Local psychologist offers perspective on Closs recovery

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A local psychologist says it's extraordinary how children who have been through traumatic events, like Jayme Closs has, can recover. 

"I don’t know what she’s been through and I don’t want to speculate about what she’s been through. I’m familiar with children who have been through unusually traumatic and severe situations, and one of the things that strikes me the most after that kind of experience, is that given the opportunity, given the love of friends and community, it’s extraordinary how well people can recover," said Dr. Steven Dykstra, a licensed psychologist who works for Milwaukee County.

Dykstra also talked about how people around Wisconsin and the country can help her. 

"A lot of really good people wish they could do more. The fact is, we’re far away, we’re not part of her life, there isn’t much for us to do. We can be careful about our dialogue, about what we put in the social media sphere, what we put out into the world, so that we don’t sensationalize this more than it already is, so we don’t create a social media milieu that’s going to make it even harder for her -- or anybody who has gone through something spectacular or really sensational like this -- to recover and go on with their life," said Dykstra. 

"This victim saved herself I give credit to her," said Thomas Fischer, a certified legal investigator who worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for 30 years. Fischer is not connected to the investigation, but offered his perspective on the case. 

"What I find amazing is that this was just a stranger grabbing this girl from her residence. I mean, usually when you see something like this, and I think we all that it had to be some sort of social media involved in regards of how they met up and how he found her," said Fischer. 

Patterson says he never met Closs on any social media sites and only learned her name after the abduction once he got back to his home in Gordon, according to the criminal complaint against him filed Monday. 

"I think the victim herself did a fantastic job, she gave law enforcement a lot of information, she was detailed on the information she was giving them, within minutes of her being discovered," said Fischer.