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Missing girl 'found 18 years on' | Missing girl 'found 18 years on' |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A US woman who says she was abducted as a girl in 1991 is on the verge of reunion with her family after walking into a police station, reports say. | |
Police in California say they are "99% sure" the woman claiming to be Jaycee Lee Dugard is telling the truth. | |
A convicted sex offender and his wife have been arrested, and DNA tests are being done to establish her identity. | |
Jaycee Lee Dugard disappeared in 1991, aged 11, from outside her Lake Tahoe home, apparently taken by two people. | Jaycee Lee Dugard disappeared in 1991, aged 11, from outside her Lake Tahoe home, apparently taken by two people. |
Police in California are due to hold a news conference later on Thursday, at which it is widely expected that they will formally confirm that Ms Dugard is alive and well. | Police in California are due to hold a news conference later on Thursday, at which it is widely expected that they will formally confirm that Ms Dugard is alive and well. |
Lt Les Lovell of the sheriff's department at El Dorado, California, said a woman walked into a police station in Concord, a suburb of San Francisco, and announced that she was Jaycee Lee Dugard. | |
"We're 99% sure it's her," Mr Lovell told the Associated Press, adding that her family had been contacted and a meeting was being arranged. | "We're 99% sure it's her," Mr Lovell told the Associated Press, adding that her family had been contacted and a meeting was being arranged. |
"It's a pretty spectacular story just to find someone like that. Someone we assumed was dead," said Bill Clark, a senior prosecutor in El Dorado County. | |
The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reported that the couple now suspected of kidnapping Ms Dugard walked into the police station with her. | |
Phillip Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 54, from the Antioch area also near San Francisco were being held as they investigate allegations of kidnapping and conspiracy. | |
Jimmie Lee, a local police spokesman, said Mr Garrido was also being held for investigation of rape by force, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sexual penetration. | |
Under suspicion | |
As news spread of Ms Dugard's apparent re-appearance, her stepfather Carl Probyn told ABC News in the US that her family was now convinced she was coming back to them. | |
She sounds like she's okay. I hope she's been well treated this entire 18 years Carl ProbynStepfather | She sounds like she's okay. I hope she's been well treated this entire 18 years Carl ProbynStepfather |
"I had personally given up hope," he said, saying that he just wanted to find the people responsible. | "I had personally given up hope," he said, saying that he just wanted to find the people responsible. |
Mr Probyn was watching on 10 June, 1991, as the young girl was apparently taken away by two unidentified people. | Mr Probyn was watching on 10 June, 1991, as the young girl was apparently taken away by two unidentified people. |
The incident occurred as she was walking from her home to a school bus stop in the southern Lake Tahoe town of Meyers. | The incident occurred as she was walking from her home to a school bus stop in the southern Lake Tahoe town of Meyers. |
Her stepfather - who initially came under suspicion in her disappearance and is now estranged from Ms Dugard's mother - has described how a stranger drove up and grabbed Ms Dugard, bundling her into a grey car even as she tried to resist by kicking and screaming. | |
Mr Probyn believed a man and woman were in the vehicle. Despite several false reports of sightings in the intervening years, Ms Dugard was never seen again. | Mr Probyn believed a man and woman were in the vehicle. Despite several false reports of sightings in the intervening years, Ms Dugard was never seen again. |
"She sounds like she's okay," he said. | "She sounds like she's okay," he said. |
"She had a conversation with my wife and she remembers things. I hope she's been well treated this entire 18 years." | "She had a conversation with my wife and she remembers things. I hope she's been well treated this entire 18 years." |
"To have this happen where we get her back alive, and where she remembers things from the past, and to have people in custody is a triple win," he told the Sacramento Bee newspaper. |