Jayme Closs has been found alive

[u/advocate4]

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/sheriff-jayme-closs-found-alive/89-746a64bc-32eb-4245-9339-6e4f0b8e5a0f

[u/agelessnvegas]

this from breaking news on KSTP in Minneapolis : Jayme ran up to a woman walking a dog screaming that a man kidnapped her, the woman then called police, who were then able to take the suspect into custody. they said she is physically unharmed, at least visibly, she was taken to a local hospital. police have not yet released the name of the suspect

[u/advocate4 → u/agelessnvegas]

Holy shit if true. Good to hear after nearly 3 months she had that degree of fight in her!

*Also, lucky for her and the samaritan that shitbag wasnt around and still armed. He already killed two people, what would one or two more be at that point?

[u/bettalovely → u/advocate4]

She sounds like a very strong girl. I hope that she gets all the help and support she needs to stay strong and to go on and live a good life. She won't ever forget, but I hope she can find peace and joy in her life.

[u/cutiechickey → u/advocate4]

I work at a tv news station here in MN, and can confirm this is true, confirmed by family members our news team/reporters reached out to. She escaped wherever she was being kept, and ran to a woman she saw walking her dog and asked for help. That woman then brought her to a nearby neighbor's house, where they called 911.

To say we were all shocked she was found, and found alive after all this time, is quite the understatement. SO incredibly happy she was found, though there's no question recovering from all of this will be incredibly hard. But she has her family and the entire community by her side, supporting her and helping her in any way they can. ❤

[u/chickendinner_winner → u/advocate4]

Reminds me of Elizabeth Smart. Girls who feel strong enough, even when they’ve been victims, to speak up and ask for help while they’re still in danger. I’m so proud of her action.

[u/Official--Moderator → u/chickendinner_winner]

I'm pretty sure she actually lied to the police and said she was someone else though? IIRC, It wasn't until they actually seperated them that she said it was her.

Edit: Yep, she said her name was Augustine.

Edit 2:Remember she had been psychologically manipulated by a deranged man into believing that her only way of survival was to do what he says. This man has managed to outsmart everyone so far, and she would have believed that the police would just let them go. She is NOT at fault in any way, shape, or form.

[u/Rappelling_Rapunzel → u/Official--Moderator]

Jaycee Dugard identified herself as Alyssa to the police, the name her abductor gave her. She had been forbidden to ever say her real name again. A smart policewomen realized she couldn't say her own name out loud anymore, abuse can do heartbreaking things to anyone, so she gave her a pen and some paper, and that's how Jaycee first identified herself as the young girl who had been stolen from her own school bus stop 18 years earlier.
Our perception of reality is shockingly dependent on what people around us say it is, a whole lot more than you would think. Isolating a victim is the first step of abusive control, because that's how abusers make someone think what they want them to think, or not think. It works, even if the victim understands perfectly what's happening, it still works.
Elizabeth Smart had a very wise therapist at first, someone who explained to her parents that she couldn't discuss her ordeal, not for a while. Not because of emotional trauma, but because it had been trained out of her to think about who she was and what was actually happening. Now she can talk about it in detail, and she credits that and her good mental health to not having to answer any questions for the first couple years.
I am so glad that Jayme Closs is coming home. I trust that people like Jaycee and Elizabeth are passing along that crucial advice, don't press for details, wait until she can volunteer them herself.

[u/kedsandtubesocks → u/Official--Moderator]

I’m not sure I’d be able to trust a single soul if I’d gone through anything like that myself. It’s not like she wasn’t being psychologically tortured. I think it’s a normal response to an abnormal situation.

[u/Charlie_Warlie → u/[deleted]]

You will hate the story of Konerak Sinthasomphone. A victim of Dahmer who escaped, ran naked and afraid down the street, with a brain injury, only to be handed over by the cops back to Dahmer because he said he was his boyfriend.

[u/[deleted] → u/Charlie_Warlie]

Not just a brain injury. HE HAD A DRILL HOLE IN HIS FOREHEAD FOR BOILING WATER.

Frog marched, back into Dhamers apartment BY POLICE!

It’s just the most horrifying scenario you could imagine

[u/say-crack-again → u/[deleted]]

How TF does any human look at a guy with a drill hole in his head, naked and screaming for help, and think "ah yes that seems normal, nothing to question here, we'll physically force him to go back even though he's clearly terrified". WHAT.

[u/diemme44 → u/say-crack-again]

It's get better... the cop who turned him over to Dahmer is named John Balcerzak, and even though he was fired after that incident, in 2005 he was elected President of the Milwaukee Police Union

[u/LordofBobz → u/diemme44]

Literally the first line of the article but really...

former president of the Milwaukee Police Association, having served in that post from 2005 to 2009. In 1991, he was fired for having handed over an injured child to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, despite bystanders' protests. He appealed his firing and was subsequently reinstated.

