That $25,000 was donated by Hormel Foods, the Minnesota-based company that owns Jennie-O Turkey Store, where Jayme’s parents had worked in Barron, Wisconsin, for 27 years.
“First and foremost, Jennie-O Turkey Store is a family,” Steve Lykken, a senior vice president of Hormel and president of Jennie-O, said Wednesday. “Here in Barron, our Jennie-O family is dealing with a very tragic situation.” The goal, he added, is to set up a trust fund for Jayme.
The girl’s parents, James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, were killed Oct. 15 when an intruder entered their home, shot them and kidnapped their daughter. Jayme was held for 88 days in a cabin 70 miles from her home by a man, identified as Jake T. Patterson, who forced her to hide under a bed whenever he left, trapping her in with heavy items, authorities said.
She managed to escape Jan. 10, clawing her way out from under the bed, putting on a pair of men’s shoes and running to a nearby road where she asked a woman for help.
“I’m Jayme Closs,” the woman recalled the girl saying. “I don’t know where I am.”
Jayme has been staying with relatives since she was found.
The kidnapping upended the rural community where the Closses lived. Authorities received thousands of tips. Last month, Jennie-O organized a “Tree of Hope” lighting ceremony for Jayme’s safe return.
“While we are still mourning the loss of longtime family members Jim and Denise, we are so thankful for Jayme’s brave escape and that she is back in Barron,” Lykken said this week.
The other $25,000 in reward money had been put forward by the FBI. Leonard Peace, a public information officer for the agency in Wisconsin, declined to comment on whether it would pay Jayme the money, given that she saved herself.
“Our general practice is to refrain from disclosing details on the final decisions in these matters due to privacy considerations,” he said in a statement. “The FBI evaluates the information provided along with the unique circumstances of the case and its resolution, and determines whether it is appropriate to award reward money.”
But others have chipped in to help Jayme. A representative for GoFundMe confirmed that a campaign started Jan. 11 to help the girl was verified. So far, the organizer, who is a family member of Jayme’s, has raised more than $34,000.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.