South Lake Tahoe Woman Missing 18 Years Surfaces in Concord, Two Arrested

Also see: "Mind Control: Jaycee Lee Dugard and Phillip Garrido's Daughters 'like Brainwashed Zombies'"

By Robert Salonga
Contra Costa Times/SJ Mercury
Posted: 08/27/2009

CONCORD — Jaycee Dugard, who has been missing from her South Lake Tahoe home for 18 years, has surfaced in Concord, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. Two people have been arrested in the case.

Jaycee Dugard, now 29, was abducted in Meyers, in El Dorado County, on June 10, 1991 as her stepfather watched helplessly. The case was cold for nearly 20 years as investigators struggled to make headway into what had happened to the girl. National talk shows like "Geraldo" intermittently brought attention back to the disappearance.

A husband and wife have been arrested in connection with the case and booked into County Jail in Martinez. Phillip Garrido, 58, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, kidnapping, rape, lewd acts with a minor, and sexual penetration. His wife, Nancy, has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and kidnapping. Both are being held on $1 million bail.

Garrido is a registered sex offender stemming from a prior rape conviction. El Dorado sheriff's deputies and FBI agents served a search warrant this morning at the Garridos' home in Antioch.

Further details about the reappearance were expected from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department at a press conference on the case later today.

A woman claiming to be Dugard walked into the Concord Police Department on Wednesday afternoon. Dugard's stepfather, Carl Probyn, said Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, spoke with the woman and is en route to

Carl Probyn told Bay Area News Group this morning that he got a call from his wife shortly after the news of Dugard's reappearance.

"She said, 'They found Jaycee. She's alive,'" Carl Probyn said. "We cried for about two minutes."

After the woman appeared at the police station, an FBI agent called Terry Probyn and put her on the phone with Jaycee, Carl Probyn said. At first, Terry Probyn thought it was a joke, but then the two women had a conversation that convinced her that she was talking to her missing daughter, he said.

"She believes it was her," Carl Probyn said. "She said Jaycee remembers everything."

Carl Probyn had watched in 1991 as a man and a woman drove by and snatched up Dugard as she walked to a bus stop near their home. He said he is thrilled at the prospect of his stepdaughter being found alive.

"It's like winning the Lotto," Carl Probyn said. "You never dream after 18 years you'll get her back."

Check back later for updates to this story.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13215703