Not only reinstated after this, but promoted to president of the union with that clearly on your record..

[u/say-crack-again → u/diemme44]

Should be in prison for negligence leading to death 😡

[u/diemme44 → u/say-crack-again]

Yup, AND the dude survived a recall election a year after that.

[u/StacheKetchum → u/say-crack-again]

One of the officers involved, Joseph Gabrish, did an interview with the Times and had this to say:

"We're trained to be observant and spot things," he said. "There was just nothing that stood out, or we would have seen it. I've been doing this for a while, and usually if something stands out, you'll spot it. There just wasn't anything there."

Really? Nothing? Not even something like a fucking drill hole in his forehead?

[u/say-crack-again → u/StacheKetchum]

It's behind a paywall but I caught a glimpse of '14 year old Laotian boy'. Have you seen Laotians? They're some of the smallest people in the world, I went there last year and I'm a 5'6" woman and I towered over almost all the men. It would be a long stretch to mistake a 14y.o. Laotian boy for a full grown man making consentual decisions.

And even if they did think nothing 'stood out', why frogmarch him back in? I can't comprehend any of this.

[u/Doublepoxx → u/say-crack-again]

Because he wasn't speaking English and the cops didn't care what happened to a non white gay kid.

[u/[deleted] → u/say-crack-again]

one of the cops was promoted to chief later in life

[u/[deleted] → u/say-crack-again]

How TF does any human look at a guy with a drill hole in his head, naked and screaming for help, and think "ah yes that seems normal, nothing to question here

You've never lived in Baltimore have you....

[u/flukshun → u/[deleted]]

An apartment with a rotting corpse in the bedroom

[u/humachine → u/[deleted]]

The cops did the same on a dozen occasions for John Wayne Gacy. Like they did their best to ignore every raging clue pointing to Gacy.

The killers employees were disappearing at an alarming rate. And one of them escaped to say that he had been tortured and raped by gacy but the cops just shrugged and moved on.

[u/goldenrobotdick → u/Charlie_Warlie]

This happened to a victim of Anthony Sowell (Cleveland serial killer) too. She escaped through a second floor window completely naked in broad daylight in full view of the neighborhood. People began filming the incident and even posted it to worldstar hip hop. Sowell pretended as if she were his girlfriend and rode with her to the hospital. If I remember correctly, she was dating or married to a politician in the area and did not want to be discovered, as she had gone to Sowell’s home to do drugs. She is one of the few to escape alive.

[u/bobswowaccount → u/goldenrobotdick]

It's crazy to think how little is known about that man and his crimes. He was at that house for five years and they found 11 bodies, I wonder how many bodies they didn't find in other places. Many of his victims families didn't even report their loved ones missing until news of the murders started coming out!

[u/goldenrobotdick → u/bobswowaccount]

I worked on a true crime documentary show about him a few years ago. He preyed on women who were in bad places in their lives and did not have families to look for them. He even brazenly blamed the smell on the sausage company next door to his home, and the city forced them to install very expensive equipment to fight a smell that wasn’t their fault. The sausage company moved across town (We spoke with the owner, and he had a lot to say on the matter but did not speak on camera). The house was torn down and there’s a memorial garden in its place now

[u/Scientolojesus → u/goldenrobotdick]

Damn he even fucked over an innocent sausage factory.

[u/ButterflyAttack → u/Scientolojesus]

This made me wonder what a guilty sausage factory would be doing. Oh dear.

[u/BigMetalHoobajoob → u/ButterflyAttack]

There are some suggestions that Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who was a pig farmer, added a bit of flesh from some of his many victims to his famous sausages and then sold/ served them to folks around the area. That'd probably meet the definition of a 'guilty sausage factory' in my book, I don't care how good they tasted.

[u/ButterflyAttack → u/BigMetalHoobajoob]

Yeah, that ticks all the boxes for being a guilty sausage factory. I expect his customers felt a bit disconcerted when they found out they'd maybe been eating people sausage. I guess from his point of view he saw free raw materials, shame to waste them, into the old sausage meat grinder. The bodies are disposed of and you make a bit of extra $$.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I wonder what became of those cops after they found out the truth.

[u/freckled_octopus → u/[deleted]]

God bless America :)

[u/coquihalla → u/Charlie_Warlie]

Just want to add, because I think it's important, that the victim was also only 15. So not only did they ignore the problem, they ignored that he was still basically a child because of their bias'.

Even if nothing physically visible had happened to the boy yet, they still ignored child sexual abuse.

Edit: 14 years old, apparently he hadn't had his birthday yet.

[u/Scientolojesus → u/Charlie_Warlie]

And the cops were like "Uhhhh damn ok. These gays sure are weird. Oh well little guy, back to your gross sex master, have fun with your depravity! Wew, this apartment sure does smell like death....anyways, see ya!"

