Original subtitles

All right.

D!

Hey, D.

- Say hi! - Hi!

Emergency.

Yeah. I...

My girlfriend got kidnapped last night.

What do you mean she got kidnapped?

Someone came into our house.

Tied us up.

Took her.

And you didn't call last night when this occurred?

I was tied up.

You... What time did you get untied, sir?

This morning.

They gave me sedatives.

- What's your girlfriend's name? - Denise.

- What is your name? - Aaron.

I've got the call in for service.

We're getting officers on the way.

All along this one goes to the right.

Clear.

Clear.

Okay, so last night you were asleep with your girlfriend.

When I woke up, there were lights flashing.

They said, "Aaron, face down on the bed."

And you said that you got drugged?

They gave me, I think NyQuil and Diazepam or something.

Did you guys drink any wine or anything? Have you ever used any drugs before?

No, I have not used drugs.

Why don't you come out here for a second?

Okay, Aaron, this is Stephanie.

First thing I'm going to do is to swab the inside of your mouth.

She's going to go ahead and, uh, take blood.

Sorry, man. We gotta make sure we get everything off.

- Hi. How you doing? - I'm good.

I'm, uh... I'm Mat Mustard.

First of all, I don't know that anybody told you this,

but I want to make sure you got it.

We... We're treating you as a victim in relationship to this.

You're not being detained or anything like that.

You're sitting here in jail clothes 'cause that's all we got.

I just want to make sure that you... you understand where we're at.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, it's about Denise.

Where is she, and what happened to her?

These kidnappers took...

took a person I loved.

And I don't know where she is.

I was thinking, "I'm going to tell the police every detail I can."

"I'm here to help them."

"I want them to find her."

So pick a point in time and...

and let me know where... where you want to start,

and tell me what happened.

I woke up. There's this white bright light blinding us.

And I see three laser dots crossing us.

The Taser goes off, and the man says, "Aaron, lie face down."

- They called you by name? - Yes.

Okay.

He then asked Denise to tie my hands behind my back.

And I feel Denise get on top of me.

I can feel her pulling on the zip ties.

And then he puts on swim goggles over my head.

They're blacked out. He's blindfolding us.

And I sit it up, and I feel this kind of foam headphones over my ears.

And then this music starts playing.

Kind of like a...

Wind chimes.

So, ultimately, there... there was this pre-recorded thing

- that you were listening to? - Yeah.

There was a recording saying they were going to take our vitals.

The voice tells me that he's gonna take my blood pressure.

I feel him wrap the cuff around my arm and feel that squeeze.

They were going to give us a sedative to keep us calm,

which was a mix of NyQuil and Diazepam, or something of that.

So I drink it, and then he instructs me to lie back down.

And I'm shivering, um, either from the cold or the sedatives,

and I asked for a blanket.

And he goes, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"I... I forgot how cold it is in here because we're all wearing wetsuits."

Later he took Denise to a different room, he brought me down to the couch.

And he said...

"We have a problem. This was intended for Andrea."

What the fuck?

Andrea?

Yes. My ex-fiancée

who was living at the... living at the house 'til September.

I broke up with Andrea months before the kidnapping.

Why are they targeting her?

And he said that they were going to take Denise anyways

because I could pay him enough money to make it worth their while.

He said that would be about 15,000.

They tell me that they're installing a camera that's going to be viewing me.

If I go outside the view of the camera, they're gonna hurt Denise.

At some point, he took my car, took Denise.

- You have one car? - Yeah.

- Which is a...? - Toyota Camry.

Okay.

I heard my car running in the driveway.

And, uh...

The kidnapper takes Denise away.

And the sedatives hit me and I... I'm out.

Hey, Jane, this is Detective Terry Poyser

at the Vallejo Police Department.

I was hoping you'd call me back.

I get a phone call.

My daughter's been kidnapped.

I just have a meltdown.

It just didn't make any sense.

She has a new love.

She has a new relationship.

She's already a doctor of physical therapy.

She's got all this stuff ahead of her.

This just can't be happening.

Denise has been kidnapped. What the...?

It was like something hit me.

This is every father's worst nightmare.

So, I call the Vallejo PD.

They tell me that she was taken out of her boyfriend's home,

and they're questioning him.

Aaron.

