so glad this one had a (somewhat) happy ending.

I so wish Ms. Closs nothing but good fortune from here on out.

...and then spend months as the captive/slave of their murderer — well, I guess it’s a lot better than what more could have happened, but I thing “good fortune” applied to any of Jayme’s experience is probably pushing it.

There is an ongoing story unfolding in the press and my post part of that process of what we are learning.

The horrors are indisputable. This was a post about the good things that are helping her along the way.
Okay?

Many others don't. So they indisputably had bad, or horrific luck or circumstances that led to their being refugees, many saw their families murdered, and had to go through all kinds of terrible things just to survive - yet they did. They had more luck than others in their situation, it's just a relative thing. I think there are things working in her favor now that she's freed herself from this monster.

I live in Wisconsin, so we were hearing about this case all the time. Usually the end of the story is when they find the body.

Like the little boy in Iraq who lost his arms, his legs, and his parents in the same bombing.
Waking up after such trauma, it is so unfair that he had no parents to hold him.

I’m glad she was close to her aunt and has dogs.

Read the criminal complaint today

-the cops passed his car with her in the trunk on the way to the crime scene. Jayme heard the sirens
-they missed him by 20 seconds at the scene
-her dog alert them there was an intruder but her dad didn’t grab his gun or take precautions
-they dialed 911 too late by a few seconds
-he hid her under his bed while people came to visit
-he asked her mother to tape her mouth, hands and feet, her hands were shaking so he set down the shotgun to help her ( their last chance to fight back)
-his car the same one the cop noticed the first night had a tail light out when they caught him 88 days later. He could have been pulled over for that anytime

In the complaint he stated he would have shot any cop who tried to stop him

He only had 3 shots left so who knows

So EVERY TIME someones dog barks you think people should grab a gun? FFS.

But if someone is banging on the door at 1am yelling at you.....you take precautions

It sure would have helped out this time

Truly horrific what this dude did and gives you pause.

Will a professional volunteer those services? When Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped she had to testify against her kidnappers in court several years after the incident. That is really difficult for someone to do, especially a young victim.

Elizabeth Smart has reached out to the family as well, offering her support when Jayme is ready.

The family said Jayme is in good spirits and laughing at times. She does not talk about any of it.

I don't think you are supposed to pressure them to open up until they are ready or else they could harm any progress toward healing. Elizabeth Smart relied on her Mormon faith a lot as well as her strong, supportive family. I hope she speaks to Smart before she has to testify against him.

Amazingly she gave them eyewitness information which the killer corroborated

Some of it is heartbreaking

But this is so heartwarming. I'm so glad she has her doggies and a loving aunt to take care of her. Lucky girl. And brave. Even if all she had to do was walk out the door of his house, at least she did it. Many kidnapped people are too scared to do that.

I recall that it was reported she was wearing too large men's shoes when she escaped. He probably took away her shoes to help keep her detained or she didn't get to take any when he took her. She probably couldn't run and was likely only able to walk on the road - knowing that he could come back at any time.

500 yards is still a significant distance in snow without proper footwear.

It says a lot about her that she was able to escape after this long.

At 13, well...that's so young. The whole country is so happy that she's okay. So happy.

These scum of the earth deadbeats often kill or harm really good people who are an asset to the world.