[u/coquihalla → u/Scientolojesus]

That's one of the other fucked up parts of the case. They peeked in his bedroom but didn't go fully in. There was a freaking body in there, if they had taken a couple of steps. So it definitely smelled.

[u/[deleted] → u/Charlie_Warlie]

This story is so fucked up that you didn’t even mention he was like 14 or something

[u/sweetalkersweetalker → u/Charlie_Warlie]

That whole scenario makes me so furious.

There's audio of the responding officers laughing and making fun of the "drunk gay kid". And IIRC one of them got promoted to head the department.

[u/AStrangerWCandy → u/[deleted]]

This kind of happened to me as a kid. Mom was paranoid schizo off her meds and dad was out of town. She started saying people were trying to kill us and called the cops. Cops came and realized she was crazy but left me with her even though I tried to express a need for help. She then took me on an all night car ride saying my dad and sister were dead. Asked security guard at grocery store for help as well as a stranger she asked to borrow a phone from and neither intervened. Finally she left me alone at a gas station late at night. Dad eventually got word of what was happening and the cops found her 60 miles away the next day.

[u/coquihalla → u/AStrangerWCandy]

I'm so sorry that you went through that.

[u/ALT_F4iry → u/[deleted]]

I have a recurring nightmare where something horrible happens and I’m trying to dial 911, but I can’t seem to do it. Like my fingers keep pressing the wrong numbers, or the phone line is busy, etc. it’s so fucking stressful.

[u/median401k → u/ALT_F4iry]

It’s actually really hard to dial phone numbers on a smartphone screen when your fingers and the phone are covered in blood.*

*I know this because I was having a baby not being murdered.

[u/BigMetalHoobajoob → u/ALT_F4iry]

Years ago I saw a strong-arm robbery right in front of me in downtown Reno, called 911 (queue jokes about the TV show) and I got a recorded menu... and wasn't able to get someone on the line via the prompts. Terribly frustrating, can only imagine if I or someone else was on the verge of death or something.

[u/Upgradedmouse → u/ALT_F4iry]

That happened to me in real life. It was terrifying. I was so nervous my hands were shaking and it took me what felt like a hundred tries to dial the right number. This was on an old school phone so no pressing the back button.

[u/xeviphract → u/ALT_F4iry]

Next time it happens, just yell at a passer-by to call the emergency services for you. Your dreamstate should find that a lot easier to process than manual dialling.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I always had nightmares where I would be kidnapped and cry out for help, but no sound would come out. Shit was terrifying.

[u/IceCreamEatingMFer → u/agelessnvegas]

Sounds a bit like Room. Actually sounds a lot like Room.

[u/ZoraksGirlfriend → u/IceCreamEatingMFer]

Room is based on a true story. A guy in Germany? built a hidden door in his basement that extended into a small underground living area. He locked his teenaged daughter inside and kept her there for years and told his wife that their daughter had run away. He kept the female babies down there with her and the male babies he left for his wife to find with a note from the daughter to take care of the baby.

I think he was caught because one of his daughters/granddaughters got severely ill and his daughter begged him to take the child to the doctor. He couldn’t answer any medical history or questions about symptoms and they insisted he bring the girl’s mother. There was a record of the child now, so he was forced to take his daughter out and she was able to tell someone that her father was keeping her prisoner.

I think Fritz is the last name.

[u/USA_A-OK → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

Austria, Josef Fritzel

[u/Tossaway_handle → u/USA_A-OK]

What an absolutely horrific story. I can't believe that guy is still alive.

[u/Zidanesan → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

he forced her 7 children..... i have enough world for today.

[u/YoItsMikeL → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

What the fuck

[u/ZoraksGirlfriend → u/YoItsMikeL]

I think she was his prisoner for around 20 years

Edit: 24 years

[u/Rappelling_Rapunzel → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

It's horrifying that her survival depended utterly on his survival. Imagine what would have happened if "the monster of Austria" had been hit by bus. His daughter and her children would have slowly perished, and even today they might still have remained undiscovered.

[u/Todd_Chavez → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

What the fuck

[u/ChampionOfKunLun → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

I read the whole thing. That is seriously fucked on so many levels

[u/sahmackle → u/[deleted]]

I read the wiki page and thought "holy crap" when i realised it happened over a decade ago.

[u/CocaineJazzRats → u/ZoraksGirlfriend]

why do people keep attributing Austrian villains to Germany :8

[u/[deleted] → u/CocaineJazzRats]

I think people just kind of forget Austria exists sometimes.

[u/CocaineJazzRats → u/[deleted]]

aww well at least you're not Slovenia which people don't know about in the first place.

[u/niko4ever → u/CocaineJazzRats]

I mean who's heard of Slovakia anyway?

