18 Years in Captivity-Phillip Garrido and Jaycee Lee

Jaycee Lee Dugard's Early Life

Jaycee Lee Dugard was born on June 10, 1991. Jaycee's biological father was never in her life.

When Dugard was seven years old, her mother Terry remarried. Dugard was never close to her stepdad. The Dugard's family relocated to Meyers, a small town south of South Lake Tahoe, in September 1990 because they believed it was a safer neighborhood.

The Kidnapping

On June 10, 1991, Dugard's mother left home early for work. Eleven-year-old Dugard was walking up the hill from her house to the school bus stop wen a car approached her. She assumed the car's driver was pulling over to ask for directions.

The driver, Phillip Garrido, pulled down the window and tased her. Nancy, his wife, dragged Dugard into the vehicle.

During the three-hour trip to the Garridos' property in Antioch, Nancy covered her with a blanket and held her down.

Life In Captivity

Jaycee was taken to their backyard, where Phillip and Nancy had built a soundproof shed. Jaycee was imprisoned inside, with just one window through which she could glimpse the outside world. They shackled her, stripped her of her clothing, and forbade her from uttering her name.

Jaycee endured manipulation, sexual assault, and verbal abuse for the following 18 years. She had two children, the first at the age of 14 and the second at the age of 17. Later, she admitted that she was grateful for her daughters because they made her feel less lonely.

He said that because society had disregarded him, the "demon angels" had allowed him to kidnap her and that she would help him with his sexual difficulties. On rare occasions, Garrido would go on days-long of methamphetamine binge, and force Dugard to maintain keep him company company by performing sexual favors and engaging in many other activities.

Pregnancy in Captivity

Nearly three years into her captivity, the Garridos started to give Dugard brief periods of freedom from her handcuffs while still keeping her imprisoned in the secured room. They first gave her cooked meals on Easter Sunday of 1994, and  told her they suspected she was pregnant.

Jaycee gave birth on August 18, 1994, Dugard was 14 years old. The second daughter was born on on November 13, 1997, she was 17 at the time.

Dugard took care of her daughters by using what she learned from TV. She also strived to keep them safe from Garrido, who kept yelling at them and giving them religious lectures.

Rescue

On August 24, 2009, Garrido went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in San Francisco and left a four-page essay with his ideas about religion and sexuality. He claimed he had found a way to solve dysfunctional sexual behaviors.

On the same day, Garrido went to University of California, Berkeley with Dugard's two daughters. There, he went to the campus police office to ask for permission to hold a special event as part of his "God's Desire" program. He talked to Lisa Campbell, who is in charge of special events.

She noticed his erratic behavior and asked him to come back the following day. Phillip left his name before he left. Officer Ally Jacobs did a background check and found that Garrido was a registered sex offender on federal parole for kidnapping and rape.

The next day, Garrido and the girls went back to their appointment at 2 p.m., and Jacobs was there. Jacobs thought the girls looked pale, like they hadn't been in the sun, and that they were acting in a strange way. Jacob called the parole office to report the disturbing situation she had seen.

Later that day, two parole officers came to Garrido's house where they arrested Phillip. He was later released after he claimed the girls were his relative's daughters. However, he was asked to come back the following day to the university as he still had some questions to answer about the identity of the girls.

On August 26, Phillip went to the university with his wife, the two girls and Duggard. To ensure the validity of the information they were about to obtain, they were separated and interrogated individually.

When questioned, Jaycee hid her identity and said good things about Phillip. Jaycee displayed symptoms of Stockholm syndrome, a condition where a captive becomes emotionally attached to her captor. While in captivity, Jaycee had several opportunities for escape but she never utilized them.

Phillip confessed he had kidnapped Jaycee Lee 18 years prior, and that the children were his.

For the crime, Phillip was sentenced to life in prison while his wife, Nancy, was given 36-year sentence.

Jaycee sued the state of California for mishandling Phillip's parole as she was kidnapped while the criminal was serving his parole. She received a compensation of $20 million.