Say hi.

I had never met Aaron.

- Aaron. Hi. - I don't know anything about him.

But Denise's boyfriends were always of good character,

and she seemed happy.

I just don't know Aaron at all.

As a brother to her, I just can only think to protect her.

So if this guy had anything to do with it...

My... My level of suspicion just raised.

Big time.

Breaking news out of Vallejo.

Police have issued an alert for a woman who's been kidnapped for ransom

from a home on Mare Island.

As a crime reporter, I'm rarely in the office.

I'm almost living in my car.

I cover the worst of the worst. Murder, sex crimes, abuse of children,

but this was completely bizarre.

A 29-year-old woman's been kidnapped in Vallejo.

This is a nice community.

This is a place where you can raise a family.

It just feels safe here.

So this is very rare. It's really rare to have a kidnapping at all.

First thing I do is look her up on Facebook.

I want to know as much as I can about Denise.

Denise Huskins seems like the All-American girl.

Blonde.

Very attractive.

She's a physical therapist.

This is a case I know the entire Bay Area media will be all over.

Vallejo police called a press conference.

Lieutenant Kenny Park comes out.

- Whenever you guys are ready. - Yes, sir.

There's definitely a sense of anticipation in the air.

Shortly before 2 p.m.,

Vallejo Police Department was contacted by a 30-year-old male.

He was essentially saying that the female, Ms. Huskins,

was forcibly taken against her will from the residence.

It quickly circulated among the media

that the witness to this kidnapping is Aaron Quinn,

and Aaron is Denise's boyfriend.

The kidnapping happened in the middle of the night,

but he didn't report it for several hours.

So we're looking at each other like, "What is this about?"

"Why was there this delay?"

As of this moment, Ms. Huskins's whereabouts are unknown,

and we are treating this matter as a kidnap for ransom.

Most abductions are not stranger-related,

so we're looking at suspicion falling on the boyfriend.

Why would this guy wait maybe 12 hours to report it to you?

Well, unfortunately, again, I can't go into too much details at this time,

and we are currently working with him to piece the puzzle together.

So, unknown people...

broke into your home and kidnapped her?

- How did these people get into your home? - I don't know.

They didn't kick in the front door?

- They didn't kick in the back door? - No.

There's nothing like that in relationship to how somebody got in?

There's... No, it was very planned.

Okay.

So what happens next?

I wake up still under these sedatives.

So exhausted, and the clock says it's about 11:30.

Six hours have already passed since Denise was taken.

There's red tape marking where I need to be,

and there's a fucking camera staring right at me.

I haven't seen it. Is it a web-based camera?

It's like, mounted on the...

It's mounted on the ceiling in the corner of my room.

Like, kind of like how that's mounted.

So I can't call 911 because they're watching me.

Eventually, I get an email from the kidnappers.

They want $15,000 ransom paid in cash.

I call Chase to ask how much I could advance.

And I reply that I could advance 3,500.

I write that back to the kidnappers.

Then I don't hear back from them.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

And now I'm starting to panic because I'm thinking

I don't have the money that they want.

And in my head, I'm just thinking away like,

"Well, how much time does Denise have?"

So I say to myself...

"I can't trust these fucking assholes."

And it feels like my only choice is to reach for help,

even though it's a huge risk.

But...

I trust the police.

I think they're going to help me.

We arrive at the police station with no idea what's going on.

We asked to see Aaron.

We were told that we could not, that he was being questioned.

The detective led us to a meeting room.

He starts asking us questions about Aaron.

And there is Aaron Quinn and Dad walking towards Canada.

Uh, fulfill your dream.

Oh!

Aaron was a really easy kid to raise.

Come on, Aaron. Come on!

Captain of the football team.

He's had a lot of girlfriends.

He broke their hearts too.

Aaron had never been a problem.

He never committed any crimes. He didn't use drugs.

He was working at the flagship hospital as a physical therapist.

- He's just a good kid. - Mmm.

We only met Denise one time.

She seemed really nice.

But after everything that happened with Aaron's former fiancée, Andrea,

I just didn't want him to rush things.

You started your story at three o'clock in the morning.

Back me up to last night.

Denise came over around six.

She, uh... She brought a pizza over for dinner.

Is the intoxication level high? Is it low?