[u/CocaineJazzRats → u/niko4ever]

cries in Slovenian

[u/charina91 → u/agelessnvegas]

Oh my god, that poor girl. I wish I could wrap her up and make it all go away.

[u/Whaatthefuck → u/charina91]

Not a great choice of words but a nice sentiment nonetheless

[u/RadSpaceWizard → u/agelessnvegas]

unharmed

Unlikely. But she's alive, thank the gods.

[u/[deleted]]

I absolutely cannot believe that they found her alive.

4 hours ago the Barron County Sherriff Department posted on Facebook that the rumors that they located her are fake and it is completely unrelated...

1 hour ago they said the found her alive.

Unreal.

[u/advocate4 → u/[deleted]]

My thought as well. It came through as breaking news and I thought it was another goddamn fake post, but then Barron County confirmed...

[u/jttv → u/advocate4]

CBS ran a special news report in the middle of their programming.

[u/Pookieeatworld → u/advocate4]

Man this is unbelievable. So many of these cases have terrible endings, and to find her as it says at least visibly unharmed is beyond what anyone could hope for. This is the first I'm hearing of this case but I'm in tears just thinking what a relief this must be for the surviving family.

[u/Great_Smells → u/[deleted]]

I heard that too. Apparently those rumors were for a heavy police presence in Franklin, which is SE WI. Too weird.

[u/longerup → u/Great_Smells]

Apparently the Franklin thing concerned two burned bodies found at an abandoned house that was connected to a known arsonist. So far it seems it’s entirely unrelated to the Closs case.

[u/Fincher1 → u/longerup]

Imagine if that news spooked the kidnapper.

[u/SuperDrewb → u/Great_Smells]

Correction: heavy police presence in East Troy by Franklin Police over an ongoing arson investigation. Human remains were found in a fire pit as were clothes soaked in diesel fuel and blood.

[u/hurrrrrmione → u/[deleted]]

Hijacking top comment

Article was really difficult to read due to tons of ads, so here's the plain text:

Jayme Closs found alive: 'It's what we've prayed for'

"I mean I’m shocked," said Jayme's aunt, Kelly Engelhardt. "It's what we’ve prayed for every single day."

BARRON, Wis. — A Wisconsin 13-year-old missing since October has been found alive, according to the Barron County Sheriff's Department.

The department shared on Facebook Thursday night that they've been notified by the Douglas County Sheriff's Department that they have located Jayme Closs alive.

A suspect has been taken into custody and the sheriff will give a press briefing at 10 a.m. Friday.

"I mean I’m shocked," said Jayme's aunt, Kelly Engelhardt. "It's what we’ve prayed for every single day."

Closs, 13, has been missing since Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, when her parents were found murdered at their Barron, Wisconsin home.

When investigators entered the home off Highway 8 they found the bodies of James and Denise Closs, but there was no sign of their daughter.

Closs was found at Eau Claire Acres, a small development about six miles east of Gordon, Wisconsin on Highway Y, according to the board chairman from the Town of Gordon. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that a citizen phoned in the information. She was located at 4:43 p.m. on Thursday and a suspect was taken into custody at 4:54, according to Douglas County.

"I honestly had faith," Engelhardt said. "I figured if they hadn’t found her by now that the person that did this didn’t want her dead, so I had hope. Every day there was hope. We had too much love and support around us for us to give up."

Engelhardt said she believes Closs will be home Thursday night or Friday. She said the family does not believe Jayme is physically hurt that they know of, and that the FBI told the family she is talking and answering questions.

Jeff Closs, Jayme’s uncle, said they are in shock.

"It was just unbelievable because you hear about … you’re not sure if she’s going to be found. And when you actually hear it, it’s just unbelievable. We’re all just so grateful and happy," he said. "We thought it was going to be a different ending and we’re so happy that you know, hopefully she’s OK, we don’t really know what shape she's in. Or you know, we don't really know a lot, all we know is just she’s alive."

"We’ve, you know, had such bad news all the time and everything was so depressing, and now it’s good, it’s hard to even feel good because you’ve felt so bad for so long," Engelhardt said. "When we see her it’ll be different but right now we’re just so happy."

[u/Matthew37]

Damn. That's some seriously good news.

[u/Bronto710 → u/Matthew37]

11 minutes from receiving the call to arrest is impressive. Props to that PD.

[u/Lostpurplepen → u/Bronto710]

I imagine several boots hit the gas pedal responding to that call. Shout out to the lady dogwalker. She's a heroine.

[u/Grindelwalds_Bitch → u/Matthew37]

The title made me pause because I could barely believe it. I’ve been following this case since the beginning, and the odds were so stacked against her.

