Disappearance of Rico Harris

 Rico Omarr Harris (born May 19, 1977 – disappeared October 10, 2014) is an American former professional basketball player. A high school standout in his native Southern California, he later led Los Angeles City College (LACC) to its first state junior college title in 1997. After his college career, he played for some International Basketball League teams, and later with the Harlem Globetrotters.

The eldest of four children born to a former Idaho State star and his young wife, he had given up basketball before returning to it for his last two years at Temple City High School. He soon became a star player himself as well as a top college prospect, likened by those who saw him play to Lamar Odom. He had the opportunity to play for several NCAA Division I basketball programs, but never did due to a combination of academic and personal difficulties. He then chose to attend Cal-State Northridge despite interest from much higher-profile colleges and the NBA, a decision for which he was sharply criticized since it was seen as limiting his chances of reaching the NBA.

Harris ended his season at Northridge after being suspended twice for violations of team rules. He eventually made his way to the Globetrotters, but injuries from a 2000 assault forced him to quit after one month. After leaving basketball, the alcoholism that had begun to manifest itself during his college career intensified, and Harris became addicted to illegal drugs as well. He was arrested many times before he was able to recover from his addictions in 2007.

By October 2014, Harris had relocated to Seattle with a longtime girlfriend and had applied for a job there. He never arrived back there while returning from a trip to his mother's home in Alhambra to complete the move; he was last heard from when he left a message for his girlfriend. The call was traced to the Sacramento area, and his abandoned car was found in a Yolo County park several days later. There were some possible sightings up to a week afterwards, but none have been confirmed beyond a cell phone video the night of his disappearance, and extensive searches since have failed to find any trace of him in the area. His disappearance has been featured on an episode of the Investigation Discovery series Disappeared.

Early life

Harris was the first son born to Henry Harris, a former star forward for Idaho State who, after his college years in the mid-1970s, was playing in a semiprofessional league in Los Angeles when he met Margaret Fernandez, then 17. She gave birth to Rico, the first of the couple's four children, in 1977. Afterwards they moved to Oregon, where Henry had been offered a job.

Henry Harris was for most of the time a loving husband, but occasionally he would turn violent and abusive. They moved back to the Los Angeles area shortly afterwards, and had three more children. Henry would often verbally and physically abuse his children, especially Rico. Despite that, Rico deeply craved his father's affection and approval into his adulthood.

Margaret eventually left her husband, taking the children with her as she moved to Alhambra, the suburb where she had grown up. Rico often held the family together while Margaret worked full-time. Although she later said she felt her oldest son was "born to play basketball", by the age of 15 he had given it up despite his size, and was considering becoming an actor. To that end, he and a friend attended Hollywood High School, a long trip from their homes.

After a year, Rico changed his mind about basketball and returned to the court. Despite the minimal contact he had had with his father since his parents' divorce, he used his father's Temple City address to enroll in high school there for his junior year.

Basketball career

For most of his teens and 20s, Harris was praised for his NBA-level potential. The pinnacle of his playing career, however, would be the 1996–97 season, when he was the MVP of the state community college tournament and led his team to the state championship. He only played one season for a Division I team, however, and despite considerable interest from NBA teams never came close to signing with them.

High school

Rico, then 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm) and 215 pounds (98 kg), was an immediate sensation on the basketball court. His presence on the team transformed the previously undistinguished Temple City program into a contender, and drew college scouts. "Other teams would double- and triple-team him," recalled one of his coaches. "But you could just watch him for a couple plays and you could see the player he could be." Harris had been a fan of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers teams, and in particular emulated Magic Johnson's style of play.

Off the court, Rico was initially shy and a poor student. However, after meeting a girlfriend whose academically inclined family helped him with his studying, he improved both socially and academically, achieving a 3.0 grade point average. On the court at that time, he became an even more dominant player, averaging 28 points and 15 rebounds a game during his senior season. The Long Beach Press-Telegram recognized him as one of the best high school players in the Western United States during the 1994–95 season, along with Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, all of whom went on to long careers in the NBA.

Jim Harrick, who had just left the head-coaching position at UCLA to take over the University of Rhode Island program, had his eye on Harris, who he had recruited at his former position. He believed Rico could be part of a powerful team at Rhode Island, with Zach Marbury and Lamar Odom, who he was expecting to sign for the next season. However, Harris's newfound academic success did not extend to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), where he did not do well. UCLA had to withdraw its scholarship offer as a result.

College

Harris went to Arizona State under Proposition 48, which limited him to taking classes during his freshman year in order to regain his eligibility. Without his family and friends close by, he struggled academically and socially, as he originally had at Temple City. In March 1996 he was arrested on a charge of unlawful imprisonment along with two teammates after two women said the players had forced them to perform sex acts against their will. The charges were dropped after investigators uncovered inconsistencies in the women's stories, but the university asked Harris to sit out another year nonetheless.

Los Angeles City College

Instead, Harris returned to California and enrolled in Los Angeles City College (LACC), a two-year junior college, in the hope of improving his grades and playing for Harrick at Rhode Island. On the court, Cubs' coach Mike Miller let Harris play the game his way—shooting three-pointers, leading the fast break with no-look passes and faking out other big men under the basket as it suited him. "He could do it all," a teammate recalled in 2014. "He was Lamar Odom before Lamar Odom."

Harris was the team's biggest star, frequently regarded as the best player on the court from either team in every game he played. He averaged 16.5 points and 14 rebounds a game. NBA scouts began attending games, hoping that Harris might consider foregoing his college career entirely once he was old enough to do so.

LACC posted a 30–6 record that season. It culminated in the school's first-ever California Community College Athletic Association state title, secured with an upset win over San Jose City College. Harris was named the championship tournament's most valuable player.

A few weeks after that triumph, early in 1996, Harris signed his letter of intent to attend Rhode Island and play for Harrick there. However, he stopped attending a psychology class he needed to pass midway through the semester, and failed it as a result, leaving him still ineligible under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules to transfer to a four-year college and play there. At the time there was speculation that he had deliberately failed the class to avoid having to relocate to the East Coast, far away from his hometown.

That speculation notwithstanding, Harris made his first-ever trip east of Chicago later that year to visit UConn, where an assistant coach who had seen him play likened him to Donyell Marshall, a former Huskies' star who had left school early for an NBA career. He told the Hartford Courant that he had learned from his Arizona State experience. "This time around, I know exactly what I want," he said. In addition to a Division I program, he was still considering declaring for the NBA draft or playing in a professional league overseas. "I'm in no rush."

Harris ultimately returned to LACC for his second season, which he would later say was a mistake. He became less focused, partying heavily with his brother in the apartment they shared near campus, and drinking beer during the day to take the edge off his hangovers. It did not affect his game, however. A teammate recalls Harris showing up for a game once wearing heavy sunglasses to mask the effects of the alcohol. "He probably didn't get no sleep and [was] up all night—then dropped like 35 [points] that game".

The team did not repeat as state champions, and Harris was later described as "a disruptive influence" during that season. Miller at one point suspended him for six games; Harris in turn faulted him for not controlling the team adequately. As the only returning player on that team, he explained, many of his teammates would not give him the ball. "I have no excuses," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I was playing against my own teammates and coaching staff."

Harris's drinking increased as the season wore on, leading to social isolation and costing him his relationship with the girlfriend who he had benefited from in high school. Recruiters from other four-year college programs continued to call and write, but Harris did not respond, believing many of them to be interested in him only for his athletic ability and not his personal development. Instead he declared himself for the 1998 NBA draft.

NBA scouts still saw lots of potential in Harris, and invited him to a pre-draft camp in Chicago for the most highly regarded prospects. But as he had the year before, he would not take the opportunity. Shortly before the camp, he not only decided he would not attend but withdrew from the draft, believing that he was not ready for the challenge on a personal level.

Cal State Northridge

The opportunity to play for Harrick at Rhode Island was still available to Harris, and many friends and observers believed he would take it. In September 1998, he called Bobby Braswell, then the head coach at Cal State Northridge, whom Harris had come to know three years earlier when Braswell had recruited him while an assistant at Oregon. Braswell later recalled that he thought Harris was calling for guidance.

Braswell congratulated Harris on signing with Harrick at Rhode Island. "That's not happening", Harris told him. He did not want to move that far away, and believed LACC Coach Miller was trying to get him to go there strictly out of his friendship with Harrick and not out of any consideration for Harris's best interests. Instead, he asked if he could he play for Braswell, whom he trusted, at Northridge, closer to his family, where he could transfer his credits from Arizona State and LACC to become eligible immediately.

Since another local high school player that Northridge had offered a scholarship to had lost it after purposely failing a class, there was space for Harris at the small state school, which had not posted a winning record the seven seasons it had been in Division I. Braswell immediately told Harris the opening was his. Harris believed Braswell's reputation for strict discipline was what he needed most to develop as a person and a player.

With a player of Harris's level, talent rarely seen at a smaller school like Northridge, Braswell hoped he could realize his goals of a winning season, a Big Sky Conference title and a berth in the NCAA tournament. But while there was plenty of potential for Braswell in the relationship, observers saw less for Harris. Miller told him he was severely compromising his chances of signing with an NBA team by playing for such a small school in a less competitive conference, and others who knew him wondered if instead of leading the Matadors to new heights as he had in his first season at LACC, he would instead pose a threat to team unity again.

Braswell was optimistic. "Rico wants to make the best of this opportunity," he said to the Times. But early in the season it seemed as if the doubters had been correct. Harris had attempted to reconcile with his father in the offseason but had been rebuffed. He continued drinking heavily and could no longer fully contain his underlying emotional difficulties; early in the season Braswell suspended him briefly after he argued with other teammates and coaches. A hip pointer also sidelined him for five games.

He still performed well, averaging 10 points a game and leading the team in rebounds, but the NBA scouts who had been following his career could see that his performance was off from his previous heights, and took him off their lists of prospects. Near the end of the season Braswell suspended Harris again; the player did not attend a meeting with his coach in Braswell's office to mark his reinstatement. Harris would never play college basketball again, and left Northridge shortly after the season's end.

Post-college

Harris could not play for any other college as his eligibility had expired. He still had not given up on possibly making the NBA, and like his father before him took up semi-professional basketball. He played for short periods of time with the International Basketball League's San Diego Stingrays and St. Louis Storm. Rapper Master P, a former NBA player who had played briefly with the former team, put together a traveling team for which Harris played a few games. During this time, he drank less and worked on his jump shot, hoping the NBA had not completely lost interest in him.

In spring 2000, Harris opted instead to join the Harlem Globetrotters. His skills were ideal for the Globetrotters' shows, and he seemed to have found his niche. However, a month after he joined the team he was out driving with a girlfriend in South Los Angeles when he got into a dispute with some people there. After he left the car to confront them, someone hit him on the back of the head with a baseball bat.

Harris was able to leave the scene and drove off. But soon he started having intense headaches and had trouble keeping his balance. These aftereffects of the head injury persisted, and he had to leave the Globetrotters. At the age of 24, his basketball career was over.

Addiction and recovery

Harris returned to his mother's house in Alhambra. He had no job prospects, and no plans for what he might do besides play basketball. Soon he returned to drinking. His mother continued to take care of him as well as his younger siblings, all of whom were likewise battling substance use disorders to some degree. She hoped Rico would, in her words "snap out of it", but his addiction instead broadened to include heroin, methamphetamine and crack.

"He would sniff Ajax just to feel the burn", a friend, David Lara, recalled. Throughout the 2000s, Harris experienced many relapses. He was arrested over a hundred times, most commonly for public intoxication. After a few days in jail, he often resumed drinking. To support his habits, he would sometimes beg in the street. "It was despair, bro. It was down there. It was the darkest of the dark," says Lara of the sight.

Efforts to persuade Harris to end his self-destructive path failed. Only in 2007, shortly after he turned 30, did he finally start to change. After an overdose of prescription medicine he had tried, Harris entered a rehabilitation facility operated by the Salvation Army in downtown Los Angeles.

