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Here we will find out all about the infamous Phillip Craig Garrido and his heinous crimes.
On 8 November 2009, Jaycee Dugard’s movie was released and instantly made headlines because it was based on a horrifying abduction and rape incident that continued for 18 years. The victim Jaycee Dugard had faced it all and gave birth to two daughters during this period.
It’s one of the most horrifying incidents seen in the history of the United States. However, eventually, the state found the culprit and jailed them. Still, a lot happened between, and in this article, we will take you through Jaycee Dugard’s pain, how the police mishandled the case and the full story that shamed humanity.
The world is full of bad people who play a decent role in society, but they commit some gruesome crimes. This story will open your eyes and make you rethink your security. Let’s start!
Background of Jaycee Lee Dugard
Jaycee Dugard was a poor child who had to go through a journey worse than a nightmare. Dugard and her family moved from Arcadia, California, in Los Angeles County, to Meyers, a rural town in South Lake Tahoe. The family moved to this new place because they thought it was safer to live, but it turned out to be the wrong decision.
Dugard was close to her mother, Terry Probyn, and her infant half-sister Shayn. However, her biological father didn’t know he got a daughter. Although Dugard’s mother was married to Carl Probyn, Dugard was never close to her stepfather. The kidnapping happened when 11-year-old Dugard was in fifth grade.
Phillip Craig Garrido and Nancy Garrido
Phillip Craig Garrido and Nancy Garrido made a couple who committed horrible crimes. Craig played the main role, while his wife Nancy Garrido equally supported him in the crime.
Phillip Craig Garrido graduated from Liberty High School in 1969. Garrido’s father, Manuel, claimed that he used to be a good boy, but a motorcycle incident changed it all. After the accident, he started consuming alcohol and drugs and did much objectionable stuff.
Garrido accepted that he habitually masturbated in his car while watching high school girls in court testimony. In 1972, he was arrested and charged with repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl after giving her a life-threatening drug called barbiturates.
The following year he married his high school classmate Christine Murphy, and she also charged Garrido with domestic violence and a kidnapping attempt.
Later in 1976, Garrido kidnapped a 25-year-old Katherine Callaway in South Lake Tahoe, California, and raped her for five and a half hours in a warehouse in Reno, Nevada. Luckily, a policeman caught him, and after the trial, Garrido was sent for a five-year federal sentence.
Prison wedding
Garrido met Nancy Bocanegra on October 5, 1981, during his sentence. They both got married in prison. On January 22, 1988, Phillip Craig Garrido was released. He and his wife, Nancy Garrido, moved to the city of Antioch and lived in the home of his elderly mother, who had dementia.
Garrido is a habitual offender and did another terrible crime that shocked the world after a few years of this.
Jaycee Dugard kidnapping case
Most kidnapping happens in silence where no one watches. However, this one happened in daylight and was seen by many. However, police failed to locate the culprit for 18 years.
On 10, 1991, Dugard’s mother left for work early in the day. 11-year-old Dugard was wearing her favorite pink outfit, and she was walking up the hill (opposite the traffic) from her house to catch the school bus. She went the halfway, and a grey car approached her.
Dugard thought the driver would ask her for directions; instead, Garrido rolled the window and made Dugard unconscious with a stun gun. His wife, Nancy Garrido, dragged Dugard into the car and removed her clothing. Leaving a butterfly ring that Dugard kept with herself for eighteen years.
Nancy and Phillip wrapped her into a blanket and took her to their property in Antioch, which is 120 miles away from abduction. For the first time, Dugard spoke with the kidnappers and said that her family could not afford the ransom. However, poor Dugard didn’t know that ransom wasn’t the motive.
Many, including Probyn (Mother), saw a woman forcing Dugard into a grey color car. Also, some of her classmates witnessed the entire crime. Probyn tried to chase the car with her bicycle but failed because of her slow speed.
It happened in daylight and was witnessed by many, yet it wasn’t enough to catch the duos.
Search efforts made
As the abduction happened in daylight, the news spread to the entire town. Immediately the story was covered by national and local news channels spreading the word like anything.
It helped, and within days, dozens of local volunteers facilitated the police search for Jaycee Dugard. They used nearly every resource possible while sticking posters in the whole town. Hundreds of thousands of flyers were mailed to nearby cities and throughout the United States to spread the word and prioritize the search party.
Since Dugard’s favorite color was pink, the town was covered in pink ribbons as a constant reminder of her disappearance. Terry Probyn, who saw the abduction but failed to chase, came to help and found a helping group called Jaycee’s Help that aided in fundraising and volunteering. They designed t-shirts, sweatshirts, and buttons to cover the cost of printing, postage, and related expenses.
NGOs like Child Quest International and the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children got involved in the search and announced a rich reward. Fox News broadcasted the entire event naming it as America’s most wanted.
The kidnapping attracted nationwide attention. However, even after a continuous effort of searching, fundraising, awareness, and candlelight events, Marches, nothing happened, and the abduction of Jaycee Dugard was still a mystery.
What was happening with Jaycee Dugard?