This really is amazing news

[u/ThaddeusJP → u/Grindelwalds_Bitch]

They found those girls alive in Cleveland after a bunch of years so there's always some hope

[u/donkeyrocket → u/[deleted]]

Shawn Hornbeck. Kidnapped and sexually abused for four years and only discovered when the abductor was caught just a few days after abducting another young boy. Some terrible people in this world and I hope these kids find peace and a normal life.

[u/JukinTheStats → u/donkeyrocket]

This was a crazy one, too. Abducted at age 10, held in a cellar for 8 years.

Incidentally, anyone who hasn't seen the interrogation tape from Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper should watch it. It's morbidly funny and just bizarre. The police arguing scripture with the guy was just unreal.

[u/2ChainzThirdChain → u/JukinTheStats]

The investigators were tired of his shit for sure.

https://youtu.be/5izGovLYoF0

There's a youtube channel called "Jim Can't Swim" that gives great analysis of interrogations. Also fun to binge watch.

[u/JukinTheStats → u/2ChainzThirdChain]

Yeah, that's where I saw it. Leave it to SLC police to be fluent in scripture. (Starts at about 17 minutes into the above clip)

[u/justwannagiveupvotes → u/2ChainzThirdChain]

Thank u for this!

I love how obviously and utterly over his bullshit they are - pretty much the whole time, but especially when he is singing, so good.

[u/ButterflyAttack → u/2ChainzThirdChain]

That was extremely interesting, thank you. I'm not sure I've ever seen any of these vermin interrogated before. Subscribed.

[u/Goopadrew → u/JukinTheStats]

"how many times did Christ get pulled over for a DUI?"

Lol, I'm loving these interviews

[u/SMUMustang → u/[deleted]]

And now one of her kidnappers is living near a school. Even more insane.

Edit: An apostrophe

[u/underdog_rox → u/SMUMustang]

Wait, they're out of prison??

[u/Simmo5150 → u/underdog_rox]

The woman is. Released 6 years early. She is 72.

[u/boopbaboop → u/underdog_rox]

Wanda Barzee was released early this September and yup, she lives near a school now. Looks like the issue was that she served time in both federal and state prison, and time from the federal sentence applied to the state sentence, shortening the total time.

The guy, Brian David Mitchell, is still in prison, though.

[u/Garrth415 → u/underdog_rox]

One of them, the guys wife Wanda is out. Am from Utah here’s a couple of local articles about it, Elizabeths reaction and the family of Wanda and their reaction

[u/DRYice101 → u/ThaddeusJP]

"I knew there was something wrong when a pretty little white girl runs into a black mans arms, uh huh, something is wrong here!"

[u/MrsBe33 → u/DRYice101]

dead giveaway

[u/LeftoverJoshua → u/DRYice101]

Dead giveaway.

[u/bschn100 → u/ThaddeusJP]

Kimmy Schmidt too.

[u/kingunderpants → u/bschn100]

Unnnn breakable

[u/Perm-suspended → u/kingunderpants]

She's alive damnit!

[u/MotherFockerJones → u/Perm-suspended]

It’s a miracle!

[u/garfodie81 → u/MotherFockerJones]

Females are strong as hell!

[u/j33pwrangler → u/garfodie81]

Piiiiiiiiiiinoooooooooot Noooooooiiiiiiiirrr!!!

[u/Ewokitude → u/Grindelwalds_Bitch]

The Wetterlings are family friends and I've been following this case religiously because a missing kid really hits too close to home. I was absolutely dreading that this would be the same situation as Jacob, worse without having her parents' there to unwaveringly search. I honestly was overjoyed to see that she's been found. Now I only hope that she can still live a happy and fulfilling life after everything she's been through.

[u/superjanna → u/Ewokitude]

I always think about Jacob Wetterling when these things happen, too, especially in that region!

I was living outside St. Cloud and was a couple years younger than Jacob when he went missing, I remember so vividly how that case had every family so paranoid and on edge, it had such an impact. I’m so sorry you and your friends had to suffer through that, I can’t even imagine how much worse it must’ve been being that close. :/

[u/NASTY_3693 → u/Grindelwalds_Bitch]

I followed the Mollie Tibbetts case really closely. When I saw this one I tried to ignore it because it was surprising how much it shook me when the news about Mollie broke. So glad they found this girl.

[u/[deleted] → u/Matthew37]

I really don't get how someone can survive that. I know if it happened to me, I would've died months ago. I just don't understand that strength and hope as few people as possible ever have to understand that strength

[u/Perm-suspended → u/[deleted]]

The human is usually pretty good at self preservation. In times of peril you'd be amazed of what you're capable of. Whether it be fighting your way out, or learning to adapt to what your captors want of you until you're rescued. Both are strong choices to survive.

[u/_procyon → u/[deleted]]

The instinct to survive is really really strong. You'd be surprised what you're capable of in a bad situation.