The program took a long time for Harris to complete, but when he did, he seemed to have recovered. He moved in with Wilfredo Mayorga, another graduate of the program, and got a job working security detail in nearby Bell. At a party he met Jennifer Song, a visitor from Seattle who worked as an insurance broker. The two soon became romantically involved, and starting in 2012 they began spending long weekends in the other's city.

By September 2014 they had begun to talk about getting married, even going so far as to discuss possible names for children. Harris and Mayorga clashed over the relationship; their friendship ended when Harris abruptly moved out of the apartment and left Mayorga with all the unpaid bills. Shortly afterwards, Harris moved in with Song in Seattle, intending to relocate there permanently.

Disappearance

Converting their long-distance relationship to a live-in one caused some friction between Song and Harris as the two began merging their lives. Harris nevertheless continued with his plans to move on with his life in a new city. He exchanged his California driver's license for a Washington-issued one. He was able to arrange a job interview for a position as a property appraiser, a job that would have meant much to him as it would have been the first time he held a skilled position unrelated to his athletic ability.

Before that, however, he decided he needed to return to Alhambra and visit his mother and brother one more time. Song believes his intent was to talk with them and reach some closure for the difficult events of his childhood. "I think he realized some things and he wanted to talk to [his mother]," she later told a reporter. "He wanted her to trust him and trust us and believe in our relationship."

Lara spoke with him by phone during his drive to Southern California. He says Rico was upbeat, hoping to marry Song and start a family with her. "He seemed to have his head together," he recalls.

However, his visit with his family, on October 9, was brief. He took one of his brothers out to eat and gave him a new cell phone as a gift, then returned to his mother's home to speak with her alone privately. Fernandez does not believe her son got what he was hoping for out of the conversation. Shortly after midnight, he decided to return, taking with him a few more personal belongings. His job interview was scheduled for the next day in Seattle.

Leaving Alhambra, he drove north on Interstate 5. Records show that he stopped in Lodi, 40 miles (64 km) south of Sacramento, to get gas. At 10:45 a.m. on October 10, he called Song from north of Sacramento and left a message saying that he was going "up into the mountains to rest", since he had not slept much since leaving Seattle. At 11:15 he turned the phone off. No one has heard from Harris or positively identified him since then.

Investigation

Song called Fernandez when Harris failed to return to Seattle when expected. Recalling that he had once disappeared for a few hours to San Diego, they decided to wait and see if he would return on his own. By October 14, several days after he had missed the job interview, they realized he was not going to do so, or that something had gone wrong, and reported him missing to the Alhambra police.

That afternoon, a Yolo County deputy sheriff patrolling along a stretch of California State Route 16 along Cache Creek north of Rumsey saw a black Nissan Maxima sedan in a county park's lot for the second straight day. He looked inside and saw CDs, credit cards, and various papers scattered around. The car had not been reported stolen, so his superiors contacted the Alhambra police when they found out who it was registered to, and officers there informed Fernandez that it had been found, but not her son.

[H]ow does this guy not pop up somewhere? I mean, big guy has to eat three or four times a day  ... I can see how a lot of people who don't stand out can disappear, but this guy stands out. – Dean Nyland, Yolo County sheriff's detective

A search of the surrounding terrain of Cache Creek Canyon began shortly afterward. Search and rescue teams began looking over the lightly forested terrain surrounding the stream. They were assisted by teams on all-terrain vehicles and helicopters. An airplane with a thermographic camera flew over the area, and search dogs were brought in as well. The area within a five-mile (8.0 km) radius of the parking lot was covered, as well as the 27 miles (43 km) of Route 16 through the canyon.

But after three days, the searchers had found nothing. Many were incredulous. Rico at that time had reached his full adult height of 6 feet 9 inches (206 cm), and weighed 300 pounds (140 kg), reflecting the less active years since the end of his basketball career. They could not imagine how such a large person could have disappeared so completely.

When Harris's description was circulated in the area, a few sightings subsequent to October 10 were reported. One passerby along Route 16 reported seeing a man who fit his description walking along the road at 5:30 on October 11, while another motorist believed he had seen him sitting on a guardrail overlooking the creek near the parking lot.

Harris's car was towed away and searched. It was out of gas and the battery was nearly dead. Investigators found Harris's wallet and all of his credit cards save one, a Discover Card on which no charges have been made since Harris vanished. He had also taken his phone and driver's license. Detectives also found two plastic bottles, one mostly full of some type of hard liquor and the other empty but smelling strongly of the same beverage.

On October 18, eight days after Harris's last voicemail message, another sighting was reported. A man who had driven past the parking lot where the Nissan had been told police he saw a large man wearing light-colored pants, similar to those Harris had been wearing when he left his mother's house, early that morning. The next day, a trail of fresh foot impressions, left by size 18 sneakers consistent with those Harris wore, were found leading from the parking lot to the creek near where the Nissan had been parked.

Investigators were also able to find Harris's backpack, left by the side of the road about 1,500 feet (460 m) from the guardrail he was reported to have been sitting on the morning after his last phone call. In it they found his phone and charger and some other items not considered relevant to Harris's whereabouts. The phone contained pictures of the creek and some selfies, including one in which Harris was standing in front of a sign welcoming drivers to Yolo County striking a playful pose. There were also some videos, apparently taken unintentionally, showing Harris singing along to music playing in his car and casually flinging CDs around the passenger compartment. They were timestamped the night of October 10, demonstrating that Harris had been alive and in his car at that time.

On October 22, the sheriff's office announced it was scaling back the search. Divers were called in to search the nearby sections of the creek in mid-November, but found nothing. The investigation is continuing. In 2016 the Investigation Discovery channel series Disappeared devoted a segment to the case.

Theories

Dean Nyland, the detective working the case for the sheriff's office, has ruled out the possibility of foul play in Harris's disappearance. The photos and video on Harris's phone suggest he came to Yolo County voluntarily and alone; no evidence of any kind of struggle was found in or near the car. His backpack and phone also do not show any signs that they were taken forcibly; Nyland believes Harris may have left them where they were found himself, either accidentally or purposely, to avoid being tracked via the phone.

Nyland believes Harris may have made a wrong turn after getting gas and followed the road up into the hills of Yolo County. Seeing the parking lot, he may have decided to take a nap before driving further. When Harris woke up later that day, Nyland believes, the unresolved issues from his past came into play and he may have decided not to continue to Seattle just yet. "To him, this must have seemed like heaven", he said, showing a reporter the spot on the guardrail overlooking the creek where one driver reported seeing Harris the next morning. In the accidental videos on the phone, he adds, Harris seemed like "a free man".

After wandering the area for a few days, including those in which he had been sought, he returned to his car and found it gone, Nyland believes. At that point he either walked away into the woods or towards another town. "We have no sightings, so he probably got a ride", the detective says.

Kidnapping and Rescue of Jaycee Lee Dugard

 On June 10, 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard, an eleven-year-old girl, was abducted from a street while walking to a school bus stop in Meyers, California, United States. Searches began immediately after Dugard's disappearance, but no reliable leads were generated, even though several people witnessed the kidnapping. Dugard remained missing for over 18 years until 2009, when a convicted sex offender, Phillip Garrido, visited the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by two adolescent girls, who were discovered to be the biological daughters of Garrido and Dugard, on August 24 and 25 of that year. The unusual behavior of the trio sparked an investigation that led Garrido's parole officer, Edward Santos Jr. to order Garrido to take the two girls to a parole office in Concord, California, on August 26. Garrido was accompanied by a woman who was eventually identified as Dugard.

Garrido and his wife, Nancy, were arrested after Dugard's reappearance. On April 28, 2011, they pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping Dugard. Investigators revealed that Dugard had been kept in concealed tents, sheds, and lean-tos in an area behind the Garridos' house at 1554 Walnut Avenue in Antioch, California, where Phillip repeatedly raped Dugard during the first six years of her captivity. During her confinement, Dugard gave birth to two daughters, who were aged eleven and fifteen at the time of Dugard's reappearance. On June 2, 2011, Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life imprisonment; his wife, Nancy, was sentenced to 36 years to life. Phillip is a person of interest in at least one other missing person’s case in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As Garrido had been on parole for a 1976 rape at the time of her kidnapping, Dugard sued the state of California, which had taken over his parole supervision from the federal government in 1999, on account of the numerous lapses by law enforcement that contributed to her continued captivity and sexual assault. In 2010, the state of California awarded the Dugard family US$20 million. Dugard also sued the federal government on similar grounds pertaining to Garrido's time as a federal parolee, but in a 2–1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed that suit because Garrido had not victimized her at the time he was placed under the supervision of the federal parole system and that as a result of this, "there was no way to anticipate she would become his victim."

In 2011, Dugard wrote an autobiography titled A Stolen Life: A Memoir. Her second book, Freedom: My Book of Firsts, was published in 2016.

Background

Dugard family

Jaycee Dugard's biological father, Ken Slayton, was not involved in her life, nor in the investigation that followed her kidnapping. When Dugard was seven, her mother, Terry, married a carpet contractor named Carl Probyn and gave birth to Dugard's half-sister, Shayna, in 1990. Although Dugard was close to her mother and sister, she was never close to Probyn. In September 1990, Dugard's family moved from Arcadia, California, in Los Angeles County, to Meyers, a rural town south of South Lake Tahoe, because they thought it was a safer community. At the time of the abduction, Dugard was in the fifth grade, and anticipated an upcoming field trip.

The primary offender, Phillip Greg Garrido, was born in Pittsburg, California, on April 5, 1951. He grew up in Brentwood, where he graduated from Liberty High School in 1969. Garrido's father Manuel later stated that his son had been a "good boy" as a child, but changed radically after a serious motorcycle accident as a teenager. He turned to drug use – primarily methamphetamine and LSD.

In later court testimony, Garrido admitted that he habitually masturbated in his car by the side of elementary and high schools while watching girls. In 1972 he was arrested and charged with repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl after giving her barbiturates, but the case did not go to trial after the girl declined to testify. The following year, he married his high school classmate, Christine Murphy, who accused him of domestic violence and alleged that he kidnapped her when she tried to leave him.

In 1976, Garrido kidnapped 25-year-old Katherine Callaway in South Lake Tahoe, California. He took her to a Reno, Nevada warehouse, where he raped her for five and a half hours. When a police officer noticed a car parked outside the warehouse and then a broken lock on its door, he knocked on the door and was greeted by Garrido. Callaway then emerged and asked for help. Garrido was promptly arrested.

In a 1976 court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, Garrido was diagnosed as a "sexual deviant and chronic drug abuser". The psychiatrist recommended that a neurological examination be conducted as Garrido's chronic drug use could be "responsible in part" for his "mixed" or "multiple" sexual deviations. He was evaluated by neurologist Albert F. Peterman, whose diagnostic impression was that Garrido showed "considerable evidence of anxiety and depression and personality disorder." He was convicted on March 9, 1977, and began serving a fifty-year federal sentence on June 30 of that year at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.

At Leavenworth, Garrido met Nancy Bocanegra, the secondary offender in Dugard's kidnapping, who was visiting her uncle, another prisoner. On October 5, 1981, he and Bocanegra were married at the prison. On January 22, 1988, Garrido was released from Leavenworth to Nevada State Prison, where he served seven months of a five-years-to-life Nevada sentence. He was transferred to federal parole authorities in Contra Costa County, California, on August 26, 1988. Garrido and his wife moved to the city of Antioch and lived in the home of his elderly mother, who suffered from dementia. As a parolee, Garrido wore a GPS-enabled ankle bracelet and was regularly visited by parole officers, local sheriff's deputies, and federal agents.

Abduction

On June 10, 1991, Dugard's mother, who worked as a typesetter at a print house, left for work early in the day. Dugard, who was eleven years old at the time, wore her favorite all-pink outfit as she walked up the hill from her house, against traffic, to catch the school bus. When she was halfway up the hill, a gray car approached her. She thought that the man driving the car was stopping to ask for directions.