No, I mean, we had... I had four beers and a cocktail.

What's the conversation?

- Our conversation? Um... - Mm-hmm.

What's the topic of conversation?

Well, it's something her and I have had... Uh...

'Cause I also work with my ex-fiancée, Andrea.

We had some issues with that.

You're not in any kind of trouble or anything like that.

This is about Aaron.

And we're trying to get an understanding about Aaron.

You know, I understand you guys had a past relationship?

Um, we broke up.

Good terms? Bad terms? Somewhere in the middle?

Very bad terms.

2014, uh, I found out that my fiancée Andrea was cheating on me.

The rejection,

um, wrecked me.

It was particularly hard 'cause Aaron, Denise, and Andrea worked

at the same hospital, in the same rehab unit.

I mean, we... we get along okay at work. It's been sad, but we...

you know, I asked him to stop coming into my office.

I mean, he would want to hug me,

and, you know, sometimes he would try to kiss me,

but I told him that wasn't okay, and, um, and he knew it.

Is he still trying to get back together with you?

I think he would be open to the idea.

Your relationship to, um, your ex-fiancée...

Where was Denise's opinion at?

She want... wanted to limit communication to what needed to be for work

because of the fact that I had been talking to my ex and...

at... at a time when I was still dating Denise.

I have a picture of a woman. Tell me if you recognize her.

Uh, her name's Denise.

Okay. She works in the same unit as you?

Yeah.

I would say hi to her, and then she, like, would...

she would, like, pretend I wasn't there.

Noth... Nothing, like, big.

That was kind of my first indicator that they might be dating.

Denise. Did she have reason...

I mean, did she, like, discover something?

- She found text messages. - What did they say?

Um, that... I mean, saying that I still cared about Andrea.

That I wanted to work things through with her.

So she... she thought that you were going to get back with Andrea?

Uh, she was concerned about that.

- Was she mad? - Uh, I mean...

'Cause you're cheating?

No, well, she felt that it was emotionally, so.

She felt that what?

Emotionally that I was, uh... that I was cheating in some sense.

Did you truly love Denise?

I do love Denise.

Search continues for the Vallejo woman possibly kidnapped for ransom.

Federal and local investigators are working around the clock.

Police are using search dogs right now around the neighborhood.

Sonar-equipped dive teams have begun searching

in the waters around the Mare Island Bridge.

Vallejo Police are pulling out all the stops.

They got dogs. They got boats. They're looking everywhere for Denise.

Behind me, you can see a lot of media coverage taking place here.

It's just a complete media circus.

So I get to the house. It's a pretty yellow house. It's idyllic.

It looks like something a kid would draw, except there's yellow tape.

You got cops coming in and out, dusting everything.

You got cop cars all over this street,

and it's just this whole place is shut down,

and you're wondering, "How can this be happening

in such a beautiful neighborhood?"

So I go door-to-door asking neighbors,

"Did you hear anything? See anything? Do you know anything about Denise?"

She's really nice. They work a lot, so you don't see them a lot.

We really hope they find her and everything's okay.

Who takes people for ransom these days?

It gives me the chills just thinking about it.

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction, I guess, but I... I just hope all is okay.

How is it possible that no one saw or heard anything?

That Denise just disappeared

in the middle of the night from this house?

I'm scrolling Twitter.

Different clippings and footage. And it just becomes overwhelming.

We see the boats, and we don't know what's going on.

I'm worried that they found a body.

Search teams have been checking area fields.

Cadaver dogs are among the searchers.

Look, I'm a crime reporter.

Usually when a woman is reported missing, she ends up dead.

How else can you explain that they're searching that area near the house?

So we're all thinking he called the cops,

made up a whole cockamamie story about her being kidnapped

just to cover up that he killed her.

It's always the boyfriend.

I'm gonna... I'm gonna be honest with you.

I'm gonna... I'm gonna be completely square with you.

Your story's very elaborate

and, in some ways, far-fetched in my mind.

I... I... Trust me, I know.

Listen. Listen. I'm here to find the truth.

I'm a puzzle maker.

And I put a lot of puzzles together.

I don't think she was kidnapped from your home.

What do you think?

I think something bad happened in your house,

and it happened between you and her.

No. Oh, no!

Do you think that people kidnap people for $20,000?

