot of people.”

He said the last time Jayme may have been seen was at a family gathering on Sunday afternoon.

“She has been missing for a day and a half, and our community is concerned for her safety,” he said.

Authorities in Wisconsin said they were still searching the area near her home, as well as Riverview Middle School, which she attends. Her friends were also interviewed.

Ed Downing Sr., who is married to the sister of one of Jayme’s grandmothers, said the family was in “disbelief” over the deaths and the teen’s disappearance.

“It was just unbelievable, unbelievable. How can this be happening to us? To a small community like that, you know. It’s unreal,” he said in a telephone interview.

Downing said he “kept in real close contact” with Jayme’s mother, Denise, and described the family as “happy-go-lucky.”

“They got along exceptionally good, and the daughter, Jayme, she’s such a bright, intelligent … always got a big smile on her face, like her mother,” he said. “They always seemed like everything was going great for them, and I was always happy about that.”

“We’re just praying to God they find Jayme OK,” he said, adding that “there’s no way” she ran away from home.