The abduction and $8,500 ransom for 29-year-old Denise Huskins appears to have been “orchestrated,” police said Wednesday night. Update: Huskins’ boyfriend, who first reported the kidnapping, denies it was a hoax, his attorneys said Thursday.
Vallejo Police
Denise Huskins showed up at her father's apartment in Southern California two days after her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, reported her kidnapping, which police now say was "orchestrated" by the couple.
Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Park said in a news conference Wednesday night that the search for Denise Huskins was a "wild goose chase." Park added that criminal charges against Huskins and Quinn are possible.
Huskins had initially indicated she would cooperate with police when she surfaced Wednesday morning, but later hired a lawyer and ceased contact with authorities. The motive for a fake kidnapping and subsequent ransom remains unclear.
Quinn's attorneys held a news conference Thursday and denied their client was involved in a hoax. They described Quinn as traumatized and said he was not able to call for help for about 10 hours after Huskins was kidnapped because he had been drugged.
Vallejo Police Department Lt. Kenny Park
KGO-TV
Quinn reported the kidnapping of his 29-year-old girlfriend Monday afternoon to police. He claimed strangers had abducted her from their San Francisco Bay Area home in the middle of the night.
"We initially had a hard time believing it," Park said of Quinn's claim.
The 30-year-old boyfriend said Huskins' kidnappers asked for $8,500 in ransom.
The search for Huskins involved the FBI, 40 detectives and about 100 searchers who focused on sweeping the land and the waters around Vallejo and Mare Island.
A car registered to Quinn was taken from the couple's home and later found at an unnamed location by police.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle received an email from an anonymous person claiming to be the kidnapped woman. The email included an audio file of the woman speaking who identified herself as Huskins. It said Huskins could be returned safely the following day. Her father confirmed the voice heard in the email was his daughter's, the Chronicle reported.
On Wednesday morning, the search effort was called off after Huskins showed up outside of her father's apartment in Southern California.
Her father, Mike Huskins, immediately informed the Huntington Beach Police Department and Denise indicated she would corporate with detectives. The FBI then arranged to have her flown to Northern California, police said.
"She wasn't crying at all. She just said, 'Daddy, I'm OK,' " Huskins told the Associated Press after being reunited with his daughter.
Denise Huskins has now hired a lawyer and is hiding in an unknown location, Park said Wednesday night. He said her father has also reportedly stopped communicating with them.
It is still not clear how Huskins traveled more than 400 miles from Vallejo to Huntington.
Park said Huskins and Quinn could face state or federal charges.
"Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins have plundered valuable resources," Park said Wednesday night at the news conference. "If anything, it is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins who owe our community an apology."
Huskins' Uncle, Jeff Kane, told CBS Sacramento that the police's statements Wednesday night were "reckless" and could be considered character assassination of Huskins. He rejected the possibility that the kidnapping was a hoax.