US teen found alive 3 months after parents shot dead

AFP  |  Chicago 

A 13-year-old girl missing for almost three months after her parents were shot dead has been found, her matted and wearing oversized shoes.

It said she was located in the town of Gordon, near and northeast of

A suspect was in custody.

is just north of Barron County, where Closs lived.

The sheriff's department in was set to release more details on Friday after describing the investigation as "very fluid and active" following the suspect's arrest.

newspaper in reported on its website that a neighbor walking a dog knocked on the door of Kristin and Peter Kasinskas's home east of

With the neighbor was a gaunt, bedraggled girl with matted and shoes too big for her feet.

"This is Jayme Closs! Call 911!" the neighbor said.

In a phone interview with the newspaper, the unidentified neighbor said that Closs "came up to me and said she wanted help." In the wooded area, which has few year-round residents, police blocked access to a cabin believed to be that of the 21-year-old suspect, the newspaper said.

The FBI had been searching nationwide for Closs and described her as "endangered." She was believed to have witnessed the murders of her parents but was not considered a suspect based on evidence recovered at the scene, police said at the time.

Closs disappeared after police received a call from a cellphone inside her home where James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, were found shot dead.

Police did not know what happened or the motive for the killings, and a murder weapon was not recovered, according to US at the time. reported that the family's front door had been shot open.

said Closs's aunt sobbed upon hearing that the teen had been found.

"Praise the Lord," she said. "It's the we've been waiting on for three months. I can't wait to get my arms around her.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, January 11 2019. 21:35 IST