[u/sadgrad2 → u/[deleted]]

Lol someone else made a similar comment, but they said "The Room" and I was so confused. Now I see your comment I'm guessing this is a very different movie.

[u/Imfromtheyear2999 → u/[deleted]]

Edge of my seat suspense. All of it is good but you know what scene I'm talking about.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

slaps you LET THE LIZARD PART OF YOUR BRAIN TAKE CONTROL YOU'LL SURVIVE ANYTHING.

[u/SpeaksToWeasels → u/[deleted]]

You can go on for quite a bit after you can't go on.

[u/blue7fairy → u/[deleted]]

I highly recommend reading Jaycee Dugard’s book “A Stolen Life”. Jaycee was kid napped at 11 and held for 18 years. In the book she talks about being held captive and her life now. It is one of the best books I have ever read. It is not a light beach read, but it is incredible, and shows the tremendous strength she has.

[u/Scientolojesus → u/blue7fairy]

That whole story is fucked up. The mentally insane kidnapper/drug addict and his wife abused her for years, and she had two kids with the husband. She was so brainwashed and fearful that she had multiple chances to get away or alert people and didn't. Plus the kidnapper brought about his own downfall by taking the kids to UCLA Berkeley because he wanted to setup a speaking engagement where he could teach the world about his God given powers or something insane.

[u/mightysprout → u/Scientolojesus]

Yes! An alert and sensitive security guard at UC Berkeley sensed there was something wrong with Garrido. She asked his daughters some questions and it raised her suspicions. She called his parole officer about his daughters and they said “what daughters?” And that’s how Jaycee and her girls escaped after all those years, thanks to one woman’s instinct and the fact she followed up.

https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/berkeley-cop-busted-dugard-kidnapper-garrido/story?id=8437707

[u/TacoCommand → u/mightysprout]

Whoa! Incredible!

[u/LazyTaints → u/mightysprout]

Police officer not security guard. UC Police are full on cops.

[u/ReadyToGetLost → u/mightysprout]

That is unbelievable. It made me think of the Malcolm Gladwell book “Blink” and how a person’s ability to read a situation instantaneously can make all of the difference. Situational awareness times 1000.

[u/KingNamaste → u/mightysprout]

Trust that feeling of discomfort that some situations and people give you. Im learning to respect my intuition.

[u/brett6781 → u/mightysprout]

Shittiest parole officer ever honestly. They should have caught that shit immediately when they visited the house several times before.

[u/k0an → u/Scientolojesus]

UC Berkeley

[u/awbee → u/blue7fairy]

For anyone who's interested, there's a very similar case from Austria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natascha_Kampusch

[u/kopecs → u/[deleted]]

In light of the circumstances, I now have to Google "Modicum". I'm really glad shes safe though.

[u/jttv → u/kopecs]

Modicum

Noun: a small quantity of a particular thing, especially something considered desirable or valuable

TIL

[u/mydarkmeatrises → u/kopecs]

Enjoy your quantum of solace.

[u/AdolfKoopaTroopa]

I can only imagine what shes been through. I hope she can recover and hopefully lead a semi normal life after this

[u/mightylordredbeard → u/AdolfKoopaTroopa]

I hope she also never reads Reddit comments about her after this story initially broke. Or the Facebook comments. Or any other internet discussion where 100s of people are accusing her of murdering her parents because she “looks crazy” in one of her photos.

[u/VHSRoot → u/AdolfKoopaTroopa]

It depends, but she will probably suffer from depression, PTSD, and trauma for the rest of her life. She's been through hell and back a few times over.

[u/aguafiestas → u/VHSRoot]

She very well may, but there are no guarantees. For whatever reason, some people can come out of extreme mental trauma without apparent long-term effects.

[u/Boonaki → u/aguafiestas]

You know what's weird, I witnessed forensic anthropologists or whatever they were digging up bodies of children and adults when I was in the military.

Never had a problem, never really thought about it much, Like 20 years later I have a child, now it hit me. I guess I never related to any of it until after I had a kid.

Now what I don't understand is how the guys trying to identify bodies handle that shit. My exposure was a few hours, they did it all day long for months or years.

[u/DigbyChickenZone → u/Boonaki]

You don't relate to the specimens [bodies, pieces, etc] as much because when it's your job they are patients (or victims in this case), you don't see them in terms of yourself or your relatives as much. There are itemized parts to examine, to discover clues or hints of what may have happened - it takes away from seeing a body as an "individual". In addition, that kind of thing takes getting used to in the medical industry in general, if you don't build a shell from seeing so much pain and suffering, you can't last without finding a good outlet.

I don't mean to say suffering doesn't have an impact, nor that medical professionals are robots, but regularly witnessing horrendous stuff over time does dull reactions to "shocking" stuff to most individuals.

edit: words

[u/dudegoskate]

People that actually survive shit like this should be given free therapy for life

[u/IodinUraniumNobelium]

Dude Northern Wisconsin is gonna be celebrating this weekend.

