Teen Missing After Parents' Killing Is 'Endangered': FBI

A nationwide Amber Alert has been issued for a teenage girl whose parents were found shot to death inside their Wisconsin home this week. Thirteen year old Jayme Closs is considered endangered and FBI officials said she could be "anywhere."

Cleveland FBI said there is no indication Closs is in Ohio, but law enforcement nationwide are asking the public for help looking for the girl. Digital billboards with Closs' face are being put up throughout the U.S.

On Monday, police in Barron, Wisconsin received a 911 call. Inside a Barron home, they found James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, dead from gunshot wounds. Closs, the daughter of the deceased, was missing. Investigators believe the teenager was inside the home when her parents were killed and that she was abducted at gunpoint.

Authorities say they have analyzed the 911 call that was made from the Closs residence early Monday, and have determined who made dialed 911, however they are not publicly saying who made the call.

A Nationwide Search

According to a Chicago Tribune report, neighbors Tom and Joan Smrekar woke up early that morning to the sound of two gunshots, only seconds apart at 12:31 a.m. They were interviewed by the FBI later on Monday. "They were fine neighbors," Tom Smrekar said in the report. "We really don't know them — our contact has been minimal."

Investigators have been unable to find the weapon used to kill Closs' parents, or any sign of Closs. On Thursday, the Barron County Sheriff's Department put out a call to the public for 100 volunteers to meet at the intersection of State Highway 8 and 16th Street to help police search for Closs. The teenager is not a suspect in her parents' killings.

Local authorities in partnership with the FBI and Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation are continuing their investigation. They've released new photos of Closs, deployed K9 officers, used thermal sensors and have conducted a massive foot and door-to-door search.

A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night in Wisconsin, as community members mourned the loss of Closs' parents and Jayme's disappearance.

"Everyone is feeling very helpless right now," family friend Melissa Salmonson said in a CBS News report. "People in the small, tight-knit community are rattled. They gathered Tuesday night at a vigil to pray for Jayme's safe return."

"It makes you hug your kids. It makes you nervous," community member Bethany Stevens said in the CBS report. "It's just unsettling."

Jayme is 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. She has green eyes and blond or strawberry blond hair. Anyone with information about her location or anyone who has had recent contact with Jayme is asked to call 911.

Police in Miami, Florida, said overnight a girl fitting Jayme's description was sighted between 2-3 p.m. Monday at a gas station in that city. A man told police the girl resembling Jayme was in a black Ford Explorer with possible Wisconsin license plate of 160WER. Two well-dressed, Middle Eastern men in their 30s, both with beards, were inside the vehicle, police said. They were described as 5 feet, 7 inches to about 5 feet, 9 inches, and weighed between 200 and 250 pounds, Miami police said.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told Fox 9 he is skeptical about the reported sighting in Miami. His office is following it up as a tip, but doubts the timing of it all. Fitzgerald said that Closs' alleged sighting in Miami was about 15 hours after the police responded to her home. The drive time from Wisconsin to Miami is about 26 hours according to Google Maps.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. And like Patch on Facebook!)

Photo from Cleveland FBI

Patch reporter Scott Anderson contributed to this report