Details emerge of kidnapper's lair

Aug 30 2009

Police in the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping inquiry have expanded the boundaries of the crime scene to include the house next door to that of Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Meanwhile, details have emerged of the ramshackle compound where she was allegedly imprisoned, raped and shut off from society for 18 years after being kidnapped aged 11.

The scene of her ordeal was a collection of outbuildings, sheds and tents concealed from view behind a six-foot fence, overgrown trees and tarpaulins at the back of the Californian home.

While hidden from the outside world, prosecutors say she was raped and had two children by Garrido, a 58-year-old convicted sex offender.

Photographs published in newspapers revealed Ms Dugard - now aged 29 - and her two daughters were forced to live in squalid conditions with mattresses, small chairs and piles of books and toys strewn across what looks like a dilapidated campsite.

Garrido, who was arrested last week with his 55-year-old wife, Nancy, was named by police as a "person of interest" in an investigation into the unsolved murders of a number of prostitutes in the 1990s. Several of the women's bodies were dumped near an industrial park where Garrido worked.

Several chances to search his house were missed by police and other authorities. Three years ago neighbours had complained that a psychotic sex addict was in their midst and was housing young girls in backyard tents. A deputy who showed up to investigate never went beyond the front porch, while probation officers did not even know he had children on the premises.

Garrido had been electronically tagged as a result of the sex crime convictions that sent him to prison for a 50-year stint, only for him to get paroled after 10 years.

Dan DeMaranville, who investigated him in the 1970s rape case in Nevada, said: "The guy was a sick puppy, and should have been neutered before he was paroled."

Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren E Rupf said officers had "missed an opportunity to bring earlier closure to this situation," adding: "I cannot change the course of events but we are beating ourselves up over this and continue to do so."