In the early morning hours of June 10, 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was walking to the school bus stop in South Lake Tahoe when Philip and Nancy Garrido abducted her and imprisoned her, hiding her for 18 years in the backyard of their Antioch California home.
The community of South Lake Tahoe was in a state of shock. Law enforcement, Federal, State and Local swarmed to the area to help look for Jaycee and her abductors. Flyers blanketed the area. Neighborhoods were canvassed and residents interviewed. Thousands of tips and alleged sightings flooded in. Many South Lake Tahoe parents and children were frightened that it might happen to them. Search dogs and teams spread out over the region. But, other than the two photos above, there were no leads. Jaycee was kidnapped without a trace.
Unfortunately, the intense microscope and investigation in the case never reached the Bay Area, never focused on sexual predator and parolee Phillip Garrido who had previously kidnapped and sexually assaulted multiple women in the South Lake Tahoe area.
From what we know now, Phillip and Nancy Garrido drove Jaycee straight from South Lake Tahoe to their home in Antioch. Once there, Jaycee was kept in a backyard complex of shacks, in a makeshift recording studio.
For 18 years, Jaycee remained hidden. During that time, she gave birth to two daughters who also lived in the backyard complex.
The nightmare for Jaycee and her mother Terry Probyn finally came to an end 13 years ago on August 26, 2009, when she was discovered due to the instincts of two U.C. Berkeley Campus Officers.
The fact that they saw something unusual and acted on their intuition brought Jaycee and her daughters to freedom. It is a reminder to us all: if you see something, say something.
The El Dorado District Attorney’s office prosecuted Philip and Nancy Garrido. Philip received a sentence of 431 years to life in prison. Nancy received a 36-year sentence for her part in the kidnapping.
Jaycee and her daughters are doing well, living in California in an undisclosed location.