On one side, people were worried about Dugard and were taking every possible measure to locate her. On the other hand, Dugard went through the worst phase.
After the end of captivity, Dugard appeared on the ABC news to share her story for the first time. She said that soon after the abduction, Garrido took her to his home on an unincorporated island of Antioch and kept her in a tiny, soundproofed shed. He also builds 2.4 feet tall fences so Dugard can’t escape.
Right after the abduction, Garrido forced Dugard to shower, and it was the first time Dugard had seen a naked man. The little girl was afraid for her life. The warning that Doberman would bite her if she tried to escape the shed hit her like anything.
During her first week of captivity, Dugard remained handcuffed for the entire time, and after a week, Garrido first raped the still handcuffed Dugard. Since then, he used to rape her frequently or at least once a week for the first three years of her captivity.
Later he provided her with a television, but she was not allowed to watch the news. After seven months of captivity, Garrido introduced Dugard to his wife, Nancy Garrido. Nancy brought a stuffed animal and chocolates for Dugard showing her motherly concern while not doing anything solid for her release.
When Garrido returned to jail for a failing drug test, Nancy replaced him as Dugard’s jailer. She played an equal part in the crime, though she was concerned about her health but couldn’t help.
These good and bad games went on for 18 years, while on the other side, everyone was still concerned about Dugard’s disappearance and was making all the efforts to search for her.
Jaycee Dugard daughters
Dugard conceived twice during captivity, first when she was 13 years old and second when she was 17 years old. After her first pregnancy, Garrido raped her less frequently. But still, he would do so when he was high on drugs. The last time Dugard raped was on the day when she conceived her second daughter.
Meanwhile, Dugard took care of her daughters using the information she learned from television and protected them from Garrido, who continued his rants and lectures.
It was such a horrible experience. Garrido informed Dugard to appease his wife Nancy as the mother of both daughters and Dugard as their older sister.
This fiction game continued for a long, and now Dugard wasn’t kept uncuffed. She was allowed to answer business calls and emails. She addressed people at the front door. Jaycee compromised with her situation and didn’t attempt to escape.
How did the police catch Phillip Craig Garrido?
On August 24, 2009, Garrido visited the FBI’s office to leave a 4-page essay containing his ideas about sexuality and religion, suggesting that he had found a solution to his past crimes using his theories.
He then appeared with his two daughters, asking to hold a special event called “God’s desire.” The police immediately recognized something wrong with the daughters as they looked pale, like they hadn’t been in the sun for months. The police allowed Garrido to leave at that time but kept an eye on him.
Garrido and the girls appeared for the meeting on the day of the next appointment, and this time, inspector Jacob interrogated all of them separately. After a strict interrogation and background check, Garrido admitted that he kidnapped and raped Dugard for 18 years.
Only after this did Jaycee Dugard properly identify herself as a victim. Some people say she became a victim of Stockholm syndrome, while Dugard confirmed she was doing it to protect herself and her family from Phillip Garrido.
After that, Jaycee Dugard united with her mother, Terry Probyn.
The court case and legal proceedings
On November 26, 2009, the hearing began when Garrido and his wife pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, rape, and false imprisonment. However, soon they realized that they could not easily leave with that.
Later on, on September 14, 2009, superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister set bail for Garrido’s wife Nancy at US$30 million. But no bail was allowed for Garrido.
The case continued for a long, hearing both sides. Finally, after two years, Phillip Craig Garrido was sentenced to 431 years of imprisonment, while Nancy was sentenced to 36 years of life imprisonment.
Too late, but finally, the sufferings of Dugard finished, and the culprits ended up in the place they deserved.
The case against the State of California and the United States
After this, Dugard charged the state with two cases. In a lawsuit against California, she claimed that Garrido had been on parole for a 1976 rape at her kidnapping.
The crime wouldn’t have happened if the department had taken it seriously. She discovered numerous lapses in the system, and In July 2010, the State of California approved a USD 20 million settlement with Dugard to compensate her for multiple lapses in the system.
In 2011, Dugard filed a case against the United States, accusing that they failed to monitor Phillip Craig Garrido while on parole. That case was dismissed in March 2016 based on some legal grounds.
Jaycee Dugard movie
If you want to see the video representation of the entire case, then you can watch Kidnapped for 18 Years: The Jaycee Dugard Story. It movie came out in 2009. Now, you can watch it on Netflix.
The film represents the suffering that Jaycee Dugard went through. It will surely melt your heart.
Final thoughts
The sufferings of Dugard were terrible. We can only imagine the sufferings that Dugard went through. A huge part of her life went in captivity while the culprits were roaming freely. The only relief is that the suffering ended, and now Jaycee lives happily with her mother, and Garrido’s are behind bars.
This case was heinous, dirty enough to shame humanity. However, it’s not the only case. Many incidents do not even go into the books of law, which makes us rethink our security.
This case teaches us how kidnapping isn’t uncommon, and children require utmost care and protection. Please take extra care of yourself and your family as you never know a predator in the face of a human might be hiding near you.
