GREEN BAY, WI — Investigators will be the first to tell you that missing person cases get harder to solve with every minute that passes. And with Jayme Closs missing for 88 days until she escaped, tonight we're talking with authorities about how uncommon this case is.
At the Brown County Sheriff's Office, the head of the investigation division says missing children cases, can be the most taxing cases for his investigators whole careers.
And when the Jayme Closs investigation dragged out for 88 days investigators at departments across the state were likely thinking the same thing, could she still be alive? National statistics suggest that if a child is abducted by a stranger and killed, it happens within three hours of the kidnapping 74 percent of the time. It's a statistic that isn't lost on law enforcement and those who were pulling for Jayme.
"I think the lesson in this is for anyone who has a missing person in their lives, there is hope until you have answers, there is always hope that they could be found," says Capt. David Poteat of the Brown County Sheriff's office.
"We were all hoping and praying that this was going to be the outcome of this case. However, it was a surprise I think to most people that given the statistical data that she was found and recovered alive," adds Capt. David Mack of the Winnebago County Sheriff's office.
The US Department of Justice reports that nearly 2-thousand kids are reported missing every day in America. Local law enforcement NBC26 spoke with says hopefully Jaymes' escape gives other families dealing with such loss, continued hope.