The driver, Phillip Garrido, rolled down the window and tased Dugard unconscious with a stun gun before abducting her. His wife, Nancy, dragged Dugard into the car and removed her clothing, leaving only a butterfly-shaped ring that Dugard would hide from them for the next 18 years. Nancy covered Dugard with a blanket and held her down as Dugard drifted in and out of consciousness during the three-hour drive to the Garridos' property, 120 miles (190 km) away in Antioch. The only time Dugard spoke was when she pleaded that her parents could not afford a ransom. The district attorney in the Dugard case believed that Nancy had scouted Dugard as a prize for Garrido.

Probyn witnessed the abduction of his stepdaughter from within sight of their home. He saw two people in a mid-sized gray car – possibly a Mercury Monarch – make a U-turn at the school bus stop where Dugard was waiting, and a woman forcing Dugard into the car. He chased after them on a bicycle but was unable to overtake the vehicle. Some of Dugard's classmates were also witnesses to the abduction. Initial suspects included Probyn and Ken Slayton, Dugard's biological father; though they did not know each other and Slayton had only had a brief relationship with Dugard's mother in 1979, not knowing he had a child. Probyn took and passed several polygraph tests, and Slayton was also quickly cleared of suspicion. The kidnapping led to the breakup of Terry and Probyn's marriage.

Search effort

Within hours of Dugard's disappearance, local and national media on South Lake Tahoe covered the story. Within days, dozens of local volunteers assisted in the search effort, which involved nearly every resource within the community. Within weeks, tens of thousands of fliers and posters were mailed to businesses throughout the United States. Since Dugard's favorite color was pink, the town was blanketed in pink ribbons as a reminder of her disappearance and as a demonstration of support for her family by the community.

Terry Probyn founded a group called Jaycee's Hope, which directed the volunteer and fundraising efforts. Cassette tapes of the song "Jaycee Lee", along with T-shirts, sweatshirts, and buttons, were sold to raise money for poster materials, postage, printing, and related expenses. Child Quest International and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children were involved in the effort. A reward was offered, which was noted on the posters and fliers. The kidnapping case attracted nationwide attention and was featured on the June 14, 1991, episode of the Fox television show America's Most Wanted. The ensuing years were a continuous effort of child safety awareness, fundraising events, and candlelight vigils marking Dugard's disappearance, keeping her story in the public awareness.

Captivity

Upon arriving at the Garridos's home in an unincorporated area of Antioch, the Garridos took Dugard, her head still covered with a blanket, behind their house, where they had constructed a series of dilapidated tents and sheds. Garrido placed Dugard inside a tiny shed that had been soundproofed. Dugard later stated in her memoir and an interview with ABC News that upon arrival, Garrido handcuffed her and left her naked in the shed, which he bolted, shut, warning her that trained Doberman Pinschers outside the shed would attack her if she tried to escape. Right after the abduction, Garrido forced Dugard into a shower with him, which was the first time she had been exposed to an unclothed man. During her first week in captivity, Dugard remained in handcuffs, her only human contact being Garrido, who sometimes brought her fast food and talked to her. He provided a bucket for her to use to relieve herself. A week after the kidnapping, Garrido raped the still-handcuffed Dugard for the first time. He continued to rape her frequently, doing so at least once a week for the first three years of her captivity.

At one point, Garrido provided Dugard with a television, but she could not watch the news, and remained unaware of the search for her. Almost a month and a half after her kidnapping, by Dugard's recollection, Garrido moved her to a larger room next door, where she was handcuffed to a bed. He explained that the "demon angels" let him take her and that she would help him with his sexual problems because society had ignored him. Garrido would occasionally go on days-long methamphetamine binges he called "runs", during which he would force Dugard to keep him company by performing sexual favors and engaging in various other activities with him. Garrido made her listen out for the voices he said he could hear from the walls, and often professed a belief that he was a chosen servant of God. These binges would end with Garrido sobbing and apologizing to Dugard, alternating with threats to sell her to people who would put her in a cage.

Seven months into her captivity, Garrido introduced Dugard to his wife, Nancy, who brought the child a stuffed animal and chocolate milk and engaged in the same tearful apologies to her. Though Dugard craved the woman's approval at the time, in a 2011 ABC News interview she stated that Nancy was just as manipulative as Garrido. Dugard related that Nancy alternated between motherly concern and coldness and cruelty, expressing her jealousy of Dugard, whom she regarded as the one to blame for her predicament. She characterized Nancy, who worked as a nursing home aide, as "evil" and "twisted". When Garrido was returned to prison for failing a drug test, Nancy replaced her husband as Dugard's jailer.

The Garridos' neighbor, Patrick McQuaid, told the San Jose Mercury News that as a child he recalled meeting Dugard through a fence in the Garridos' yard soon after the kidnapping. He said that she had identified herself by the name "Jaycee" and that when asked if she lived there or was just visiting, she answered that she lived there. At that point, Garrido came out and took her back indoors. He eventually built an 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter) fence around the backyard and set up a tent for Dugard, the first time that she was allowed to walk outside since her kidnapping.

The Garridos manipulated Dugard further by presenting her, on two occasions, with kittens that would later "mysteriously vanish". When Garrido discovered that she was signing her real name in a journal that she kept about the kittens, she was forced to tear out the page with her name on it, the last time she would be permitted to say or write her name until her captivity ended eighteen years later. She was never allowed to see a doctor or dentist.

Pregnancy and children

Almost three years into her captivity, the Garridos began to allow Dugard freedom from her handcuffs for periods, though they kept her locked in the bolted room. On Easter Sunday of 1994, they gave her cooked food for the first time. The couple informed Dugard that they believed that she was pregnant. Dugard, aged 13 at the time, had learned of the link between sex and pregnancy from television. Dugard watched television programs on childbirth in preparation for the birth of her first daughter, which occurred when Dugard was aged 14, on August 18, 1994. After the birth of her first daughter, Garrido raped Dugard less frequently, though he would nonetheless do so when he had taken drugs.

The last time Garrido raped Dugard was the day her second daughter was conceived. Her second daughter was born when Dugard was 17, on November 13, 1997. Dugard took care of her daughters using information learned from television and worked to protect them from Garrido, who continued his enraged rants and lectures.

Dugard coped with her continued captivity by planting flowers in a garden and homeschooling her daughters. At one point, Garrido informed Dugard that to pacify his wife, Dugard and her daughters were to address Nancy as their mother and that she was to teach her daughters that Dugard was their older sister. When Dugard and her daughters were eventually allowed to come into contact with other people, this fiction was continued.

Garrido operated a print shop where Dugard acted as the graphic artist. Ben Daughdrill, a customer of Garrido's printing business, claimed that he met and spoke by telephone with Dugard and that she did excellent work. During this time, Dugard had access to the business phone and an email account. Another customer indicated that she never hinted to him about her childhood abduction or her true identity. Witnesses stated Dugard was seen in the Garrido household, and sometimes answered the front door to talk to people, but never stated there was a problem or attempted to leave. While the family kept to themselves, the girls were sometimes seen playing in the secondary backyard behind the house, where Dugard's living quarters are thought to have been located.

The private area of the backyard included sheds, one of which was used as a recording studio in which Garrido recorded himself singing religious-themed and romantic country songs, two homemade tents, and what has been described as a camping-style shower and toilet. The area was surrounded by tall trees and a 6-foot (1.8-meter)-high fence. An entrance to the secondary backyard was covered by trees and a tarpaulin. Privacy was enhanced by tents and outbuildings. Electricity was supplied by extension cords. The enclosure also housed a car that matched the description of the one used in the abduction.

Missed rescue opportunities

Law enforcement officers visited the residence at least twice but did not ask to inspect the backyard and did not detect the presence of Dugard or her children in the areas of the property that they did inspect. These were among several missed opportunities for rescue which later led to criticism of authorities:

Police failed to realize that Dugard had been kidnapped south of South Lake Tahoe, the same location as Garrido's 1976 kidnapping and rape of Katherine Callaway Hall.

On April 22, 1992, less than a year after her kidnapping, a man called the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department from a gas station less than two miles from the Garridos' home, reporting that he saw Dugard inside the gas station staring intently at a missing child poster of herself. The caller then reported seeing her leave in a large yellow van, possibly a Dodge; an old yellow Dodge van was later recovered from the Garrido property that matched the description of the van given in the call. The license plate was not reported in the 1992 call. The caller, the girl, and the van were gone by the time police arrived. The caller never identified himself and the police did not pursue the matter. Contradicting this story, Dugard reported that she never left the Garrido property from the day she was kidnapped until shortly before her first child was born in August 1994.

In June 2002, the Antioch fire department responded to a report of a juvenile with a shoulder injury that occurred in a swimming pool at the Garridos' home. This information was not relayed to the parole office, which had no record of either a juvenile or a swimming pool at the Garridos' address.

In 2006, one of Garrido's neighbors called 9-1-1 to inform them that there were tents in the backyard with children living there and that Garrido was "psychotic" with sexual addictions. A deputy sheriff spoke with Garrido at the front of the house for about 30 minutes and left, after telling Garrido that there would be a code violation if people were living outside on the property. After Dugard was found in August 2009, the local Contra Costa County Sheriff, Warren E. Rupf, issued an apology to the victims in a news conference.

On November 4, 2009, the California Office of the Inspector General issued a report that enumerated lapses by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that had contributed to Dugard's continued captivity. The central finding was that Garrido was incorrectly classified as needing only low-level supervision; all other lapses derived from that mistake. In his report, the inspector general detailed an instance in which a parole agent encountered a twelve-year-old girl at the home but accepted Garrido's explanation that "she was his brother's daughter and [the agent] did nothing to verify it," even though a call to Garrido's brother verified that he did not have children.

Reappearance

On August 24, 2009, Garrido visited the San Francisco office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and left a four-page essay containing his ideas about religion and sexuality, suggesting that he had discovered a solution to problem behaviors like his past crimes. The essay described how he had cured his deviant behavior and how that information could be used to assist in curing other sexual predators by "controlling human impulses that drive humans to commit dysfunctional acts".

On the same day, Garrido traveled to the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) with Dugard's two daughters and visited its campus police office, seeking permission to hold a special event as a part of his "God's Desire" program. He spoke with special-events manager Lisa Campbell; she perceived his behavior as "erratic" and felt that the girls were "sullen and submissive." She asked Garrido to make an appointment for the next day, which he did, leaving his name in the process. Officer Ally Jacobs ran a background check and discovered that Garrido was a registered sex offender on federal parole for kidnapping and rape. Garrido and the girls returned for their appointment at 2 p.m. the following day, and Jacobs attended the meeting. The girls appeared to Jacobs to be pale as if they had not been exposed to sunlight, and she felt that their behavior was unusual. Garrido's several parole violations were a basis for an arrest, so Jacobs phoned the parole office to relay her concerns, leaving a report on voicemail.

After hearing Jacobs' recorded message, two parole agents drove to the Garridos' house later that day. Upon arrival, they handcuffed Garrido and searched the house, finding only his wife Nancy, and his elderly mother at home. The parole agents then drove him to the parole office. En route, Garrido said that the girls who had accompanied him to UC Berkeley "were the daughters of a relative" and that he had had permission from their parents to take them there. Although the parole office had previously barred Garrido from associating with minors, and Berkeley was 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Garridos' Contra Costa residence (15 miles (24 km) over the 25-mile (40 km) limit he was allowed to travel from his home without his parole agent's permission), nothing was done about these violations. After reviewing his file with a supervisor, they drove Garrido home and ordered him to report to the office again the next day to discuss his visit to UC Berkeley and to follow up on the office's concerns about the two girls.

Garrido arrived at the parole office in Concord, California, on August 26 with Nancy, the two girls, and Dugard, who was introduced as "Allissa". The parole officer decided to separate Garrido from the women and girls to obtain their identification.

Maintaining her false identity as "Allissa", Dugard told investigators that the girls were her daughters. Although she indicated that she was aware that Garrido was a convicted sex offender, she stated that he was a "changed man", a "great person", and was "good with her kids", comments that were echoed by the two girls. When pressed for details that would confirm her identity, Dugard became "extremely defensive" and "agitated", demanding to know why she was being "interrogated", and subsequently stated that she was a battered wife from Minnesota in hiding from her abusive husband. The parole officer eventually called the Concord police. Upon the arrival of a Concord police sergeant, Garrido admitted he had kidnapped and raped Dugard. Only after this did she properly identify herself as Jaycee Dugard. It was later suggested that Dugard showed signs of Stockholm syndrome.