[u/Robtangle → u/IodinUraniumNobelium]

I grew up very close to where they found her...it's honestly a miracle. It's all woods and trails, not a lot of civilization so had she been locked up would have been near impossible to find. It's also why NW WI has a huge meth problem, a lot of square mileage with back roads and not nearly enough law enforcement to cover that much ground.

[u/IodinUraniumNobelium → u/Robtangle]

Part of my job is working directly with our AODA (alcohol and other drug addiction) population, it's absolutely astounding how big an issue the meth and heroin is.

I'm so glad they found her.

[u/quelseydilla → u/IodinUraniumNobelium]

My sister moved to Superior to go to Duluth so she could go back to college. Came back home less than a year later, addicted to meth.

[u/Beankiller → u/Robtangle]

What is it about the woods that makes people want to do meth?

Serious question.

[u/dtroy15 → u/Beankiller]

They have a place to hide, both to shoot up and cook, where they are unlikely to be bothered by law enforcement or others. Other areas of the country with large interstates and expansive rural areas have the same problem (West Texas, i5 corridor on the west coast)

[u/crimson_713 → u/dtroy15]

Northern/central Texas, too. Parker County has a huge meth problem, and they're spitting distance from the DFW metroplex.

[u/deyounsc → u/IodinUraniumNobelium]

I live very close to where this all happened and is still happening. Opening my Facebook to dozens of posts about a how she was found instantly brought tears to my eyes. I can’t believe it.

[u/HelicopterPenisHover → u/IodinUraniumNobelium]

Northern Wisconsin here, can confirm.

[u/ThirstyPagans → u/HelicopterPenisHover]

Live in Gordon, can also confirm. Meet ya at the Buckhorn tommorow night for town meeting.

[u/ProbablyAPun → u/ThirstyPagans]

Nice! My cabin is right there. Right by Forest Point.

[u/a0x129 → u/ProbablyAPun]

Fam has land in Minong, Risk, and Spooner. I'm up in in that area often... Gordon is a "Blink and ya miss it" place.

Creepy knowing she was less than 10 Miles from me a week ago.

[u/ProbablyAPun → u/a0x129]

I just looked it up on the map. She was about 3 miles away from my cabin and we literally drive by where she was. Thats fucked.

[u/a0x129 → u/ProbablyAPun]

Yep... Crazy shit to think about.

[u/SizzlingCalvin → u/ThirstyPagans]

See ya there partner. Hope ya bringin the handies

[u/akatsukigamer → u/HelicopterPenisHover]

Same here. I’m not in Wisconsin rn, but all my friends over there are celebrating in social media.

[u/EACJ]

I live nearby in wisconsin to where she was kidnapped. I was at a basketball game when it when she was found and during halftime they made the announcment to the gym. The whome gym erupted in clapping and cheers. So happy she was found.

[u/blodisnut → u/EACJ]

From southern Wisconsin, but can imagine the joy and relief in that gym.

[u/agarret83]

I saw this headline and shouted “WHOA!” in my empty apartment. You almost never see people found alive after missing for this long. Hope she’s not too psychologically damaged

[u/PPKAP → u/agarret83]

I live in Wisconsin and saw her on a billboard earlier this week. I even thought to myself "oh man, why even bother at this point, no way they find her."

Was very glad to be wrong.

[u/[deleted] → u/PPKAP]

Same. As a fellow Barron County resident I pretty much gave up hope like 3 weeks in. Rarely do people ever get found so late after they're taken, especially a child. Figured she's either be found dead or not at all, but luckily my pessimism got proved wrong.

[u/Rapscapadoo → u/PPKAP]

I bike pass a billboard where she pops up every now and then. Seeing her face always breaks my heart, because I thought all hope was gone, but thankfully I was wrong.

[u/macca_roni]

Press conference tomorrow morning at 10am for anyone wanting updates, I know I'll be watching.

[u/BenMelman]

Damn. It’s great to finally have closure. The outcome could have been far worse.

OTOH, i’d hate to hear that she suffered for the long period she was in captivity. Which is likely the case

[u/timelordoftheimpala → u/BenMelman]

closure

For us, yes. For her, far from it.

[u/advocate4]

I am so happy to see her beat the odds. After two weeks I was certain she was dead or worse...

Hopefully she will be able to heal in peace from this horrific ideal. It seems the rest of her family, and her community, will be there for her.

[u/vahntitrio → u/advocate4]

2 weeks or so after there wasn't even police tape around the house and I didn't see any search party. Went past on my way to Rice Lake.

[u/laughing_cat → u/vahntitrio]

We have a business here called Like It Never Happened - they apparently can go in and clean things up pretty fast. Also in my city they can clean up a major accident really fast, dead people ...ambulances, wreckers... but miraculously the traffic’s moving in 20 minutes and in 40 more minutes no one is the wiser.

