Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped when she was just 11 years old back in 1991. Her captures, Phillip and Nancy Garrido held Dugard in a compound located in their backyard for 18 years.
According to ABC News, Dugard was raped, manipulated, physically and verbally abused during her time in captivity. While in captivity Jaycee became pregnant and had two children. Both children were fathered by her abductor Phillip.
During an ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, Dugard described both her life in captivity and her amazing re-emergence into society as a healthy and happy young woman.
The interview revealed that during her captivity, Dugard lived in solitude until her first daughter was born after three years of imprisonment. It wasn’t until her second daughter was born, after six years of abduction that Dugard was allowed to spend any time outside her compound.
During the interview Dugard discussed her new memoir, “A Stolen Life,” which details her life in captivity. In the memoir, Dugard writes that the closest she got to freedom during her containment was when she was allowed to plant a small garden.
Dugard, now 31, discussed with Sawyer the night she was rescued alongside her daughters back in 2009. Dugard’s mother, Terry Probyn, was immediately contacted after the rescue was completed and spent the night in a hotel room down the hall from her daughter during her first night of freedom after 18 years.
Healing after such a traumatic experience is a long process. However, Dugard is finding closure in reveling in the small things. She recently learned how to drive from a sister that was a small baby when Dugard was kidnapped. Eating dinner alongside family members has become a blessed change from the 18 years of fast food she was fed by Phillip Garrido.
However, the healing process will take time. Dugard discussed in the interview how the sounds of her captivity still haunt her. Dugard discussed the noise that both the lock on her door and her squeaky bed made. Both sounds bring Dugard back to the compound where she was held captive. During her 18 year captivity, parole officers visited the Garrido home at least 60 times yet never reported anything unusual.
Both Dugard and her mother Terry Probyn never gave up hope that they would one day be reunited. While stripped of all her belongings during captivity, the captures failed to take a pinky ring that Probyn had given to Dugard. Dugard held onto that ring and her hope of being rescued throughout her time in captivity.
Today Dugard is treasuring every moment of freedom and planning for her future. Dugard wants people to read her memoir and understand that there is always a way to rise above tragedy and survive. Both Phillip and Nancy Garrido are now in prison.