In a 2016 ABC News interview, Dugard stated that her compassion and willingness to interact with her captor were her only means of surviving, saying, "The phrase Stockholm Syndrome implies that hostages cracked by terror and abuse become affectionate towards their captors...Well, it's, really, it's degrading, you know, having my family believe that I was in love with this captor and wanted to stay with him. I mean, that is so far from the truth that it makes me want to throw up...I adapted to survive my circumstance." She repeatedly stated that, as a survival mechanism, many victims are forced to sympathize with their captors.

Garrido and his wife were placed under arrest. An FBI special agent put Dugard on the telephone with her mother, Terry Probyn. Dugard retained custody of her children and reunited with her mother on August 27, 2009.

Aftermath

Reunion and afterward

Dugard's aunt, Tina Dugard, and a former business associate of the Garridos, Cheyvonne Molino, have commented that Dugard's children looked healthy. Tina said that upon her meeting them after their escape, they "always appeared and behaved like normal kids". Molino said of the times that she met them while they were captive "that in her presence the girls never acted robotically" and did not wear unusual clothing.

In the days following Dugard's return, her stepfather confirmed that Dugard and her daughters were in good health and intelligent, their reunion was going well, and they were proceeding slowly. He said Dugard had developed a significant emotional bond with Garrido, and the two daughters cried when they learned of their father's arrest. Tina Dugard reported that the daughters are clever, articulate, and curious girls.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said Dugard's reappearance is an important event for families of other long-term missing children because it shows that hope remains even in long-term cases. Abduction survivor Elizabeth Smart has stressed the importance of focusing on the future with a positive attitude as an effective approach to accepting what has happened. Shawn Hornbeck, another abduction survivor, also commented on the case, noting: "Coming out of what she's had to endure is like entering a new world. It's like a door has opened for her and she's emerged from a world that's black and white into one that's full of color." He opined that the reason Dugard never escaped of her own accord was that she was brainwashed. He further offered insight into post-abduction life, saying that feelings of anger are normal for survivors and that therapy can enable them to move on with their lives.

Three weeks after her release, Dugard asked for the pets that were raised in the home. On October 14, 2009, People magazine published the first verified photo of Jaycee Dugard as an adult on its cover. Dugard's memoir, A Stolen Life: A Memoir was published on July 12, 2011, by Simon & Schuster, to positive reviews.

Dugard began animal-assisted therapy with horses, an activity she shared with her mother Terry and her sister Shayna.

Police investigations

Following the arrest, police searched the Garrido house extensively for evidence of other crimes. Because Garrido had access to his neighbor's house, it was also searched for evidence. Police also searched the homes and business of one of Garrido's printing business clients. Police agencies from Hayward and Dublin, California, conducted searches of the Garridos' property for evidence pertaining to missing girls from those communities but did not find any. In July 2011, Hayward police announced that Garrido has not been eliminated as a suspect and is still a person of interest in the abduction case of Michaela Garecht. Garecht was kidnapped in 1988 and Hayward is 55 miles (89 kilometers) from the Garridos' Antioch home.

Garrido's statements

On August 27, 2009, KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, interviewed Garrido in his jail cell by telephone. During the interview, Garrido said, "In the end, this is going to be a powerful, heartwarming story” because in his version of events:

My life has been straightened out. ... Wait till you hear the story of what took place at this house. You're going to be absolutely impressed. It's a disgusting thing that took place with me at the beginning, but I turned my life completely around.

Garrido repeatedly told the reporter how he "filed documents" with the FBI on August 24, 2009, which, when they were published, would cause people to "fall over backwards", and that he could not reveal more because he "had to protect law enforcement", and "what happened" ... was "something that humans have not understood well". In the interview, Garrido denied he had ever harmed Dugard's two daughters. He said their births changed his life, saying, "They slept in my arms every single night since birth. I never touched them." On August 28, 2009, FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler confirmed that Garrido had indeed left the documents with the agency, as he had claimed, but declined to discuss further details. The document, titled Origin of Schizophrenia Revealed, was eventually released by the FBI. It is about stopping schizophrenics from turning violent and controlling sounds with the human mind.

Legal proceedings

On August 28, 2009, Garrido and his wife pled not guilty to charges including kidnapping, rape, and false imprisonment. The case was prosecuted in El Dorado County, by elected District Attorney Vern R. Pierson and Assistant District Attorney James A. Clinchard. A bail review/pre-preliminary hearing was held September 14, 2009, at the El Dorado County Superior Court in Placerville, California. At the hearing, Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister set bail for Nancy at US$30 million. There was a no-bail parole hold on Garrido. The judge initially kept Nancy in custody on a no-bail hold, but she was granted bail at a later date. At the September 14 hearing, Phimister also granted a request from Garrido's attorney to have a psychologist or psychiatrist appointed to conduct a confidential evaluation. Such examinations can be used by the defense to assist in case preparation and additional mental health examinations can be ordered at subsequent phases in the proceedings. On October 29, 2009, a short hearing was held to set a date for the next pre-preliminary hearing when issues such as discovery were to be discussed. This hearing occurred on December 11, 2009. Katie Callaway Hall, whom Garrido kidnapped and raped in 1976, appeared in the courtroom at the October and December hearings. She did not speak during either proceeding.

On November 5, 2009, Phimister ordered Nancy's defense attorney, Gilbert Maines, to be removed from the case. According to a posting on the court's website, the decision occurred in a review of "confidential evidence" that has not been disclosed to the public, and details of the proceedings were kept sealed. The decision was stayed until November 30, 2009. On November 12, 2009, Phimister appointed Stephen A. Tapson as interim counsel for Nancy. Gilbert Maines appealed the decision and received a favorable ruling by the California Third District Court of Appeal on December 15, 2009. On December 22, 2009, the same court gave the El Dorado Superior Court until January 2010 to respond to the ruling. Both Gilbert Maines and Stephen Tapson appeared at the discovery hearing on December 11, 2009. A hearing was held on January 21, 2010. At that hearing, Maines was removed from the case and Tapson was appointed defense counsel for Nancy. In addition, bail, in the amount of US$20 million, was set for Nancy.

At a press conference on February 28, 2011, Tapson said that Nancy and Phillip Garrido had both made a "full confession" in the case. The development came as lawyers for both sides reopened discussions on a possible plea deal that had the potential to obviate the need for a trial. Nancy's attorney acknowledged that she was facing "241 years, eight months to life" and that he was working for a reduced sentence in the 30-year range. He stated that the prosecutor had acknowledged that Phillip was a master manipulator and that Nancy was under both his influence and that of substances during the period of Dugard's kidnapping, so should receive some consideration while alluding to parallels with kidnap victim Patty Hearst and Stockholm syndrome.

On April 7, 2011, instead of pleading guilty, as had been expected based on the previous statements, the Garridos pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and raping Dugard, as well as other charges, in an amended grand jury indictment. Phillip's attorney, public defender Susan Gellman, alleged that the grand jury might have been selected improperly and might have acted improperly. Gellman did not elaborate on her claim in the courtroom but said outside that she had questions about the racial and geographic makeup of the grand jury that originally indicted the Garridos in September 2010. Judge Phimister noted that there were issues about the process itself before the grand jury, and also stated that the court would consider whether the grand jury acted appropriately. These developments were largely unforeseen by attorney Stephen Tapson, who represented Nancy; Tapson had said earlier that week that Phillip had made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life in prison. Gellman was upset with Tapson for telling reporters that her client had planned to plead guilty, saying that he should only speak about his own client, Nancy. Tapson said he found out about Gellman's plans only late on April 6. Neither attorney would elaborate further on the specific concerns about the grand jury. El Dorado, California District Attorney Vern Pierson said he did not think the complaints about the grand jury would ultimately derail the case against the Garridos.

On April 28, 2011, the Garridos pled guilty to kidnapping and rape by force. On June 2, 2011, Phillip was sentenced to 431 years to life imprisonment. Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life imprisonment. The sentences would allow Nancy to be eligible for parole in August 2029.

Phillip was imprisoned in California State Prison, Corcoran, while Nancy was incarcerated at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. Dugard did not attend the sentencing, instead sending a written message with her mother to read aloud in court.

Settlement with the State of California

As Garrido had been on parole for a 1976 rape at the time of her kidnapping, Dugard sued the state of California, which had taken over his parole supervision from the federal government in 1999, on account of the numerous lapses by law enforcement during instances in which her captivity should have been discovered by them. In July 2010, the State of California approved a US$20 million settlement with Dugard to compensate her for: "various lapses by the Corrections Department [that contributed to] Dugard's continued captivity, ongoing sexual assault, and mental and/or physical abuse". The settlement, part of AB1714, was approved by the California State Assembly by a 70 to 2 vote and by the California State Senate by a 30 to 1 vote. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Daniel Weinstein, who mediated the settlement, stated that the settlement was reached to avoid a lawsuit, which would be a: "greater invasion of privacy and greater publicity for the state". The bill was signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 9.

Lawsuit against the United States

On September 22, 2011, Dugard filed a lawsuit in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the United States of failing to monitor Phillip when he was a federal parolee. Dugard stated in her lawsuit against the federal government that parole officials should have revoked Garrido's parole and returned him to prison for any number of parole violations that preceded her abduction, including testing positive for drugs and alcohol.

On March 15, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed Dugard's civil claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). In a 2–1 decision authored by Judge John B. Owens, the court ruled that the federal government's sovereign immunity was not waived because the U.S. is only liable "in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances" under state law. In this case, because the U.S. would not be liable under California law, Dugard could not prevail on her FTCA claim. The majority's rationale was that Dugard had not been victimized by Garrido at the time he was placed under federal parole supervision, and "there was no way to anticipate she would become his victim," and thus, federal authorities in California had no duty to protect her or other members of the general public from him. Chief District Court Judge William Smith again dissented, stating that he believed that the majority misinterpreted California law, as the cases cited by the majority only involved FTCA liability in rehabilitation centers, and there were good legitimate grounds to hold the government liable.

Parole officer breaks his silence

In November 2022, Phillip Garrido's former parole officer, Edward Santos Jr., who had retired in December 2021, broke his silence by speaking to Sacramento's KCRA-TV. Santos stated that he was not permitted to relate his version of the events that led to the arrest of the Garridos and Dugard's rescue, saying, "I wish the state of California would've allowed me to speak. I was told not to speak to anybody at all...Just keep quiet. Don't say anything and hopefully, you'll keep your job. That's the way I always felt." Santos stated he had thoroughly searched the Garridos' house and backyard, and found no trace of Dugard. He also said that his actions on the day of Phillip's arrest were key to Dugard's rescue, as he visited the Garrido home after hearing about the two young girls who were seen with Garrido on the UC Berkeley campus, and demanded to know their whereabouts. When Phillip said that they had been picked up by their father, Santos ordered Garrido to appear at Santos' office with them the following morning with their parents, and when they showed up with Nancy that morning and gave conflicting stories about the girls' identities, Santos persistently questioned them and Dugard. Santos said that had he not done this, Dugard's identity would not have been discovered. Santos insisted that he did his job, but regretted not having found Dugard when he first visited the Garrido home and also publicly apologized to Dugard for not having spoken to her after his initial interview of her, during which he had treated her as if she were a suspect rather than a victim. The California Department of Corrections confirmed to KCRA-TV that Santos had been a parole officer with that agency, but would not confirm that he had been Phillip's parole officer, "due to safety and security issues and the multiple investigations and reviews after the arrest of the Garridos."

In media

Jaycee Dugard documented her life in captivity in a book, A Stolen Life: A Memoir, which she wrote as part of her therapy with Rebecca Bailey, who specializes in post-trauma family reunification. Dugard says she wrote the book, which was published in July 2011, to assist other survivors of sexual abuse. A few days before the book was released, Dugard gave her first extensive television interview taped in Ojai, California, to ABC's Diane Sawyer.