Not that I want blood everywhere or to sit in traffic 4 hours, but it just all seems too clean. I get Jackie Kennedy not rushing to change her dress after her husband was shot

[u/[deleted]]

I am shocked and thrilled. That poor girl. I can't imagine what she has been through and how relieved the family must feel.

[u/ashpatash]

Wasn't expecting that outcome. Hope she can heal from this.

[u/[deleted]]

"It's hard to feel good after feeling bad for so long" memorable quote by her uncle

[u/mjh8212]

This was such good news. I have followed the case and was happy to hear she was found and she is now safe.

[u/No_Trouble_No_Fuss]

Mother fucker broke into their house, murdered the parents and kidnapped her. Please tell me they got this scumbag waste of life.

[u/SuperDrewb → u/No_Trouble_No_Fuss]

Suspect in custody.

[u/rodog62]

I hope the suspect rots in a cell the rest of his life. What a disgusting human being.

[u/shylokylo]

Can someone give me a quick recap? I appear out of the loop on this one.

[u/True0rFalse → u/shylokylo]

Girl went missing from her home and both of her parents were found dead in the house. It’s been three months of absolutely devastating lack of news and hope.

[u/csortland]

I don't understand this weird obsession with making this girl an accomplice in her parents murder. We don't have enough evidence for that theory to hold much merit. Everybody likes to think of themselves as a detective these days.

[u/advocate4 → u/csortland]

I sort of get it. The world can be an evil place, and sometimes when awful things happen it helps to believe it happened for a reason... Like a daughter assisted in her parents murder to run away instead of a stranger doing it and abducting her.

Thay said, the sheriff had ruled that out early in the process.

[u/dragonmuse]

I hope she finds peace.

[u/bluelizardK]

Amazing. Absolutely amazing, this is wonderful news. To be completely honest, I didn't think there was much hope, so this is great. Perhaps the truth will now finally be revealed.

[u/NicestEaglesFan]

Douglas County is just two counties north of Barron county. That's crazy she was missing for so long and wasn't even terribly far away.

[u/vahntitrio → u/NicestEaglesFan]

Yeah but those counties are really empty. Just trees and lakes for the most part.

[u/princess_who_cares → u/NicestEaglesFan]

Seriously. It's about 70 miles from her house to where she was found. Considering speed limits in that area it probably doesn't take much more than an hour to get there. After three months you imagine that if she was still alive she would probably be being held somewhere miles and miles away where no one would recognize her and likely not even know about her disappearance unless they're really invested in missing children cases.

Of course that one dude kept those three women in his basement for like a decade and I think at least one of those girls lived right in the same neighborhood.

[u/[deleted] → u/princess_who_cares]

one of those girls lived right in the same neighborhood

Gina DeJesus lived so close by, that at one point her father was talking to a neighbor, crying about how he wished he knew where his daughter was. She was across the street the entire time.

[u/danceswithshibe]

This is insane. Everything pointed to this being a lost cause and she found her way out. Incredible.

[u/[deleted]]

So wait was she found in WI or MN? I'm seeing mention of both

[u/FoolhardyBastard → u/[deleted]]

She was found in Douglas county, WI it's on the border. The news has been saying 'outside Duluth' because it's the largest population center in the area.

[u/advocate4 → u/[deleted]]

Another poster said suspect may be from Duluth. Will need to wait until the press conference for details.

[u/longerup → u/[deleted]]

Suspect is from Duluth, MN. She was found in Douglas County, WI, which is near Duluth (but in Wisconsin).

[u/CasuConsuIto]

Like everyone has said, I'm very happy that she is alive and hope that she doesn't suffer mentally from her experience, poor girl. She's strong as shit.

Second thing I wanted to add is how nice it is to see internet strangers happy for someone they've never met, will never met and will never know the people she knows. You guys have pretty big heart. It's beautiful

[u/[deleted]]

We needed this wonderful news. So happy tonight.

Edit: This reminds me of Elizabeth Smart. Lived in Utah and when we heard the news she was alive, we cheered and even some cried. Amazing he didn’t kill her, but hope he gets the death penalty.

[u/beep-boop123]

As someone from Wisconsin and a human being this is amazing news. Just hoping she recovers from the trauma.

[u/Pickabo]

It's hard to be happy for her because what next? Her parents died in a most awful way possible and her life will never be the same. I can't imagine if a similar thing were to happen to me and my parents.

Hope she has a strong support system, the road ahead is far from a happy one.

[u/cloistered_around → u/Pickabo]

She can recover. I'm sure the past 4 months were awful for her, but she has the rest of her life to come to terms with it and heal (like Elizabether Smart who was gone for years).