In 1991, an 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was snatched off the street as her horrified step-father watched in disbelief.
For 18 years she was held captive in a crap-hole tent compound in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido in Antioch, CA.
This past August the whole disturbing situation came to light after UC Berkeley campus police got the heebie-jeebies from Phillip Garrido.
In the months since Jaycee Dugard’s rescue – and the subsequent discovery and rescue of her two children said to be fathered by Phillip Garrido – there has been an obvious curiosity surrounding what Jaycee looks like now, as a 29-year-old woman.
Wednesday morning the exclusive first photo of kidnap survivor Jaycee Lee Dugard as she looks today will be was released on People magazine’s website People.com. It shows a grown up Jaycee with light brown hair and a huge smile.
Erika Price Schulte, a spokeswoman for Dugard’s family, told KCRA 3 that Jaycee Dugard wanted to do this in the most respectful way possible as a way to thank everyone for their outpouring of support.Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who are accused of abducting Dugard, remain in jail in Placerville.Dugard will also have a statement printed in People magazine, Schulte said.
Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped and sexually enslaved for years at the hands of Phillip Garrido - and on Thursday, Garrido entered a not guilty plea stunning the court room. Garrido had been expected to plead guilty, the Contra Costa Times reported.
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said Garrido's lawyers have appealed the way the grand jury that indicted him was selected and that was the reason for the change of plea. If the defense loses on the issue, Garrido's trial will begin in August, Pierson added.
Dugard was 11 when Garrido and his wife, Nancy, allegedly abducted her as she walked to school in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. She was living in a shed on the couple's property in Antioch, Calif., with her two daughters when she was discovered in 2008.
Nancy Garrido's lawyer, Stephen Tapson, said she also wants a trial.
Garrido was ruled competent to stand trial in February.