An American crime show on the Investigation Discovery network titled Wicked Attraction aired an episode about Phillip and Nancy Garrido, which detailed Dugard's kidnapping and recovery.

A documentary that aired in October 2009 on Channel 4 in Britain titled Captive for 18 Years: Jaycee Lee focused on the story of Dugard's kidnapping, recovery, and the beginnings of the trial including interviews with Jaycee's stepfather.

Dugard was awarded a Lifetime Leadership honor at the third annual The DVF Awards on March 9, 2012, for her courage and her JAYC Foundation, which provides support to families dealing with abduction and other losses.

Dugard's second book, Freedom: My Book of Firsts was released on July 12, 2016, by Simon & Schuster. The book focuses on her life since the publication of A Stolen Life and her recovery and reintegration into the world. She was again interviewed by Diane Sawyer a few days before publication.

The case was covered by Casefile True Crime Podcast on September 17, 2016.

Death of Lauren Smith-Fields

 Lauren Smith-Fields (January 23, 1998 — December 12, 2021) was a Black woman living in Bridgeport, Connecticut. On the morning of Sunday, December 12, 2021, she was allegedly found unresponsive in bed by her Bumble date, Matthew LaFountain.

Background

Smith-Fields was aged 23 and on a date with a Bumble date, Matthew LaFountain, at the time of her death. He found her unresponsive at around 6 a.m. immediately calling 9-1-1; he started chest compressions as advised by the operator. These efforts would prove to be unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene. First responders noted that her date seemed "shaken up" and in a state of shock. Although, there is proof that Lafountain drugged Smith-Fields and possibly raped her, her death was ultimately ruled an accidental overdose caused by Fentanyl and alcohol mixing.

Controversy

Many people, including Smith-Fields' family, believe that the police department in charge of handling the case did not do enough or conduct a proper investigation. Some believe her date may be responsible for her death but he was cleared upon questioning, still, Smith-Fields' family feels the police department did not explore her date as a suspect far enough. Some say this incident did not receive as much attention or care as it would have if Smith-Fields were a white woman, calling this situation another example of institutionalized racism and a lack of care for black lives, especially after the Smith-Field's family was told to stop contacting police for updates.

Aftermath

Smith-Fields' family organized a protest outside of Morton Government Center and the detectives in charge of her case were put on leave and/or resigned. The detectives were reinstated upon appeal of the suspensions. The case is still open and has been reassigned to other officers.

Idaho's Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate: Thomas Creech

 Thomas Eugene Creech (born September 9, 1950) is an American serial killer who was convicted of two murders committed in 1974 and sentenced to death in Idaho. The sentence was reduced two years later on appeal to life imprisonment. He was sent back to Idaho's death row for a 1981 murder committed while imprisoned. Creech personally confessed to a total of 42 murders in various states, some of which allegedly involved the Hells Angels and the Church of Satan. Most of his additional confessions are uncorroborated, but police believe strong evidence links Creech to seven additional murder victims (two of which he was convicted). In January 2024, an investigation by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department concluded that Creech murdered Daniel A. Walker (in what was a cold case).

As of 2024, Creech was the longest-serving death row inmate in the state.

Early life

Creech was born on September 9, 1950, in Hamilton, Ohio. He grew up in an unstable household where his parents frequently argued with one another, eventually leading to a divorce. Creech was left to live with his father, who years later would die from unclear causes right in front of him. At that time, he claimed to have attacked the male nurse who had tended to his father.

The next few years of Creech's life are difficult to verify, as they are interwoven with hearsay and his uncorroborated claims. From what little can be definitively confirmed, he ran away from his hometown and became a drifter, traveling frequently cross-country. On December 11, 1969, he was sentenced to a 2-to-50-year prison term for unarmed robbery. He was paroled in 1971. In 1973, he married 17-year-old Thomasine Loren White of Boise, Idaho, who allegedly became a participant in at least one of his murders. She was eventually moved to a psychiatric hospital in Salem, Oregon, where she subsequently committed suicide. In a letter that Creech sent to KIVI-TV decades after the fact, he claimed that his wife had been raped by a gang of men and then thrown out a window, causing her debilitating physical and mental injuries that were the primary contributors to her decision to end her life.

On August 22, 1973, he broke the conditions of his parole by allegedly stealing 13 cartons of cigarettes in Portland. The charges were dropped after he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a mental evaluation. Creech was housed in an open ward and was described as a model patient during his short stay, being released only a week later after it was determined that he did not suffer from any mental illnesses. He then moved back to Portland, where he found a job as a sexton for the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. He later quit his job after the body of a man was found in his living quarters. Shortly thereafter, he and his new girlfriend, 17-year-old Carol Spaulding, would move to Idaho.

Idaho murders and arrest

On November 6, 1974, Creech and Spaulding were hitchhiking in Idaho from Lewiston south to Donnelly when a 1956-model Buick Century, operated by two house painters, 34-year-old Edward Thomas Arnold and 40-year-old John Wayne Bradford, picked them up. Along the way, Creech pulled out a rifle and shot both of them in the head, then buried their bodies along Highway 55 in Valley County near Donnelly, north of Cascade. Their bodies and blood-spattered car were found the next day. In the meantime, Creech had befriended a 26-year-old named Gene Alvin Hilby, who later agreed to bury the rifle at his behest, unaware that it was a murder weapon.

Two days after the murders, after Creech was proposed as a suspect in two additional murders in Oregon and for supposedly sending death threats to the newly elected Colorado senator Gary Hart, he and Spaulding were arrested in Glenns Ferry (in Elmore County) by police officer Bill Hill, who had been notified that they were fugitives wanted for murder. While both of them were arraigned on murder charges, Creech was cleared of his supposed involvement with the death threats, as it was determined that it was just rumors that spread from a police officer, one of Hart's campaign managers, and a prosecutor. Briefly held at the Valley County jail in Cascade, Creech was transferred ninety miles (145 km) south to the more secure Ada County jail in Boise.

Trial and imprisonment

About a week after his arrest, Creech attempted to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a broken piece of mirror but managed only a minor injury before being restrained by prison guards and moved to another cell. Hilby, the man who had buried the supposed murder weapon and had originally also been charged with participating in the murder, was later released on probation after pleading guilty to hindering a murder case. In January 1975, it was decided that the now-18-year-old Spaulding would be tried as an adult for the two counts of first-degree murder.

Creech continued to cause trouble even after his arrest; on June 16, he attacked and injured his cellmate William O. Fischer during an altercation. Fischer had to be driven to the hospital to treat his facial injuries, but no further information is available about the incident itself due to a gag order being placed on the case. A month later, Creech attempted to sue the Idaho Statesman for supposedly violating his right to a fair trial by publishing information on other crimes he was either convicted or suspected of, thus possibly prejudicing the public against him.

In August, shortly after a change of venue from Cascade to Wallace (in Shoshone County) was accepted, Creech was sent to the hospital for stitches after suffering injuries caused by falling out of his bunk bed in his cell and hitting his head. In October, it was ruled that an alleged confession, in which Creech, who initially had claimed was not near the murder site, says that he had shot and killed the two men after they pulled a knife on them and threatened to rape Spaulding, could be admitted as evidence in the upcoming trial.

Confessions and other victims

After he took the stand at his trial in October 1975, Creech shocked the entire nation when he readily admitted his responsibility for 42 murders in nearly a dozen states. He alleged the first murder occurred when he was 17 and drowned a friend in New Miami, Ohio. In his confession, Creech claimed he had killed a gay man in San Francisco in 1965, after running away from home, and later killed five people in Ohio in contract murders while he was with the Hells Angels, and later began killing people in Satanic rituals involving human sacrifices. In total, he claimed to know of such killings that had occurred in Burien, Washington; San Diego, San Francisco, and Malibu, California; Beaver, Ogden, and Salt Lake City, Utah; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Missoula, Montana; Wichita, Kansas, and another city in Colorado. He also directed the authorities to two alleged burial grounds in Los Angeles County, where he claimed they could locate 100 victims, but the searches only turned up a cow bone.

While his confessions were shocking, authorities considered most of them to be bogus, with one officer saying that his recitation of the 'Satanic rites' had been copied word-for-word from an issue of Playboy. Nonetheless, they were able to link him to the murders of nine victims in total, none of whom were killed in supposed "Satanic sacrifices": Gordon Lee Stanton and Charles Thomas Miller in Las Vegas, Nevada; 22-year-old William Joseph Dean, the man whose body was found in his church living quarters in Portland, Oregon; 19-year-old Salem store clerk Sandra Jane Ramsamoog, who was killed not long after Dean; 22-year-old Riogley Stewart McKenzie near Baggs, Wyoming, and 50-year-old Vivian Grant Robinson in Sacramento, California. Among his credible victims was 70-year-old retiree Paul C. Schrader, who was stabbed to death in an apparent robbery at the Downtown Motor Hotel in Tucson, Arizona, on October 23, 1973. Creech, who at that time was working as a cook in the El Bambi Cafe in Beaver, Utah, was later arrested for disorderly conduct and identified as the suspect after a routine police check revealed that he was wanted for Schrader's murder. Creech and Thomasine White were charged with the murder, but the pair was acquitted after only hours of deliberation. Creech pleaded guilty to the 1974 murder of William Joseph Dean in Portland, Oregon. Creech was also convicted of the murder of Vivian Grant Robinson in Sacramento, California. He has five murder convictions in total. Just days before the rejection of his clemency plea in 2024, Creech was found to be the true perpetrator behind the unsolved murder of Daniel Walker in San Bernardino, California in October 1974.

While he was now considered an admitted serial killer, Creech continued to profess his innocence in the Arnold-Bradford murders. The jury took a few days of deliberations to return a guilty verdict to the case due to the confusing circumstances. His attorney, with the assistance of private investigator John Wickersham, sought to interview additional witnesses to have the conviction overturned. Five months later on March 25, 1976, Creech was sentenced to death by hanging for the two murders.

Originally set for May 21, his execution was stayed pending appeals, with Creech willingly offering to stand trial for some of his killings in Oregon and California. He was later convicted of these killings, but his exact sentence is unknown.

Prison murder and new sentence

As a result of the 1976 Supreme Court ruling Gregg v. Georgia (which led to changes in death penalty sentencing), one of Creech's attorneys, Bruce Robinson, sought to have his client's death sentence commuted to life imprisonment, citing that his sentence violated the state's then-illegitimate death penalty statute. Robinson's strategy proved to be a success as Creech's sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Robinson additionally petitioned for Creech to be freed altogether but was unsuccessful.

Creech was housed at the Idaho State Correctional Institution, east of Kuna. He worked as a janitor in the prison despite the protests of two prosecutors, who warned the wardens that he still posed a threat, even to other inmates. Their fears were realized on May 13, 1981, when 23-year-old David Dale Jensen, a car thief who had previous altercations with Creech, was murdered by Creech, with a sock stuffed with batteries. There are two theories about the murder, which Creech has himself changed at different points in time. The first theory was that Jensen attempted to attack Creech using the sock of batteries. The second theory, which Creech claimed at his 1980s sentencing hearing, involved different inmates offering to pay Creech for killing Jensen since he was not well-liked at the prison; in that scenario, Creech, through an intermediary gave Jensen weapons to attack Creech to justify killing Jensen, essentially setting up Jensen to be killed. Regardless of the pre-text to the murder, Creech managed to take hold of the sock and started beating Jensen with it, repeatedly bashing and kicking his head, causing Jensen's death. Jensen, who was a car thief, was disabled, which impaired his ability to adequately protect himself in prison. Charged with first-degree murder, he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to death. The sentencing judge acknowledged that Creech "did not instigate the fight with the victim, but the victim, without provocation, attacked him. [Creech] was initially justified in protecting himself," when balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors however the judge also identified five aggravating factors and stated that "the murder, once commenced, appears to have been an intentional, calculated act," with "the victim, once the attack commenced, was under the complete domination and control of the defendant", concluding that the murder and the "violent actions Creech" took "went well beyond self-defense." He asked the victim's father for forgiveness and stated his wish to be executed as he did not want to die in solitary confinement, however, Creech has since changed his mind having appealed his sentence for Jensen's murder for over 40 years (in the lead-up to his execution date in February 2024 Creech expressed sorrow and anxiety towards his execution).

