Cops: Kidnap suspect eyed for murder links

ANTIOCH, Calif. - The twisted kidnapping case of a woman reportedly held captive for 18 years in a secluded backyard compound took another disturbing turn Friday as authorities searched the home of her alleged captor for evidence in the slayings of several prostitutes.

Officers executed a search warrant at Phillip Garrido's Antioch home for clues in the unsolved slayings, Contra Costa sheriff's Capt. Daniel Terry said.

Several of the women's bodies — the exact number is not known — were dumped near an industrial park where Garrido, a sex offender, worked during the 1990s.

Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy, 54, were held without bond Friday after pleading not guilty to a total of 29 felony counts, including forcible abduction, rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment in connection with the abduction of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991. Authorities allege the Garridos held Dugard and two children she reportedly had with Garrido as prisoners in a backyard encampment.

Meanwhile, questions arose over how Garrido's alleged kidnapping crime went undetected for so long.

His neighbors knew he was a registered sex offender. Kids on his block called him "Creepy Phil" and kept their distance. Parole agents and local law enforcement regularly visited his home and found nothing unusual, even after a neighbor complained children were living in a complex of tents in his backyard.

For 18 years, Garrido managed to elude detection as he pulled off what authorities are calling an unfathomable crime, kidnapping Jaycee, keeping her as his secret sex slave for nearly two decades and fathering her two children.

Missed opportunities
Authorities acknowledged that they blew a chance in 2006 to rescue Dugard from the backyard labyrinth of sheds, tents and outbuildings that were concealed from the outside world.

A neighbor called 911 in November 2006 and described Garrido as a psychotic sex addict who was living with children and had people staying in tents in his backyard.

The investigating officer spent a half-hour interviewing Garrido on his front porch but did not enter the house or search the backyard, Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren E. Rupf said. The deputy, who did not know Garrido was a registered sex offender even though the sheriff's department had the information, warned Garrido that the tents could be a code violation before leaving.

"We missed an opportunity to bring earlier closure to this situation," Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren E. Rupf acknowledged. "I cannot change the course of events but we are beating ourselves up over this and continue to do so."

"We should have been more inquisitive, more curious and turned over a rock or two."

Slideshow   Captive’s tale See images from the abduction and discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard.

It was not the only missed opportunity.

As a parolee, Garrido wore a GPS-linked ankle bracelet that tracked his every movement, met with his parole agent several times each month and was subject to routine surprise home visits and random drug and alcohol tests, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Gordon Hinkle said.

Video   Hiding in plain sight Aug. 28: For 18 years accused kidnapper Phillip Garrido hid Jaycee Lee Dugard in plain sight. It's a pattern that officials have seen before. NBC's Pete Williams reports. Nightly News

The last unannounced visit by a team of local police agencies was conducted in July 2008. Paramedics also were summoned to the house five times since 1999, presumably to help Garrido's 88-year-old mother.

"There was never any indication to my knowledge that there was any sign of children living there," Hinkle said.

As it turns out, Dugard and her two children were living there as virtual prisoners, authorities say. The compound was arranged so that people could not view what was happening, and one of the buildings was sound-proofed and only accessible from the outside.

Neighbors knew there were children living there. Damon Robinson has lived next door to the Garridos for more than three years and his then-girlfriend in 2006 told him she saw tents in the backyard and children.

"I told her to call police. I told her to call right away," he said.

'Kept to himself'

Video   Stepfather: Girl's return is a 'miracle' Aug. 28: The stepfather of a girl kidnapped from near her California home in 1991 talks with TODAY’s Ann Curry about the woman’s return nearly 20 years later. Today show

Dugard, now 29, was reunited with her family and said to be in good health, but feeling guilty about developing a bond with Garrido over the years. Her two children, 11 and 15, remained with her.

"Jaycee was really a mellow girl, so that’s probably what kept her alive. She just bonded with this guy and she didn’t try to get away and it probably kept her alive," her stepfather, Carl Probyn, told NBC's TODAY sahow on Friday. "If she would have been really spunky and fight and try to escape, maybe she would have been killed. It’s just a shock after 18 years that she’s still around."

Probyn has been in constant contact with Dugard's mother, his ex-wife Terry Probyn, since she found out her daughter was alive on Wednesday.

Probyn said both mother and daughter are trying to avoid the public eye for now. After not seeing each other for 18 years, Dugard greeted her mother by saying, "Hi, mom, I have babies," according to Probyn. Dugard had her two daughters with her at the reunion, and it appears she never told them she was kidnapped by their father, he said.

The authorities say they do not yet know whether she ever tried to alert anyone of her whereabouts, but she had chances to escape Garrido, who did a stint behind bars during the period of captivity.

Video   Accused kidnapper promises 'heartwarming' tale Aug. 28: The man accused of holding Jaycee Lee Dugard captive told reporters he has a heartwarming story to tell. NBC's George Lewis reports. Nightly News

Garrido gave a phone interview to KCRA-TV from the county jail Thursday in which he said he had not admitted to a kidnapping and that he had turned his life around since the birth of his first daughter 15 years ago.

"I tell you here's the story of what took place at this house, and you're going to be absolutely impressed. It's a disgusting thing that took place from the end to the beginning. But I turned my life completely around," he said.

He told the television station that he walked into the FBI's San Francisco office on Monday with Dugard's daughters and dropped off several documents containing rambling passages about religion, sexual compulsion and mind control.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler confirmed Garrido left the documents with the agency, but declined to discuss any further details.

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