- I don't know. I... - They don't.

- I know. I... - No, they don't.

And they're wearing... w-what, did they swim in wearing their w-wetsuits?

I mean, come on, man. It doesn't make any frickin' sense.

So now I get out my puzzle pieces, and I start figuring it out.

Okay, how do I make it so you look like a monster?

Do you know that the comforter is missing off your bed?

That's what the police officer told me.

- Blankets are missing? - Yes.

Why did you take the blanket and comforter off the bed?

As the frogman, why do you do that?

To take the body. I'm assuming that's what you're getting at.

So it's obvious to me whatever happened, happened in that bedroom.

- What happened... - Maybe she overdoses.

Are you playing with prescription dr... drugs from work?

- It's okay if you are. - I'm not.

And you take too much and she overdosed, you're like,

"Oh shit, what am I gonna do?"

- I can see that happening too. - That didn't happen.

There's blood in your house.

- There's blood? - Yeah.

I don't know if it's hers or not yet. I'm gonna presume it's hers.

I'm going to presume that she wasn't alive and kicking when she left the house.

I don't know, maybe, hell, maybe you call Andrea's name out in sex,

and she got pissed, and you carted her ass out of there,

and you dripped her blood going down the stairs.

I did not do that.

Yeah, you did.

They did not come into your house and kidnap her and take her for ransom.

That did not happen.

You sat for hours and hours and hours and hours

trying to figure out, "Oh my God, what am I going to do?"

But the longer she stays wherever she is and she begins to rot,

the more of a monster you look like.

Tell me the truth about what the hell happened.

I didn't do anything.

I didn't.

So, what... what's the next stage here?

Gimme a minute.

Let me think about what's next.

Stand up for a second. Stand up, right there.

Okay.

What else?

Okay. Have a seat. Have a seat right here.

Right, Aaron. There's no question in my mind that you failed this test.

So was it an accident?

Or are you a calculated monster

who got pissed off because there was a breakup,

and you just decided she wasn't gonna be with anybody else,

and so you were going to just kill her and dump her?

She's gone. She's gone, and you know she's gone.

- I don't know she... - Yes, she's gone.

You're going to lose the respect of your family.

You're going to destroy them 'cause they're going to defend you,

and everything that they've worked hard for

will get flushed down the toilet.

You're going to be that cold, calculated, brutal serial killing monster

that strangled the life out of her, killed her,

and then callously dumped her body somewhere where we'll never find it.

I did not take her.

You... You know where she is, and you know what happened to her. So...

- I guess... I guess I need a lawyer. - Hold on, hold, hold on.

- Hold on. What's that? - I guess I need a lawyer.

I want you guys to find her.

I want you guys to find her.

I don't know where she is.

I didn't do anything to her.

So I guess I need a lawyer...

to facilitate something. I don't know.

Here you go.

I've been a criminal defense lawyer since 1978.

I get calls all the time from the jail, from... from the street,

and you go, "Hey, this is some crazy bullshit."

Six o'clock in the morning, picked up the phone,

never heard anything like this.

Here's this middle-class guy who probably believes in the police,

being interrogated about the disappearance of his girlfriend.

He's been down there for 18 hours.

And they're making him the fall guy.

What the fuck is going on?

What the fuck is going on?

I go down there, and my first view of Aaron,

he's pale as a ghost, and you can tell that he's been crying.

He's been eaten alive. You know, it's like chum for sharks.

And I said,

"He's given you DNA samples. He's given you fingerprints."

"If you're not going to arrest him, then he's leaving with me."

When Aaron comes in with my partner, Dan,

he immediately begins telling me what happened.

I wake up to this crackling sound.

And the room lit up.

And the story I hear from him is absolutely incredible.

Then the man comes over and starts putting what feels like swim goggles over my head.

Goggles, wetsuit. This is insane.

And then I say, "We're going to go over it again."

I wake up to this crackling sound.

He is ready to go.

...lit up.

"You've got to find her. She's been kidnapped."

When I made the decision to call the police,

I thought there would be a manhunt.

They're gonna do everything they can to track these guys.

But they just keep going after me.

I'm not a violent person.

I don't have a record.

My brother's in law enforcement.

I come from a good family. I work helping people.