Current status

Since his second death sentence, Creech has been on death row, now housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where he is also the longest-serving inmate. One of the prosecutors at his original trial, Jim Harris, later said in an interview that he wished Creech to be taken off death row as he considered that his case had cost the taxpayers too much for an execution that possibly may never happen.

In 2020, Creech and another death row inmate, Gerald Pizzuto, filed a federal lawsuit in which they claimed their rights were violated by the state's secrecy surrounding the execution protocol. The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge David Nye, citing their ongoing appeals as a prime factor of why it has no current standing.

On October 12, 2023, Judge Jason D. Scott signed Creech's death warrant, setting his execution date for November 8, 2023. On October 18, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole announced they would delay Creech's execution date after they granted a request from Creech for a commutation hearing, making Creech the third death row prisoner in Idaho's legal history to be given a clemency hearing.

On January 29, 2024, the Idaho Pardon and Parole Board deadlocked 3–3 on whether to grant Creech clemency. As the vote to grant clemency was not a majority, his death sentence was upheld. Governor Brad Little, who has the ultimate authority on whether to grant clemency in capital cases, chose to not grant Creech clemency. On January 30, 2024, Judge Jason D. Scott again signed a death warrant setting Creech's execution for February 28, 2024.

After the death warrant was issued, Creech filed two appeals, one was to call for another clemency review because it was made in the absence of the seventh parole board member (who backed out before the vote) and that his participation was required to ensure a fairer outcome for Creech's clemency hearing, while another was to declare his death sentence, which was handed to him by a judge and not a jury, as unconstitutional. On February 9, 2024, the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed Creech's pleas, and his execution is still set to occur on February 28, 2024. The Idaho governor also declared publicly that he had no intention to spare Creech from punishment due to the magnitude of his crimes.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from California also rejected Creech's appeal on February 23, 2024. Creech's lawyers sought to have his death sentence overturned because it was unconstitutionally imposed by a judge and not a jury, but the judges admonished his lawyers for not raising the issue earlier and without providing credible evidence to substantiate their claims, and they described his motion as an act of delay for the sake of delaying his execution. Jensen's family publicly opposed the clemency plea of Creech, stating that Jensen was a "gentle soul and a prankster who loved hunting and spending time outdoors", and Jensen's daughter, who was four when her father died, stated that she never got to know her father and felt aggrieved that Creech was still alive even after years since her father was murdered.

Aside from Creech, another murderer named Ivan Cantu, who was held on death row in Texas for murdering his cousin, James Mosqueda, and Mosqueda’s girlfriend Amy Kitchen, was also scheduled to be executed on 28 February 2024. Creech's supporters continued to advocate for a commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment on the grounds that Creech had reformed and he was no longer a threat to society in spite of the enormity of his crimes.

Joran Van der Sloot

 

Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjoːrɑɱ vɑn dər ˈsloːt]; born 6 August 1987) is a Dutch murderer, convicted in the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru. He was the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

After Flores's murder on 30 May 2010, five years to the day after Holloway's disappearance, Van der Sloot fled to Chile, where he was arrested and extradited to Peru for questioning regarding the murder.

On 7 June 2010, Van der Sloot confessed to bludgeoning Flores. He later tried to formally retract his confession, claiming that he had been intimidated by the Peruvian Police and framed by the FBI. A Peruvian judge ruled on 25 June 2010 that the confession was valid, and on 13 January 2012, Van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment for Flores's murder. In January 2023, an additional 18 years were added to his sentence for trafficking cocaine while in prison.

On 8 June 2023, Van der Sloot was extradited to the United States to face trial for extortion and wire fraud, with both charges being linked to Holloway's disappearance. On 18 October 2023, he admitted to killing Holloway in a proffer letter, which was released after he pleaded guilty to other associated charges in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The Holloway and Flores cases both attracted widespread media attention; Time magazine declared Van der Sloot's arrest the top crime story of 2010. He was the subject of international news coverage from prison, leading to controversies that resulted in the investigation and suspension of several Peruvian officials.

Background

Joran van der Sloot was born in the Dutch city of Arnhem, one of three sons to Paulus van der Sloot (1952–2010), a lawyer, and Anita van der Sloot-Hugen, an art teacher. In 1990, his family moved from Arnhem to Aruba, where he was an honor student at the International School of Aruba.

Van der Sloot was a star football and tennis athlete at the school, competing in doubles tennis with his father at the Moët & Chandon Anniversary Cup in 2005, and hoped to play for Saint Leo University. Van der Sloot's mother said he was a habitual liar and had a tendency to sneak out of the house at night to go to casinos.

Disappearance of Natalee Holloway

On 29 May 2005, Van der Sloot met Natalee Holloway at Carlos'n Charlie's bar in downtown Oranjestad, Aruba. Holloway was an 18-year-old American, vacationing in Aruba to celebrate her graduation from high school. Holloway and Van der Sloot drank and danced together at the bar. When the bar closed at 1:00 a.m., Holloway was last seen leaving in a car with Van der Sloot and two brothers, 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe.

On 9 June 2005, Van der Sloot and both Kalpoe brothers were arrested regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The Kalpoe brothers were released from custody on 4 July, while Van der Sloot remained in custody. The brothers were re-arrested on 26 August on suspicion of rape and murder. All three suspects were released on 3 September due to lack of evidence.

After his release, Van der Sloot was required to stay within Dutch territory pending the investigation results. On 5 September 2005, he returned to the Netherlands to study international business management at the HAN University of Applied Sciences. On 14 September, a higher court removed the travel restrictions. Gerold G. Dompig, former deputy commissioner of the Aruba Police Force, stated that the initial arrests were made prematurely under pressure from Holloway's family. Dompig charged that the family sidetracked the investigation by making it difficult for the police to collect evidence to solve the case.

Media coverage

On 26 September 2005, Van der Sloot told the American television show A Current Affair that neither he nor the Kalpoe brothers had sex with Holloway, but he admitted that they initially agreed to lie to the authorities. He said that they first told police that Holloway was dropped off alone at her hotel, while he later said that he was dropped off with her at the beach. Van der Sloot stated that he left Holloway alone at the beach at her request and that he regretted it.

On 6 February 2006, on ABC's Good Morning America, Van der Sloot's parents stated that their son was unfairly singled out and that the investigation left them devastated. Later that month, while Van der Sloot and his father were in New York City for an interview with ABC's Primetime, they were served with a lawsuit filed by Natalee's parents, Beth and Dave Holloway, alleging personal injury; the case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds that August.

In April 2007 Van der Sloot and a reporter published a book describing the case. Van der Sloot began writing the book while attending business classes in Arnhem. He stated in the introduction, "I see this book as my opportunity to be open and honest about everything that happened, for anyone who wants to read it."

2007 search and arrest

On 27 April 2007, a new search involving some 20 investigators was launched at Van der Sloot's parents' home in Aruba. Dutch authorities searched the yard and surrounding area, using shovels and thin metal rods to probe the ground. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Vivian van der Biezen, stated: "The investigation has never stopped and the Dutch authorities are completely reviewing the case for new indications." A statement released directly from the prosecutor's office stated: "The team has indications that justify a more thorough search." Investigators did not comment on what prompted the new search, except that it was not related to Van der Sloot's book.

On 21 November 2007, Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were re-arrested in Arnhem and Aruba, respectively, for "suspicion of involvement in voluntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Natalee Holloway" because of what the Aruba prosecutor's office stated was "new incriminating evidence" related to Holloway's disappearance. Van der Sloot returned to Aruba on 23 November, and a court hearing on 26 November ruled to continue his detention for eight days. The Kalpoe brothers were released on 1 December. Van der Sloot was ordered released on 7 December; he was released without charge the same day.

2008 Dutch television sting operations

On 11 January 2008, after being challenged on the Dutch late-night talk show Pauw & Witteman by crime reporter Peter de Vries, Van der Sloot threw a glass of red wine into De Vries's face. On 3 February, an undercover video made by De Vries aired on Dutch television, purporting to show Van der Sloot smoking marijuana and admitting to being present during Holloway's death. The show was watched by 7 million viewers in the Netherlands and was the most popular non-sports program in Dutch television history.

Patrick van der Eem, working undercover for De Vries, had befriended Van der Sloot, who was unaware that he was being taped when he said that Holloway had suffered some kind of seizure while having sex with him on the beach. After failing to revive her, Van der Sloot said that he summoned a friend named "Daury". The two men neither phoned for medical help nor checked Holloway to determine if she might still be alive. "Daury", according to Van der Sloot, volunteered to load her onto a boat; he then dumped Holloway's body into the sea. The prosecutor in Aruba determined the video was admissible, but the evidence was deemed "insufficient" to warrant any arrests. Although the taped confession appeared damning, Van der Sloot maintained that he had been lying to Van der Eem to impress him, believing his new acquaintance to be a drug dealer.

On 22 September 2008, in New York City, De Vries, accompanied by Beth Holloway, accepted an International Emmy Award in Current Affairs for his coverage of Natalee Holloway's disappearance. Under pressure generated by the Pauw & Witteman program, Van der Sloot voluntarily checked into a psychiatric clinic, before departing the Netherlands for Thailand. He moved to Muang Ake, a suburb of Bangkok, intending to study business at Rangsit University, but dropped out and bought Sawadee Cup, a restaurant next to the campus that served sandwiches and pizza.

In November 2008, De Vries aired undercover footage of Van der Sloot making preparations for the apparent sex trafficking of Thai women in Bangkok into Europe. De Vries claimed that Van der Sloot was making $13,000 for every woman sold into prostitution in the Netherlands. Van der Sloot had been using the alias "Murphy Jenkins" to avoid Thai authorities. Peruvian Minister of Justice Aurelio Pastor later stated that Thailand was pursuing criminal charges against Van der Sloot. According to the National Enquirer, he was being investigated by Thai authorities for his involvement in the disappearance of young women he may have recruited for a Thai sex slave gang while posing as a production consultant for a modeling agency that, ostensibly, would send them to Europe to work as models.

Van der Sloot was portrayed by actor Jacques Strydom in the Lifetime television film Natalee Holloway (2009), based on Beth Holloway's book about her daughter's disappearance. The film brought in the highest television ratings in Lifetime's then-eleven-year history. Van der Sloot himself watched the film one evening in 2010, according to his friend, John Ludwick, and said that some parts were true while others were not. The film was followed by a sequel, Justice for Natalee Holloway (2011), in which Van der Sloot was played by actor Stephen Amell.

In August 2009, Van der Sloot was spotted in Macau at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. He won over US$12,000 that year in an online poker tournament. Van der Sloot described himself on his YouTube page as "a professional poker player" and cited Barry Greenstein's 2005 poker strategy guide as his favorite book.

In early 2010, following his father's death, Paulus sold his Bangkok restaurant business and returned to Aruba.

Father's involvement in the case

Paulus van der Sloot was arrested on 22 June 2005, for questioning in Holloway's disappearance. He was ordered released on 26 June after three days of questioning. According to Aruba's chief prosecutor, one of the Kalpoe brothers told investigators that Paulus, who at the time was training to be a judge, advised his son that, without a body, the police would have no case. Beth Holloway pursued Van der Sloot's parents in the media circus on Aruba which ensued after Natalee's disappearance. She stated that Paulus acknowledged that they could not control their son and had sent him to a psychiatrist.

On 10 November 2005, Paulus won an unjust detention action against the Aruban government, clearing him as a suspect and allowing him to retain his government contract. Paulus van der Sloot then brought a second action, seeking monetary damages for himself and his family because of his false arrest. The action was initially successful, but the award of 40,000 Aruban florins (US$22,300) was reversed on appeal. The family's finances had become depleted by their legal expenses. In January 2007, Paulus found work as a managing partner at the law firm that had represented him.

