Lost and Found (44 page)

“It’s been a while,” said the judge, “but having had three teenage children, I know they don’t always follow the lead of their mother.”

Once again sitting in the public gallery was Katie Callaway Hall, who later told a reporter that she might be called as a witness at Phillip Garrido’s trial, under a victims’ rights law that allows past victims to testify.

After the hearing, Nancy Garrido’s attorney, Stephen Tapson, said his client was delighted when she learned she could talk to her husband for the first time since their arrest almost six months earlier.

“She loves him,” said Tapson. “She almost burst into tears.”

Epilogue

On Friday, March 5, Jaycee Lee Dugard spoke for the first time publicly, in a home movie sold to ABC-TV. In an exclusive deal—reported to have been worth as much as $200,000 to the Dugard family—the ABC network heavily featured snippets of the video on that day’s
Good Morning America
,
20/20,
and
Nightline.

The moving home video portrayed a family healing together. Jaycee, Terry and Shayna were shown celebrating Christmas, baking cookies and laughing. In another scene they rode horses on a ranch, as part of their therapy.

“Hi, I’m Jaycee,” she said with a big smile. “I want to thank you for your support. It’s been a long haul but I’m getting there.”

Now a brunette, Jaycee was filmed on a swing, wearing a pink baseball cap, jeans and a black shirt, feeding her two spaniels. But her two daughters were not featured at all in the video, which also contained a personal plea by Terry Probyn for privacy.

“It is my desire to share our miracle with the world,” Terry said. “But it has to be done on our terms. Please give us the time we need to heal as a family, without the prying eyes of the photographers and the press. We released this video so you can see that we’re happy and well, and when we have more to share we will. As a mother I am pleading for our privacy in this very public story.”

On July 1, 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved a $20 million settlement to Jaycee Dugard and her family. The huge payment was recommended by the state Department of Justice. Although noting in an analysis that the California Corrections Department had denied the allegations against it and that California has legal immunity against such claims, Jaycee’s case, they acknowledged, “had a unique and tragic character.”

A week later, it was revealed that after her discovery Jaycee had told investigators that parole agents had actually spoken to her and her daughter Angel during their captivity. The agents failed, however, to investigate their exact relationship to Phillip Garrido.

Author’s Note

At the time this book went to press, the 29-count criminal complaint against Phillip and Nancy Garrido remains pending and unresolved. Although both defendants deny all charges, there is speculation of a possible insanity defense by Phillip. Separately represented, the details of Nancy’s legal defense are not yet known.

In the intense media frenzy that accompanied Jaycee’s release from her 18-year captivity, there have been many unsubstantiated media claims. So far there is nothing to support speculation as to either of Jaycee’s daughters ever being sexually abused anywhere, and Jaycee has always denied it. Additionally, there is no evidence to connect Jaycee or her children to orgies or sex parties, allegedly observed by some neighbors on the Garrido property.