Phillip Garrido Arrested for Jaycee Dugard Kidnapping

The return from a nightmare of captivity in the case of an 11 year old girl kidnapped 18 years ago took on even stranger overtones as the police returned to the crime scene in Antioch, California to begin a search for the remains of murdered prostitutes. Police are holding onto the details of both investigations as a forensics team fans out over the area where Garrido resided with his wife Nancy.

The visible and known part of the story is stunning enough. The kidnapped child is now 29 years old and is the mother of two children sired by Phillip Garrido, a 58 year old convicted rapist and registered sex offender. Sheriff Warren Rupf acknowledged in local KCRA television appearance, seen now on YouTube, that the Contra Costa authorities missed a chance to arrest the Garridos in 2006. It was in 2006 that a caller alerted the Contra Costa Sheriff's department that the homeowner, Phillip Garrido, was a "sex addict" and that there were children living in a rattletrap compound of sheds, tents, and fencing in Garrido's back yard. Sheriff Rupf said that a deputy had been dispatched to the Garrido home at that time. The deputy, as yet unnamed, spoke with Garrido and reported that there was no evidence of crime at the residence. The sheriff said the deputy did warn the Garridos of code violations in reference to the concatenation of sheds, but did not enter the back yard area. Constitutional search restrictions may have applied to the deputy's visit; generally, police are not allowed entrance into private homes unless they are invited or if there is "reasonable cause" to suspect someone is being harmed.

Phillip Garrido and his wife, appeared Wednesday at the sheriff's office, accompanied by the two children he had with the kidnap victim. Newspaper accounts say that Jaycee Dugard was being held as a "sex slave," and that she and her children rarely left the enclosure, had never gone to school or received medical attention.

The 11 year old Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped near a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, more than one hundred miles from the Garrido's Antioch home. The child's stepfather, Carl Probyn, is said to have observed the kidnapping and gave chase on his bicycle as Jaycee was dragged into a van.

California culture is freewheeling enough that many people are convinced that bizarre is the "norm." The BBC reports on its website that at least one neighbor was willing to accept tents, sheds, and unknown persons living in their backyard because "that is how they like to live." Unfortunately, the tolerant culture has permeated the judiciary and law enforcement authorities, and this translated to a criminal hell for kidnapped Jaycee Dugard and her two children.

For more on the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping, read "Beneath the Headlines: The Jaycee Dugard Kidnapping" by Moeursalen (hi, mom).