On 24 November 2008, Fox News's On the Record aired an interview with Joran van der Sloot in which he said that he sold Holloway into sexual slavery, receiving money both when Holloway was taken and, later, to keep quiet. He also alleged that he paid the Kalpoe brothers for their assistance and that his father Paulus paid off two police officers who had learned that Holloway was taken to Venezuela. Van der Sloot later retracted the statements he had made in the interview. The show aired part of an audio recording provided by Van der Sloot, which he alleged was a phone conversation between himself and Paulus, in which Paulus displayed knowledge of his son's purported involvement in human trafficking. According to prosecutor Hans Mos, the other voice heard on the recording was not that of Paulus. The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the "father's" voice was almost certainly that of Joran, trying to speak in a lower tone.

On 8 January 2010, Paulus ended his partnership at the law firm where he had been working. On 10 February 2010, while playing tennis in Aruba, he died of a heart attack at age 57. Joran van der Sloot returned to Aruba soon afterward and took up gambling. His mother, Anita, later remarked that Van der Sloot had severe mental problems and had blamed himself for his father's death. He had left for Aruba before she could have him involuntarily committed, leaving a note: "I'm gone, do not worry."

2010 charges in the United States

Around 29 March 2010, Van der Sloot allegedly contacted John Q. Kelly, Beth Holloway's legal representative, with an offer to reveal the location of Natalee's body and the circumstances surrounding her death for an advance of $25,000 against a total of $250,000. Kelly said that he secretly went to Aruba in April to meet with Van der Sloot, who was desperate for money, and gave him $100. Kelly notified the FBI, which set up a sting operation with the Aruban authorities.

On 10 May, Van der Sloot allegedly accepted the sum of $15,000 by wire transfer to his account in the Netherlands, following a cash payment of $10,000 that was videotaped by undercover investigators in Aruba. In exchange, Van der Sloot told Kelly that his father buried Holloway's remains in the foundation of a house. Authorities determined that this information was false because the house had not yet been built at the time of Holloway's disappearance. Van der Sloot later e‑mailed Kelly that he lied about the house. Beth Holloway was shocked that the FBI did not promptly file extortion charges against Van der Sloot, allowing him to leave freely with the money to Bogotá on his way to Lima. The FBI and the office of the U.S. Attorney contended that the case had not yet been sufficiently developed to enable the filing of the charges.

On 3 June 2010, the U.S. District Court of Northern Alabama charged Van der Sloot with extortion and wire fraud. U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance issued an arrest warrant through Interpol to have him prosecuted in the United States. On 4 June, at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, Dutch authorities raided and confiscated items from two homes in the Netherlands, one of them belonging to reporter Jaap Amesz, who had previously interviewed Van der Sloot, and who claimed knowledge of his criminal activities.

Aruban investigators used information gathered from the extortion case to perform a new search at a beach, but no new evidence was found. Aruba's solicitor general's office stated they would not seek Van der Sloot's extradition to Aruba. On 30 June, a U.S. federal grand jury formally indicted Van der Sloot on the two charges. The indictment, filed with the U.S. District Court, sought the forfeiture of the $25,100 that had been paid to Van der Sloot.

In an interview published by De Telegraaf on 6 September 2010, Van der Sloot admitted to the extortion plot, stating: "I wanted to get back at Natalee's family. Her parents have been making my life tough for five years." His attorney said that his client was not paid for the interview, and suggested instead that "maybe there were some mistakes in the translation."

On 9 March 2014, the Peruvian government announced that Van der Sloot would face extradition to the U.S. in the year 2038 to face charges of extortion and wire fraud, after the completion of his 28-year sentence in Peru for the murder of Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez.

In February 2016, an undercover reporter filmed Van der Sloot confessing to Natalee Holloway's murder. The movie shows Van der Sloot, in Dutch, laughing over how he never told the truth about the whole event and that he did in fact kill Holloway. His Peruvian wife is also present during this conversation.

2023 extradition to the United States, and confession

On 8 June 2023, Van der Sloot was extradited from Peru to the United States, landing at Birmingham Airport in Birmingham, Alabama just before 2:30 p.m. After arriving in Birmingham, he was taken into U.S. custody and transferred to the Hoover City Jail. On 9 June, he was arraigned in the federal court in Birmingham on one count of extortion and one count of wire fraud against Bethany Holloway, Natalee Holloway's mother. He pleaded not guilty to each charge.

On 18 October 2023, in a proffer letter as part of a plea deal, Van der Sloot admitted to beating Holloway to death on an Aruba beach. According to an interview transcript, Van der Sloot bludgeoned her head with a cinder block and disposed of her body in the ocean. Judge Anna Manasco sentenced van der Sloot to 20 years on the extortion charges, which will run concurrently with his existing Peru sentence.

Murder of Stephany Flores

On 30 May 2010 — the fifth anniversary of Holloway's disappearance — Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez, 21, died at the Hotel TAC, in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru. On 2 June, a hotel employee found her beaten body in room 309, which had been registered in Van der Sloot's name. He had departed from the hotel without returning the room key and left the television turned on. A tennis racquet, identified by the coroner as a possible homicide weapon, was recovered from the room.

A hotel guest and an employee came forward to say they saw Van der Sloot and the victim entering the hotel room together, and the police obtained video of the two playing cards at the same table the night before at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima. Van der Sloot entered Peru via Colombia on 14 May 2010 to attend the Latin American Poker Tour.

Flores was a business student who was less than a year from graduation at the University of Lima. She was the daughter of Ricardo Flores, a former president of the Peruvian Automobile Club and winner of the "Caminos del Inca" rally in 1991. A prominent businessman and entertainment organizer, he ran for vice president in 2001 and for president five years later on fringe tickets.

Ricardo Flores said that police found date rape drugs in his daughter's car, parked about 50 blocks from the hotel where she died. Her jewelry, money, identification, and credit cards were missing, including about $1,000 her father had given her to purchase a laptop computer, and over $10,000 she had won earlier at the casino. Flores reportedly kept this money in her car, but a police search found no money in it.

After Flores's family reported her missing, police retrieved the hotel security surveillance tape and obtained Van der Sloot's name and national identification number. Her brother's wife discovered Van der Sloot's background in a Google search about an hour before her body was found.

2010 arrest

Peruvian officials named Van der Sloot as the lone suspect in the homicide investigation. An Interpol notice was issued regarding Van der Sloot and it was believed that he had fled to Chile, possibly intending to return to Aruba through Argentina. Van der Sloot was sighted entering Chile via the Chacalluta border crossing, north of Arica, on 31 May 2010. His ex-girlfriend, Melody Granadillo, said that Van der Sloot sent her a text message asking for money to buy a ticket back to Aruba.

On 3 June, Van der Sloot was arrested near Curacaví by the Investigations Police of Chile while traveling in a rented taxi on Highway 68 between the coastal city of Viña del Mar and the capital of Santiago. He was found with a laptop, foreign currency, a business card case, detailed charts of ocean currents around Lima, and bloody clothes. His phone's SIM card was missing, which made mobile phone tracking of his location impossible.

He told Chilean police that unidentified armed robbers hid in the hotel room and killed Flores when she disobeyed their order to be quiet. Van der Sloot's Dutch attorney claimed that his client was on his way to Santiago to turn himself in. He was subsequently expelled and transported by Chilean police in a Cessna 310 back to Arica to be handed over to Peruvian authorities at the Chacalluta border crossing on 4 June.

Van der Sloot arrived at Lima police headquarters on 5 June, where he was interrogated about the Flores murder while represented by attorney Luz Maria Romero Chinchay. The Dutch embassy provided a translator for his defense. He was held in a seventh-floor cell and permitted to contact his mother. Van der Sloot was placed on suicide watch by guards after it was reported that he deliberately hit his head against a wall. On 10 June, he was moved to a cell at the prosecutor's office in central Lima.

Forensic investigation

Surveillance video from the Atlantic City Casino recorded Flores winning $10,000 at a baccarat table area on 25 May 2010, while accompanied by a male friend who was not van der Sloot. According to casino spokesperson Luis Laos, she also won $237 playing poker on 29 May and it was common for people to know the identities of big winners. Laos stated that van der Sloot did not win any money that night. At 3:00 a.m. on 30 May, Flores was recorded entering the casino alone and walking to a poker table where Van der Sloot was sitting. Van der Sloot had not registered for the Latin American Poker Tour. The deadline to pay the $2,700 entry fee for the 2 June event at the casino was 30 May.

Police released hotel security video showing van der Sloot and Flores entering the Hotel TAC together at about 5:00 a.m. on 30 May. At about 8:10 a.m., he is shown walking across the street to a supermarket and returning with bread and two cups of coffee. Around 8:45 a.m., he is seen leaving the hotel alone with his bags.

An autopsy ruled that Flores did not have sexual intercourse before her death and that she was not under the influence of enough alcohol to prevent her from resisting an attack. She suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, which caused a brain hemorrhage, cranial fracture, and broken neck She also suffered significant injuries to her face and showed signs of asphyxiation, according to court documents. Flores tested positive for the presence of amphetamines. The lab report does not indicate whether the victim took the drugs willingly or unknowingly.

The stains on van der Sloot's clothes matched Flores's blood type. Blood was also found on the floor, hallway, and mattress in the hotel room. Police stated that DNA tests would be conducted on the clothes, skin found under the victim's fingernails, and the previously recovered tennis racquet. Ricardo Flores stated in interviews that his daughter's body needed to be exhumed to gather the fingernail DNA evidence and that her body had not been cremated for this reason.

On 14 March 2011, the National Police of Peru provided a copy of the hard disk drive from van der Sloot's laptop computer to the FBI. Colonel Oscar González, of the technical division of the Peruvian police, stated that the U.S. federal investigation was interested in information related to Holloway's disappearance and the alleged extortion of her family. Peruvian detectives determined that the laptop accessed information about the Holloway case before Flores arrived in van der Sloot's hotel room; it was then used to visit two poker Web sites at around the time Flores was present in the room. According to a police dossier, the laptop was later used to search Google for the subjects "Relationship between the Peruvian and Chilean police", "Chilean border pass", "buses in Chile", and "countries that do not extradite in Latin America".

Confession and retraction

On 7 June 2010, Van der Sloot reportedly confessed to killing Flores, following hours of interrogation. He had initially proclaimed his innocence. According to an expert in Peruvian law, the confession fits a defense strategy of trying to get the charge reduced to manslaughter, which is punishable by six to twenty years in prison, while a murder conviction could result in up to 35 years imprisonment. The prosecution was seeking a sentence of 30 years.

Peru does not issue life sentences in standard cases of murder and has abolished capital punishment in all but exceptional circumstances, such as crimes committed under military law. A life sentence can be issued for a murder committed during the commission of a robbery. Peruvian President Alan García Pérez used the case to seek the reinstatement of the death penalty for murder.

In his written confession released by Peruvian police, Van der Sloot recounted that he briefly left the hotel to get some coffee and bread, and returned to find Flores using his laptop computer without his permission. A police source stated that she might have found information linking him to the disappearance of Holloway. An altercation allegedly began, and she attempted to escape. According to the aforementioned written confession released by Peruvian authorities, Van der Sloot stated,

"I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life ... she didn't have any right. I went to her and I hit her. She was scared, we argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck and hit her."

Van der Sloot reportedly stated that he was stoned on marijuana at the time. A detective linked to the case said that Van der Sloot considered getting rid of the body in a suitcase, but decided against it because he would have been stopped at the front desk. He then reportedly drank espresso and took amphetamines to counter fatigue before fleeing the hotel.

Criminal police Chief Cesar Guardia said Van der Sloot "let slip that he knew the place" where Holloway's body is buried. Guardia stated that the interrogation was limited to their case in Peru, which he considered "practically closed", and that questions about Holloway's disappearance were avoided. Guardia said that the confession contains lies because Van der Sloot's "toxicological report shows no signs that he had ingested any kind of drug." Felonies committed under the influence of drugs can gain leniency in Peruvian courts.