I can't be called a murderer over and over.

I would never hurt Denise.

I love her.

But...

I didn't treat her well.

Took advantage of her empathy.

I betrayed her trust.

Finding text messages was the last straw.

But I told Denise I was sorry.

And I needed to show Denise that I was taking actual steps moving forward.

I was going to start going to therapy.

I was gonna stop talking to my ex.

I felt like we could start over.

But now Denise is all alone. On her own.

I just wanted someone to help us.

Aaron's been very open about how his relationship with Andrea

caused problems with Denise.

The fact that there is a potential motive

means that if Denise turns up dead,

they're going to nail him.

Then Russo comes up to me away from earshot.

"What do you think? What do you think? Is he believable?"

And I said, "Dan, I believe him. What about you?"

I believe him, and I believe in my heart,

but nobody in fucking North America is going to believe this story.

Twenty-eight agonizing hours

since Denise Huskins was reported missing, police say kidnapped for ransom.

Vallejo police admit that at this point they still cannot answer the question.

What happened to this woman?

I was in a panic. I didn't know what to do.

They don't give you a handbook that tells you

what you do when your daughter gets kidnapped.

And so I just want to get up to Vallejo.

I take the first flight I can,

drive over to the police station.

There's all kinds of press.

And I wanted to go on TV to... to reach out to Denise.

I want her to know that

the family is... is there.

We're...

We love her,

and we're not giving up.

And if you see this, just use some inspiration to fight back...

if you can and come home.

Denise was a determined little girl.

She had dreams, and she stayed focused on those dreams.

I pray that she hears the message.

Uh, I pray that nothing really bad is happening to her.

Just pray that...

she's alive.

Tuesday afternoon.

I get an email.

Subject line, Denise.

And there's an audio clip on it.

Hi, my name is Denise Huskins. I'm kidnapped. Otherwise, I'm fine.

Wait, wait, wait. What?

It says, "My name is Denise Huskins. I've been kidnapped."

She sounds calm as can be, not stressed, not upset,

not nervous, not jittery, and it sounds like she's just ordering from a menu.

I'm wondering, "Why would someone send this to me? Did anyone else get this?"

I'm looking around. Is someone playing a cruel joke?

I have no idea if this is legit or made up.

But ultimately, I decide I need to get this to Vallejo PD

because if that's her, they need to have this immediately.

I get a phone call from the detective.

"I need you to come back to the station."

There's a recording of Denise's voice.

We had to go and quick.

I'm just getting so anxious. I'm starting to hyperventilate.

And they have a laptop in front of me.

I lean into the speaker.

And I hear a voice.

Hi, my name is Denise Huskins. I'm kidnapped. Otherwise, I'm fine.

Oh my God, it's her.

It's her.

She's alive.

There's no question that's Denise.

My first concert was Blink 182.

I knew her first concert was Blink 182 with her friend Bethany.

Then she talks about a plane crash that happened that day.

Earlier today there was a plane crash in the Alps.

158 people died.

She's somewhere alive.

And I want to know if she's hurt.

I... I want to... I want to touch her.

I can't imagine what she's going through.

So let's go find her.

But then the agent says, "Well, you know, I'm catching up here."

"We're gonna ask you a few more questions. See if we missed some things."

And I'm thinking, "What the fuck are we doing?"

A detective walks into the room and says, "Hi, I'm Detective Mustard."

He's asking us questions that are... are about Denise's character.

How many boyfriends does she have?

And how long did she have these boyfriends,

and does she drink very much?

Kind of seems like he's trying to find something or find the dirt.

Detective asked me if there was anything in Denise's past...

that could help shed light on anything.

And, at that moment, I remembered that when Denise was a small child,

she was molested.

And Detective Mustard says that women that have been sexually assaulted

often pretend to have it happen again so they can relive the thrill of it.

And I am...

I'm... I'm just aghast.

What I'd like to do over the next couple of hours

is try to figure out what has happened, where was Denise...

It's a... a late hour, and the room is filling up.

You have FBI agents, top homicide investigators,

all grilling Aaron.

So I make a decision to record everything.

Your relationship with Denise was on the rocks, correct?

Uh, I wouldn't... I wouldn't say... I wouldn't describe it as on the rocks.

They asked him non-stop questions about Denise.

