Wisconsin Hunters Keep Eye Out For Closs Clues On Opening Weekend

DEER PARK, Wis. (WCCO) -- For many hunters, an evening trip to a meat processing plant like Deer's Food Locker signifies a successful day.

"I got my buck," Dallas Nustvold said with a smile.

He's one of potentially thousands of hunters who hurried out Saturday for the start of Wisconsin's deer hunting season. Nustvold spent two days searching for that prized buck, but that's not all he had his sights on.

"I originally saw it on Facebook a couple days ago. (It said) keep your eyes out for any clothing, weapons, any sort of sign or whatever," he said.

The message written on the Barron County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, written by Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. He called on hunters to look out for evidence that could unlock the mystery behind Jayme Closs's disappearance and the deaths of her parents. Deer hunting licenses also have information on Closs printed on them, like her height, weight and what to look for in the woods.

"Anybody that's a parent is aware of the story," said hunter Kirk Sampson.

He said his land is in Conrath, more than 40 miles away from Barron, but that didn't stop him from searching.

"I really started to think about it as, we have a very swampy area in our land, and as I'm walking through there a couple different times it came to mind," he said.

But two days in the woods, yielding nothing but the deer they had been hunting. Late Sunday evening, Sheriff Fitzgerald said there were no reports of evidence found by hunters.

"There's a little snow cover right now so it covered most of the stuff," added Sampson.

Weeks ago, an army of 2,000 volunteers canvassed miles of fields, forests and more in search of Jayme.

Both hunters said it shows law enforcement aren't the only people dedicated to finding her.

"I think it's gonna be just a regular day person that finds some sort of clue," said Nustvold.

"There's not one individual that's gonna comb the county, comb the state that's gonna get it done. It's gonna be everybody together," said Sampson. "It's really the human thing to do."

A $50,000 reward remains active for information that helps find Jayme. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-855-744-3879.