Guardia said that the motive for the crime was robbery. Van der Sloot reportedly offered a different motive for killing Flores, stating that he "feared that she would go to the police". On 14 June, Peruvian authorities released written transcripts of Van der Sloot's alleged confession. His mother Anita expressed concern that her son's confession might have been coerced. According to Van der Sloot's former attorney, his mother advised him not to make any statements or sign anything, but it was too late.

Van der Sloot later retracted this confession in a prison cell interview with De Telegraaf, claiming that he had been coerced and "tricked" by police with a promise to be transferred to the Netherlands. He stated that at the time he signed the confession documents, he did not understand the content as it was in Spanish. He was quoted: "In my blind panic, I signed everything, but didn't even know what it said." Van der Sloot said that he was lured to Peru and framed by another gambler, named Elton Garcia, who he claimed, was working undercover for the FBI.

Van der Sloot's attorney, Maximo Alonso Altez Navarro, stated his intention to resign from the case because representing Van der Sloot "created many problems" for him. He had been threatened and harassed for taking the case, and Van der Sloot's family was unable to afford his legal fees. Navarro stayed on to file a motion to void the confession because his client was not properly represented during his interrogation. On 25 June, Superior Court Judge Wilder Casique Alvizuri rejected the motion, noting that Van der Sloot had been represented by a state-appointed lawyer and provided a translator by the Dutch embassy before his confession. Navarro commented that Van der Sloot was as "depressed" as anyone in prison would be.

Criminal proceedings

On 11 June 2010, Lima Superior Court Judge Juan Buendia ordered Van der Sloot held on charges of first-degree murder and robbery, determining that he acted with "ferocity and great cruelty". Under Peruvian law, Van der Sloot was not eligible to be released on bail and would be tried by a panel of three judges rather than a jury. A simple majority of the three was required for conviction. Police transported Van der Sloot on the same day from Lima's Palace of Justice in an armored truck, while angry onlookers yelled and threw rotten lettuce. He was taken to the Miguel Castro Castro maximum security prison and placed in a cell near the prison director's office for his own safety.

He was registered as inmate 326390 and separated from the general prison population, under 24-hour guard, in a high-security cell block housing only one other inmate. Van der Sloot reportedly offered to disclose the location of Holloway's body in exchange for transfer to an Aruban prison, because he feared for his life. Peruvian president Garcia Pérez declared that Van der Sloot would have to stand trial for the homicide before any extradition request would be considered. He stated that Van der Sloot would serve his prison sentence in Peru. No treaty exists for the transfer of prisoners between Peru and the Netherlands.

On 15 June, Aruban and Peruvian authorities announced they would cooperate in their respective cases involving Van der Sloot. Aruban investigators expected to be able to interview Van der Sloot in Peru in August, once Peruvian authorities had completed their investigation. At his first formal hearing within the on-site courtroom of Miguel Castro Castro prison on 21 June, Van der Sloot refused to discuss the case with Judge Carlos Morales Cordova, claiming that his right to due process had been violated. Van der Sloot filed a complaint with the National Police of Peru, accusing Chief Detective Miguel Angel Canlla Ore of misconduct. He also claimed that his laptop had been improperly searched.

Van der Sloot's defense counsel filed a motion of habeas corpus, disputing the legality of his detention, and nullifying statements he gave to police. The motion was declared baseless by Superior Court Judge Wilder Casique Alvizuri on 25 June. Casique Alvizuri upheld all three depositions given by Van der Sloot to police and stated that the defendant's laptop was sealed by the court. Navarro vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court of Peru and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, with a legal strategy to "paralyze the process". The Peruvian court replied that this approach would not succeed in delaying the case against Van der Sloot.

Navarro stated that he filed suit against Chinchay, who initially represented Van der Sloot during his interrogation, charging her with abuse of authority, conspiracy to commit a crime, and misrepresentation, as he did not find her name on the list of public defenders from Peru's Ministry of Justice. Navarro also filed a complaint against Van der Sloot's translator, insisting that he misrepresented himself as an official translator of the Dutch embassy.

Chinchay rejected the claims against her, stating that Van der Sloot had selected her as a private attorney after declining another defense attorney, appointed by the state. She contradicted his claims that Van der Sloot did not understand what he was signing, stating that she was able to speak with him in perfect Spanish. She said that Van der Sloot expressed interest in talking about the Holloway case, thinking that it might get him extradited to Aruba. Chinchay also said that, when she told Van der Sloot that she noticed he was signing various documents with very different signatures, he signaled for her to be quiet.

Navarro stated, on 21 August 2010, that the case was stagnating, because an official interpreter was unable to be found for the case in Peru. The Peruvian Association of Translators and Interpreters and the Dutch embassy both separately stated at the time that they had been unable to locate anyone to officially translate Spanish into Dutch. Unlike Aruba and the United States, Peru does not guarantee the right to a speedy trial. On 6 September, a Peruvian appeals court voted 2 to 1 to reject Van der Sloot's motion that he was being unlawfully held. Peruvian statutes permit a suspect to be detained for up to 18 months for interrogation, though Navarro expressed skepticism that law enforcement officers would do so with his client.

In February 2011, Navarro filed a "violent emotion" defense with the court, arguing that Van der Sloot had entered into a state of temporary insanity because Flores found out about his connection to Holloway from his laptop computer. Under Peruvian law, if the judge accepts this crime of passion argument, the sentence for such a plea could be reduced to only 3 to 5 years; Navarro noted that this could allow Van der Sloot to be eligible for parole as soon as 20 months. Oscar González of the Peruvian police stated that an examination of Van der Sloot's laptop determined that Flores could not have accessed any such information while she was staying in the hotel room with him.

During the trial, the prosecution prepared a psychological investigation of Van der Sloot, saying that he "presents traits of an antisocial personality" and is "indifferent toward others' well-being".

Guilty plea and conviction

On 11 January 2012, Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to the "qualified murder" and simple robbery of Flores. He was convicted and sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment for the murder on 13 January and he must pay $75,000 to the Flores family. Hours after learning of the sentence, Van der Sloot was transferred to a maximum security prison, Piedras Gordas, located north of Lima. He is currently expected to be released on 10 June 2038.

In August 2014, Van der Sloot was transferred to Challapalca prison, in the mountainous South of Peru, where conditions are harsh due to the location's altitude. Two months later, a Dutch online news service claimed that Van der Sloot was stabbed and critically injured by fellow prisoners in Peru. Van der Sloot's wife's claim of a stabbing is contested by Peruvian authorities.

Public reaction

Public outcry in Peru has been fueled by local media, which labeled Van der Sloot a "monster", "serial killer", and "psychopath". The coverage of this controversy highlighted cases of other women dying at the hands of foreigners. Peruvian and Colombian newspapers published articles about the investigation of the disappearance of two young women who frequented casinos during Van der Sloot's stay in at least two Bogotá hotels from 6 to 14 May 2010, before entering Peru.

The Administrative Department of Security of Colombia does not consider Van der Sloot a suspect, as they believe his presence in Bogotá was merely in transit to Peru. Dutch daily newspaper Trouw warned that the overwhelming pressure on authorities of Van der Sloot's presumed guilt risked turning the case into a show trial. The Dutch consulate told Peruvian authorities that it was concerned about how Van der Sloot was being treated and presented to the media.

In December 2010, Time magazine named Van der Sloot's arrest the most notable criminal event of the year, ahead of the Belgian love triangle skydiving murder case, the Chinese school attacks, and the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping trial. ABC News listed the coverage of Van der Sloot's murder confession by Good Morning America among the most-read stories from its website in 2010. The CBS affiliate near Holloway's hometown named the criminal charges filed against Van der Sloot in 2010 among the top ten stories of the year. Radio Netherlands Worldwide identified him as one of the most talked about Dutch people of the year.

Media coverage at Miguel Castro prison

Van der Sloot's cell became the target of a media circus, with reporters vying to gain exclusive access and report about his prison surroundings. Since his incarceration, he has consented to interviews only with De Telegraaf, in which he admitted to extorting the Holloway family and said that he received several marriage proposals in his cell, including one from a woman who wanted to have his child. Van der Sloot reportedly receives fan mail from around the world, though mostly from women residing in the United States and the Netherlands. According to sources within the prison, Van der Sloot sought $1 million in exchange for an on-camera interview.

The Office of Internal Affairs of the National Penitentiary Institute of Peru began administrative and disciplinary action on 23 August 2010, when Peruvian network América Televisión aired a picture of Van der Sloot with three other inmates that had been taken with official photographic equipment at Miguel Castro Castro prison. The photo included Van der Sloot casually posing with Colombian hitman Hugo Trujillo Ospina, and American murderer William Trickett Smith II. Van der Sloot and Smith have been referred to by local media as "the foreigners accused of the most talked-about assassinations in our country".

On 11 September 2010, Beth Holloway and De Vries traveled to Peru with a Dutch television crew to visit the prison. According to Navarro, his client was taken to meet them "practically by force". Navarro stated that the meeting with Holloway took "less than one minute". Holloway said that she told Van der Sloot that she had "no hate in her soul" for him and asked about her daughter's disappearance, to which Van der Sloot responded he could not speak to her without his lawyer present and handed her Navarro's business card. However, Holloway also stated in interviews about the encounter,

"I've hated him for five years. I wanted to peel his skin off."

According to Navarro, Holloway was sneaked into the prison without identifying with the Dutch television crew who she was. A prison spokesperson stated that Holloway's name was not found in the visitor registry. Holloway and the crew were removed from the prison, reportedly after a hidden camera was discovered by the guards. Representatives for Holloway and De Vries denied that a hidden camera was involved, or that anything was seized. Miguel Castro Castro prison warden, Alex Samamé Peña, was suspended after video segments of the confrontation between Holloway's mother and Van der Sloot later began airing on the Dutch network SBS6.

In October 2010, América Televisión broadcasted a video of a transaction for marijuana within the prison that was conducted by a shirtless man addressed as "gringo Van der Sloot". Navarro said that the situation was "staged" and asked the National Penitentiary Institute to investigate how it was leaked. Prison spokesperson Bruno Guzman said that Van der Sloot had been painting his cell "to improve his conditions" and the incident was being investigated.

Van der Sloot's mother, Anita, stated in a Dutch interview that her son could have killed Flores and that she would not visit him at the prison. She said in another interview that she hopes to talk to the family of the victim and apologize to them.

"I believe in karma, I believe that very strongly. I believe that if you do things that you shouldn't do, that a lot of shit happens to you," she said. "He didn't want to listen to his parents. He didn't listen to me, this last time. I tried to do my best. I don't think I could have done more. He's considered an adult right now. He has to do whatever he needs to do, and that tells the truth (about) what happened." — Anita v.d. Sloot-Hugen (2010 Dutch TV interview)

In February 2011, Navarro protested a decision by prison officials to deny Radio Netherlands Worldwide permission for a subsequent interview with Van der Sloot. Navarro claimed that the ruling was influenced by upcoming general elections.

Drug trafficking in Peru

In February 2021, Van der Sloot was convicted of drug trafficking while serving his sentence in Challapalca Prison in Juliaca. He had set up a cocaine trafficking operation inside the prison, where a family member of a fellow detainee used sugar beets to smuggle cocaine into the prison in August 2020. Van der Sloot proceeded to deal with the cocaine inside the prison, as well as setting up a trafficking network by forwarding packages of cocaine from the prison to other destinations abroad. He was eventually found out by prison officials.

Van der Sloot had an additional 18 years added to his original sentence. He is scheduled for release in 2045, because of a Peruvian law prohibiting prison sentences from exceeding a maximum of 35 years when the prisoner has not been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Personal life

On 4 July 2014, Van der Sloot married a Peruvian woman named Leidy Figueroa, whom he met while she was selling goods inside the prison. She was seven months pregnant with his child at the time. On 28 September 2014, Figueroa gave birth to a daughter in Peru. The two divorced at some point in 2023, and Figueroa stated later in the year that she intends to change her daughter's last name to avoid any association with her former husband.