Crazy sex kidnaping: not just for Austrians anymore

[Ancalagon]

Well fuck...

quick synopsis: American woman who was kidnapped 18 years ago when she was 11 turns up - she was held captive and rapped by her captor (who was married) and had 2 children from him.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE57Q5L420090828

Kidnapped California girl found 18 years later

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California girl who was kidnapped at the age of 11 in 1991 has been found alive, having spent 18 years living in sheds and tents behind the home of her accused abductor, a convicted rapist who fathered two children with her, police said on Thursday.

Jaycee Dugard had been missing since she was snatched off a street by two people in a gray sedan while walking to a bus stop near her home in South Lake Tahoe, east of San Francisco, on June 10, 1991.

Dugard, now 29, was found after a parole officer for her accused kidnapper became suspicious, leading to a search of his home near the town of Antioch, about 100 miles southwest of where she was abducted.

Police say the search turned up a hidden "backyard within a backyard" at the home of registered sex offender and convicted rapist Phillip Craig Garrido, where Dugard and the two children were confined in a series of sheds and tents.

"She was in good health but living in a backyard for 18 years must take its toll," El Dorado County Undersheriff Fred Kollar told a news conference.

Carl Probyn, Dugard's stepfather, said on television he and her mother "cried for about 10 minutes" after they were told by authorities that she had been found alive.

BREAK IN CASE CAME TUESDAY

Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 54, were arrested over Dugard's abduction and prosecutors said they were likely to be charged on Friday.

Authorities said Garrido was suspected of fathering two children with Dugard, girls now aged 11 and 15.

"None of the children had ever been to school, none had been to a doctor. They were kept in complete isolation in this compound," Kollar said.

While the case of Dugard's abduction had remained open for the past 18 years, police had never found a trace of the missing girl or the gray sedan until Tuesday, when Garrido tried to enter the University of California, Berkeley campus with the two girls to pass out religious leaflets.

A campus police officer found his interaction with the girls suspicious and investigated his background, ultimately alerting his parole officer.

During a visit with the parole officer, Garrido brought his wife, the two girls and a woman identified as "Allissa" -- who proved to be Dugard.

Authorities said Garrido had served time in a Nevada prison for a 1971 kidnapping and rape conviction.

The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reported Garrido was described as strange by his neighbors, who said he conducted religious revivals in a tent and claimed to have invented a device to control sound with his mind.

Asked by reporters why the parole officer, who had visited Garrido's home, had never found Dugard or the secret backyard compound, authorities said it was well hidden behind a fence, vegetation and a tarpaulin.

[Hatter]

Holy shit, I can't imagine what kind of counseling she's going to need to recover.

[Kyle Voltti]

Hand her a baseball bat and tell her to swing away?

[Aloysius]

The guy says he had a religious revelation when she fathered her first child, at 14... He did not block him for keeping her his sex-slave for 15 more years. But he was giving religious fliers in the university campus.
Religion (or ideology sometime) is so handy when you are a disgusting criminal...

[Name Lips]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32596549/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

This is the kidnapper talking:

“If you take this a step at a time, you’re going to fall over backwards, and in the end, you’re going to find the most powerful, heartwarming story,”
I don't think he really thinks he did anything wrong. I think he's sad and crazy and deluded. But cognizant enough to have his wife and kidnappees and the children he fathered all under his complete control for 15 years. His wife even helped with the kidnapping, and that hidden shelter is not something that accidentally springs up. He's a sad, twisted, wretched man.

this also bothered me from the link:

Neighbors had suspicions about the tents and buildings in Garrido’s yard for several years. Some said they had called police from time to time, but authorities never noticed anything.
The neighbors could see the tops of the tents from their yards, and heard children playing that they never saw... Some say they called the cops to investigate, and the cops never saw anything. This was somehow bungled on many levels, by many people.

When I was growing up, the fencetops were just another highway for kids to get between yards. How could nobody have known there was a little tent town in the middle of their neighborhood? Did nobody ever climb ladders to prune their trees? Did they never get on their roofs to fix their air conditioners? Why did nobody EVER see over the tops of the fences?

Something seems terribly wrong about all of this.

[Brynja]

I have never heard of this case until the other day.

My gut instinct? Even before I read the papers.

Her stepfather sold her to that man, or was in some way involved.
Something about him set off alarms.

[Snatch]

This story disturbs me on so many levels.

[AriesOmega]

As a parent I can see why people go all vigilante and stuff. What I find sick is she was taken at age 11. The kids he fathered with her are around that same age...:shock: He is a pedofile...I am imagining the worst.:shock:

[Ancalagon]

The thing that is worrying me is this... with the number of recent similar case, I think it is very logical to assume that as we speak, there are others trapped in similar circumstances, all over the world...

And their captors are reading about how their "colleagues" got discovered, and perhaps learning from those mistakes :grey:

[Aloysius]

The thing that is worrying me is this... with the number of recent similar case, I think it is very logical to assume that as we speak, there are others trapped in similar circumstances, all over the world...

Hundred of children disappear every year worldwide, in developed countries alone. Some probably just fall somewhere in a river or such, or are killed after a short, horrific rape. But many other are probably not lost for everyone. Some of them are probably held in those kind of situation, other in even worse kind of places. And if you count children from the third world... Sometimes, I think about all the horrors happening nearly under our nose, and wonder how the world does not collapse under the weight of all the pain. :grey:

[Name Lips]

There are doubtless those who are mentally present enough to take serious, sophisticated procautions against discovery.

