Horror story emerges after woman kidnapped as child resurfaces 18 years later

Well, amazing that she turned out to be alive and relatively well, and here's hoping she isn't scarred beyond 'repair' from being locked up for so long. I hope people keep the media at bay and give this woman some time to take it in, because time is definitely what she needs (as do of course her children).

On the plus side, she'll definitely have a story to tell that could be published... if she ever wants to.

Garrido had a wife living with him while his victims lived in sheds in the back yard. What role did she have in this horror? Garrido is quoted as having said that he turned his life around. It is a pity that he didn't return this girl to her family as part of that.

It sounds like an episode from CSI Miami. What I can't understand is that a psycho and sex offender with a rap sheet a mile long never was under closer scrutiny. The wife definitely is an accessory and these abominations need to be locked away indefinitely.

According to our research of the California and other state lists there were 46 registered sex offenders living in Placerville in May 2009. The ratio of number of residents in Placerville to the number of sex offenders is 217 to 1.

No SO database 18 years ago?

a parole officer who had visited Garrido’s house previously had not noticed anything amiss—the compound was well concealed by shrubs, garbage cans and a tarp.“You can’t see over the fence with the shrubbery and the trees. You can’t see the structures,” ...

Unbelievable attempt to excuse the parole officer who should have been thoroughly examining the property on each visit.

That officer should be prosecuted, but don't hold your breath.

"The case broke after Garrido was spotted Tuesday with two children as he tried to enter the University of California, Berkeley, campus to hand out religious literature."

What sort of religious literature?

It is also interesting to read about this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090828/ap_on_re_us/us_kidnapped_girl_found

Neighbor Diane Doty said she could see the tents and often heard children playing in the backyard, the corner of which abuts her own backyard. She said she even suspected the children lived in the tents, but her husband said she should leave the family alone.

"I asked my husband, 'Why is he living in tents?'" she said. "And he said, 'Maybe that is how they like to live.'"

It's good to see justice finally done. Feel sorry for her mother and stepfather (who was previously accused of committing this crime) who had to go through this for 18 years. I can't imagine how much pain and stress they must have gone through for so long.

This is a pretty horrific story. Something like this deserves to spend the rest of his worthless miserable life locked up in a cage. Away from the rest of society.

Just one sex hungry animal destroyed the lives of atleast 7 people. He has a wife who seem to have helped him with his wicked deeds. How will be the lives of those two children of his? Something is terribly wro ng with this world.

It took Dugard awhile. Maybe she developed Stockholm lolicon syndrome?

"God spoke to him through a box."

What the hell is wrong with some people?

The neighbor probably thought they were ex-hippies, a cult, etc. =A small part of a bankrupt moral culture.

How do you figure, Badsey?

seems the keystone a-cops were only able to nab the perp because he turned himself in ... ha ha ha. ah ... california. where you can get beat down for a DWB but, they can't solve a missing person's case when the evidence is staring them in the mug. must've been the LAPD who trained the j-cops in detective work ... he he he.

Tiresias:

Garrido had a wife living with him while his victims lived in sheds in the back yard. What role did she have in this horror?

Apparently, she kept Dugard on the property while Garrido was imprisoned in 1993, among other things.

presto345:

What I can't understand is that a psycho and sex offender with a rap sheet a mile long never was under closer scrutiny.

Because the system is overworked and likely underfunded.

Madverts:

What sort of religious literature?

Tony Alamo's? Just a guess.

I suspect Garrido will - finally - not live a free day for the rest of his life. It's about time.

Glad this woman and her children are free. Garrido needs to be put away for good and his "wife" need to be put away too with some serious counseling. Dugard was attacked and raped as a child, didn't get to go to school, get a job and mature as a normal person should. Her unfortunate children at least have a chance. This is an extremely bittersweet situation with a mostly bitter aftertaste for the victim and her real family.

This is incredible.

I've been thinking about the feelings that the step-dad must have after all these years he has been considered, whispered behind his back, that he was the kidnapper. And to see her come out of this horrible situation alive. < :-)

I hope this freak and his wife get what's coming to them. A shank in a jail somewhere soon.

Just read a Daily Mail article stating that when Garrido kidnapped Dugard, he had recently been released after serving 11 years of a 50-year sentence for kidnapping and rape. This whole thing could have been prevented if some idiot (or group of idiots) hadn't let him out early.

11? Out of 50? I can't decide whether that's insanity or stupidity.

adaydream:

I've been thinking about the feelings that the step-dad must have after all these years he has been considered, whispered behind his back, that he was the kidnapper.

Agreed. Police rarely know how to investigate these types of incidents properly, unfortunately.

Whitehawk, The court showed him some compassion.

AP story: Dugard was reunited with her family and said to be in good health, but feeling guilty about developing a bond with Garrido over the years.

Guess I wasn't too far off about maybe a Stockholm lolicon syndrome....

It was actually the Special Events Coordinator for the UC Berkeley police who should be credited with freeing Jaycee and her daughters. She decided, "There's something really wrong here" when Garrido showed up on campus last Monday with the two kids to inquire about staging a religious event. School had already started and the older girl, whose demeanor and appearance were odd, claimed they were home-schooled in response to why she and her sister weren't in school. The younger one also said they had a 29-year old sister at home.

The coordinator got bad vibes and asked Garrido to return to discuss his plans the next day, when she arranged to have him meet with her superior (and joined them though it was her day off). His sex offender status was revealed and he was packed off to his probation officer with the rest of the "family" in tow.

About ten years ago another sex offender with religious delusions and a female partner kidnapped a 16-year old girl from her home in Utah. When the vagrant trio came to police attention several years later, she too claimed to be his wife.

One can say, why didn't the neighbors suspect something given they knew the guy was a registered sex offender? Well, he put up a high fence around his yard. Nonetheless, in 2006 someone did call to report people, including children, seemed to be living in the back. But the sheriff's deputy dispatched to investigate never went to look himself after speaking with Garrido out front. Moreover, given his record the police had the power to drop by unannounced without probable cause. So the community may have felt the police knew everything there was to know.

In addition to the charges that stem from kidnapping Jaycee, he's being investigated in connection with a string of unsolved murders near where he previously worked where the bodies of prostitutes were found.

Garrido and the girls showed up Monday on the Berkeley campus, where they distributed fliers and met with Lisa Campbell, manager of special events for the UC Police Department.

Garrido told her he wanted to hold a campus event he called "God's Desire," which he frenetically described as having to do with schizophrenia and the FBI.

Campbell, 40, a former Chicago police officer, said she found it curious that the girls were not in school and appeared not to have spent any time in the sunlight. Campbell said that Garrido was "clearly unstable" but that the girls were even more striking.

Clothed in drab dresses, with penetrating blue eyes that matched their father's, they were "non-responsive" and exuded no energy, she said.

Busy with other matters and eager to learn more about this strange trio, Campbell asked Garrido to return the next day to plan the event. She then went to campus police Officer Ally Jacobs, 33, and told her something was not right with the three.

Jacobs ran a computer check and learned that Garrido was a federal parolee and sex offender. She joined Campbell in the Tuesday meeting and tried not to arouse Garrido's suspicions.

lostrune2:

The court showed him some compassion.

Well the court's compassion was misplaced, wasn't it?

Whitehawk, Scots agree ya gotta respect US courts.