Did she scream when she was taken out of the house?

N... No.

Okay. Did she fight at all while being taken hostage?

I never heard her scream.

Does she know that you have money?

- She's aware of my finances. - She's aware of your finances.

I start to think to myself,

"Do they know about things that I don't know about?"

Did it ever come to mind that maybe Denise...

was behind this?

When I talk to Amy about Denise,

I... I am mystified, honestly.

Can this fucking thing get any stranger?

Emergency.

Hi, this is Highway Patrol. I have Mike Huskins on the line

regarding his daughter that's been kidnapped.

I just got a... a message on my phone from her, it's definitely her,

that she's walking over to my house on 19th Street.

Amy calls me and she tells me,

"Turn on the news 'cause Denise has been released."

I'm like, "How?"

That woman who was reported kidnapped from a home in Vallejo

was found safe this morning

more than 400 miles away

in Huntington Beach in Southern California.

And I can't believe it, I...

They actually let her go. I thought I would never see her again.

I just can't hold back my emotions.

I can't tell you the prayers that have been answered.

She somehow survived it.

Who kidnapped her? Was there a ransom paid?

And why exactly did any of this happen?

What is going on?

Why is she being released in Huntington Beach?

It just made no sense.

Huntington Beach is where she grew up,

400 miles away from Vallejo.

It's almost like a door-to-door service after you've been kidnapped.

The Huntington Beach Police Department are reporting

that Huskins appears unharmed with no visible injuries.

She's wearing a hoodie. She's hiding from the press.

She looks more like a suspect and not a victim.

Something's wrong.

I started thinking about how can I get there as fast as possible.

And so I text Mat Mustard,

"Aaron wants to talk to Denise."

And the cop's reply was...

Live from the KGO-TV Broadcast Center.

This is ABC 7 News.

Good evening once again. We are awaiting a news conference

with the Vallejo Police Department regarding Denise Huskins.

The Vallejo Police Department is going to hold a press conference.

I'm shocked.

I mean, they haven't even talked to us. They haven't called Aaron.

What the fuck is that about?

- Hi. - Hi.

A Huntington Beach police officer briefly spoke to Ms. Huskins,

and all indications initially

was that she would be cooperative with the investigation.

As of right now, we have not heard from Ms. Huskins,

and we are no longer in contact with any of the family members.

The statement that Mr. Quinn provided was such an incredible story,

we initially had a hard time believing it,

and upon further investigation, we were not able to substantiate

any of the things that he was saying.

Denise needs to talk to the police.

She needs to verify, back up what Aaron has already told them.

None of the claims has been substantiated,

and I can go... I can go one step further to say this.

Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins

have plundered valuable resources away from our community.

I know that Aaron is a victim,

but I begin to wonder of who... who's really behind all of this?

I've never ever heard of a case where the kidnappers drop their victim

at the front door of their family's house.

And when I listened to the proof of life, I thought to myself,

"My God, this woman is talking so calmly."

Hi, my name is Denise Huskins. I'm kidnapped. Otherwise, I'm fine.

Denise had caught Aaron texting with Andrea.

She may be feeling so humiliated. She may be so angry.

Maybe this is about revenge.

Police are now calling it a wild goose chase.

Investigators say the claim was orchestrated,

and there was no kidnapping at all.

Police believe it was all an elaborate hoax.

It appears the family were likely duped as well.

Why are they saying this? Why are they doing this?

It's... It's crazy.

Huskins and her boyfriend could face both state and federal charges.

We, in the media, we were very sympathetic with Denise.

We thought, you know, she's this innocent victim.

Now she turns up alive. Things are starting to turn.

And this movie Gone Girl just came out the year before.

It stars Ben Affleck.

Rosamund Pike.

It's a movie about a woman who finds out her husband's been cheating on her,

and so she fakes her own disappearance to set him up for murder.

I don't know where my wife is, and I came home to this.

It's weird, right?

When I woke up, there were lights flashing.

They said, "Aaron, face down on the bed."

Everyone thinks her husband killed her.

But then she shows up alive.

So we're wondering, maybe Aaron did something to upset Denise

and that this is her way to get back at him.

Police are now wondering is Huskins a real-life Gone Girl, like the movie,

who fakes her own kidnap for ulterior motives?