But even something as simple as a secret room in the attic... if somebody lives alone, and has no criminal history, and holds down a decent job... They could simply never be discovered.

[Snatch]

Hundred of children disappear every year worldwide, in developed countries alone. Some probably just fall somewhere in a river or such, or are killed after a short, horrific rape. But many other are probably not lost for everyone. Some of them are probably held in those kind of situation, other in even worse kind of places. And if you count children from the third world... Sometimes, I think about all the horrors happening nearly under our nose, and wonder how the world does not collapse under the weight of all the pain. :grey:

You are such a ray of sunshine in this bleak, dark world. :grey:

[shiningbrow]

Yes, indeed. What's delightful about this is that the guy was on parole all this time. What for? Kidnapping and rape. And why, I want to know, was a guy convicted of kidnapping and rape out on parole? For some crimes, bringing back cruel and unusual punishment seems like a viable option.

Here, on sfgate.com, some guy responded to a local story today with this great comment, in which he appends the url to google maps in which the guy's furtive backyard huts are clearly visible. He suggests that the local cops learn how to use Google.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=1554+Walnut+Avenue+Antioch+,+antioch+ca&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=SESYSt3NG4i-sgODwaygAg&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

[The Winslow]

In the innocent man thread, there was talks about slam dunk cases. This is one.

Just sayin'.

[Aloysius]

Here, on sfgate.com, some guy responded to a local story today with this great comment, in which he appends the url to google maps in which the guy's furtive backyard huts are clearly visible. He suggests that the local cops learn how to use Google.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=1554+Walnut+Avenue+Antioch+,+antioch+ca&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=SESYSt3NG4i-sgODwaygAg&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

This is somewhat silly. Look at that picture from the sky, there is no way you may suppose this is a place where a girl is held slave by some kidnapper if you don't already have doubts.

What seems strange is about the neighbourhood They say they allerted the police ? What is sad is that the girl probably could have evaded her captor, but was probably just too terrified to escape the place....

[Ancalagon]

This is somewhat silly. Look at that picture from the sky, there is no way you may suppose this is a place where a girl is held slave by some kidnapper if you don't already have doubts.

What seems strange is about the neighbourhood They say they allerted the police ? What is sad is that the girl probably could have evaded her captor, but was probably just too terrified to escape the place....
I read a link about the police saying that in 2006, they really should have had the chance to bring an end to this, but they flubbed - there was a complaint about the man being crazy and having girls in his backyard or somesuch, but even though he was a registered sex offender, the cops spoke to him and didn't go further than that.

It also seems that she had Stockholm syndrome - it may have helped her survive, but it probably prolonged the ordeal by years.

[Hatter]

I think hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure every parole officer who went out there to check on him is beating himself up now. In this case we should focus on helping the victims as much as possible along with making sure the psycho rapist and his accomplice never have the chance to do this again.

[Lady_Acoma]

I think hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure every parole officer who went out there to check on him is beating himself up now. In this case we should focus on helping the victims as much as possible along with making sure the psycho rapist and his accomplice never have the chance to do this again.

How is that part of the American way?

[shiningbrow]

This is somewhat silly. Look at that picture from the sky, there is no way you may suppose this is a place where a girl is held slave by some kidnapper if you don't already have doubts.

What seems strange is about the neighbourhood They say they allerted the police ? What is sad is that the girl probably could have evaded her captor, but was probably just too terrified to escape the place....

I would agree with you, had neighbors not called to report young children being kept in squalor in the back yard. The reporting officer made zero attempt to search the property when he went to investigate. His exploration was limited to questioning the pervert himself. Apparently, no search warrant was necessary, because the man was already a registered sex offender. That fact alone might have set off a few alarms in the local precinct and demanded a bit more scrutiny on the part of the officer sent to investigate. There is no end to the horror of this situation, but the fact that the child remained so long in this terrible place, makes one question the efficacy of local law enforcement.

[Aloysius]

There is no end to the horror of this situation, but the fact that the child remained so long in this terrible place, makes one question the efficacy of local law enforcement.
Yes, I fully agree, but google earth and its use is absolutely unrelated to this. That's only what I mean. :grey:

[Name Lips]

Hundred of children disappear every year worldwide, in developed countries alone. Some probably just fall somewhere in a river or such, or are killed after a short, horrific rape. But many other are probably not lost for everyone. Some of them are probably held in those kind of situation, other in even worse kind of places. And if you count children from the third world... Sometimes, I think about all the horrors happening nearly under our nose, and wonder how the world does not collapse under the weight of all the pain. :grey:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32702585/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/


Boy found behind wall at grandma's home
6-year-old allegedly abducted in custody dispute two years ago

ROYALTON, Illinois - Authorities say a boy allegedly abducted in a custody dispute two years ago has been found alive, hidden behind a wall at his grandmother's southern Illinois home.

Franklin County authorities found 6-year-old Richard Chekevdia on Friday in a small room hidden behind a wall in Diane Dobbs' rural home.

The boy's mother, Shannon Wilfong, is charged with felony child abduction. Dobbs is charged with aiding and abetting.

Wilfong disappeared with her son in 2007 and was charged with kidnapping, though she couldn't be found.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs says the boy is in good spirits and very social, talkative and polite.

He's staying with his father's relative, under supervision of state child-welfare workers.
And every now and then, they find one.