Report details the revelation of Dugard's identity

Claimed to be an abused wife

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

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SACRAMENTO — When Jaycee Lee Dugard resurfaced in August, she denied being the 11-year-old kidnapped in 1991 and defended Phillip Garrido as a "great person." She became defensive as officers questioned her, then asked for a lawyer. She tried to convince police she was fleeing an abusive husband.

And then the woman who had tried to pass herself off as "Alyssa" told police the truth, ending the 18-year mystery of her disappearance.

The account of how police discovered Aug. 26 that Dugard was alive is contained in a report released Wednesday by state Inspector General David Shaw.

When Garrido's parole agent and a partner initially took Garrido to their office for questioning, he told them that two girls with whom he'd been seen, later found to be Du-gard's children, were the daughters of a relative.

In Garrido's file was a notation that he should not be in the presence of minors, but that was a new restriction from July, and the agents decided it didn't apply to Garrido because he had no convictions with minors. They told him to return the next day, the report found.

Garrido showed up with wife Nancy, "Alyssa" and the two girls. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Alyssa" laughed off a parole agent's comment that she looked too young to have children that old.

As the agent began questioning them, "Alyssa" became "defensive and agitated," the report said.

"Alyssa said she was aware that Garrido was a sex offender who was on parole for kidnapping and raping a woman," the report said. "She added that Garrido was a changed man and a great person who was good with her kids."

When the parole agent asked her for identification, the Chronicle reported, Dugard replied that "she had learned a long time ago not to carry or give any personal information to anyone," and asked for a lawyer, the report said.

She "explained that she was from Minnesota and had been hiding for five years from an abusive husband," the report said. "She was terrified of being found, she said."

Garrido, who was questioned separately, then admitted he was the father of the two girls and that he had kidnapped and raped "Alyssa," the report said.

Finally, "Alyssa" confirmed she was Jaycee Lee Dugard.