Jaycee Dugard, held hostage for 18 years, released her memoir, A Stolen Life, July 12th, in order to reveal the life she led in squalid surroundings, with only a bucket as a toilet, as Phillip and Nancy Garrido's prisoner. One hundred seventy-five thousand copies were sold the first day, and Simon and Shuster announced that 475,000 copies have been printed thus far.
In an interview with Diane Sawyer, Ms. Dugard recounted exactly what happened on the day the Garridos kidnapped her. While walking to her school bus the morning of June 10, 1991, she approached their car, thinking they needed directions. Feeling a sudden, sharp sensation, she lost control of her body and fell to the ground, unable to move. Phillip Garrido had shot her with a stun gun, so that she couldn't resist when he and his wife abducted her. Jaycee dozed on and off until they reached the Garrido house in Antioch, California. There, Garrido handcuffed her and placed her where she couldn't see anything. He repeatedly raped her and impregnated her twice. She gave birth in the tent where she lived throughout her capture.
Nancy Garrido scouted for a victim and chose Ms. Dugard, knowing full well what her husband's intentions were. She received a sentence of 35 years to life, while he received 431 years. Somehow, her sentence strikes me as less than her crime deserved. Because Phillip Garrido was on parole for a previous rape, authorities checked numerous times, but never discovered the tent city in his back yard. They must have made only cursory contact with him, because in 18 years, someone should have suspected strongly enough that something was amiss to investigate more thoroughly.
The failure of parole officers or neighbors in this case stands out as one of the worst parts of this crime. Ms. Dugard received a settlement from the state of California for $20 million last year, and I hope she makes a bundle from her book. She deserves our admiration for handling the aftermath of such horror with dignity. Her children have also suffered from living under such strange circumstances. Perhaps they will all have a degree of catharsis now that the trial has ended, and they can forge a new direction.
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