The case of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped 18 years ago and held in a "secret backyard" in Antioch, California, has not only captivated the Bay Area, but America and even countries abroad. The Telegraph out of the UK has
a 30-photo slide show of images taken in the "secret backyard" that show the tents and sheds the women and her girls lived in in a dirty disarray. [Word has it the photographer broke onto the property to get the shots.]
The NY Post salaciously reports on what was found inside the backyard compound:
[F]ilthy hellhole is a warren of tents and sheds, littered with toys,
clothing, books, cardboard boxes, and cat-related ephemera -- providing
a glimpse into the abominable conditions Dugard endured as Garrido's
alleged sex slave.
As shocking details emerge about Dugard's sadistic captivity, a
series of disturbing pictures showing her ramshackle outdoor prison
were released yesterday.
The tent has dressers overflowing with clothing, stripped-down
sofas for beds and a dirty fishtank. There's a Bible on CD, and the
chillingly titled book, "Self Esteem: A Family Affair." There's an open
box of lice treatment, four naked Barbie dolls and makeup containers.
The media is even going so far as to publish EXCLUSIVE! photos of the underage girls supposedly fathered by Jaycee Dugard's alleged kidnapper and a rapist, but blurred out the faces to protect them. So, Inside Edition is getting a slew of eyeballs looking for images of the young girls discovered along with Jaycee Dugard, even though the image is of the back of a couple of blonde heads:
Even former prison mates of Garrido are coming forth to tell tales of what the convicted rapist was like, and how
he sang songs he wrote about getting back to the "blue-eyed girl" to get "down and dirty." Even more horribly, neighbors report seeing what they believed to be frequent orgies happening in the "secret backyard" area.
Some neighbors even report that Garrido was a tweaker who was making meth for his sex parties:
Locals say Garrido, who had previously been addicted to LSD, was a
'tweaker' - the slang word for crystal meth addicts, whose habit
leads to characteristic spasms of twitching - and that he was also
reputed to 'cook' the raw materials for crystal meth in an old van in
his garden. This 'laboratory' reportedly exploded last month. Again,
neighbours did not call police.
That is the Antioch way. And
there may yet be far worse to come. With the FBI diggers now in action,
Mike Rogers suspects that murder will soon be added to the long list of
sordid secrets emerging from his neighbour's home at 1554 Walnut
Avenue. [emphasis mine]
The Antioch way? Sounds like an overstatement, but searches have revealed that Antioch, California is lousy with sexual predators, with as many as
100 registered sex offenders living in the zip code:
Garrido's and Cordy's 94509 ZIP Code is home to more than 100
registered sex offenders, according to the Megan's Law website, and
officials say the region has a higher concentration of offenders than
other areas.
At least four sex offenders, including Garrido, live within easy
walking distance of Cordy's house; they move to the area "because they
can," said Cordy, 52. "We're mostly an older bunch, and we don't pay
that much attention. This is Boonieville."
Besides, she said of her unwelcome neighbors, "Honey, I collect knives. I wouldn't mind doing them harm."
Despite the decades of horror faced by Jaycee Daugard, sources tell People Magazine that Dugard's family says she is doing well after the arrest of her captors:
The elder Probyn added, "I heard that that [Garrido] would take the two
girls to Hometown Buffet once in a while, and to the aquarium in San
Francisco, but Jaycee never got out. I think one neighbor saw her, but
others say they never saw her."
Still, says her step-grandmother, "Terry says she looks good,
she looks like she did when she was taken at 11, and she's 29. She
looks healthy."
Probyn says that Jaycee's two daughters, ages 15 and 11, were
never made aware that their mother had been abducted, and that Jaycee
had only just now informed them. "But whether they know what that is,
who knows," says Probyn. "They have no education."
As for the future, "Getting the family back together for the holidays will be amazing," she says. "It's been ages."
If you are reading this post, mouth agape, wondering what you can do, you contribute to a trust fund set up by authorities for Jaycee Lee Dugard, and presumably her children, by sending gifts to:
The Jaycee Dugard
Trust Fund
C/O Viewtech Financial
Services
Box 596
Atwood,
California , 92811
UPDATE, 1:05 p.m.: Accused kidnapper and rapist's first wife speaks about how he kidnapped her and "tried to gouge her eyes out" with a safety pin.
