Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted by Phillip and Nancy Garrido from Lake Tahoe in 1990. In 2009, her lifeless body was found. The birth date of Dugard is May 3, 1980. For 18 years, she was forced to stay in a hut in her attackers’ garden. She became pregnant as a result of Phillip Garrido’s sexual assault. Dugard had a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old daughter while she was held captive. The girls were brought up to consider the Garridos as “mom” and “dad” and to think of Jaycee as an elder sister.
Alissa was the name she settled on after being forced to change by her captors. So that she would not try to flee, the Garridos fed her lies continually and brainwashed her.
In spite of being followed by such a young girl, the Garridos had never had children; this fact led to Dugard’s discovery and rescue by security agents at a nearby college. The purpose of Garrido’s visit to the University of California, Berkeley was to have a conversation about the requirements for obtaining a campus speaking permission. Garrido hoped to give a talk at the university about his experiences with schizophrenia and the strategies he has found to be effective in managing the condition. The coordinator of campus events suspected something was amiss and alerted the university’s security team. Following an investigation into Garrido’s past, campus police learned that he had been convicted of sex crimes and contacted his parole officer to express their fears for the safety of the youngsters in his care. Parole officer visits Garrido’s house regularly but had no idea he had kids for years.
That week, Phillip had an appointment with his parole officer, and he took his family with him: his wife, their two kids, and Jaycee (who was still using the name Alissa). Although Jaycee was questioned by authorities, she maintained her narrative and insisted that she was Alissa; she also said that Garrido, despite being a convicted sex offender, had changed his ways. Jaycee Lee Dugard came out as the real ‘Alissa’ only after Garrido admitted to having kidnapped and raped her. The investigation team has concluded that Jaycee may have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome while she was held captive.
On April 28, 2011, Phillip and Nancy Garrido pleaded guilty to kidnapping Dugard; Phillip also faced 13 counts of sexual assault, and Nancy was charged with aiding and abetting Phillip.
Since Phillip was already on the government’s sex offender registry before to the kidnapping, he was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison. Nancy’s mandatory minimum service time is 36 years. A victim compensation fund paid $20 million to Dugard.
A book by Dugard, “A Stolen Life,” has been released after her rescue. She has two daughters and is trying to adjust to a life away from the spotlight with them.