01x02 - Part Two: Gone Girl

[bunniefuu]

[pensive music playing]

So you want me to start from

when he put me in the trunk of the car?

[crickets chirping]

[car door slams]

[engine starts]

[tires screeching]

[thrilling music playing]

With the trunk shut,

I'm completely in the dark.

I have these tight,

blacked-out swim goggles on.

[breathing heavily]

My hands are tied behind my back,

and I'm drugged.

I start to hyperventilate.

I'm trying not to panic.

[breathing heavily]

Are they going to r*pe me? t*rture me?

I'm absolutely terrified.

[thrilling music continues]

[dog barking in distance]

He opens the trunk,

and he grabs my shoulder and says,

"Do not speak. Do not scream."

"You're gonna make this

a lot harder on yourself."

[train horn sounding]

He puts me in the trunk of this new car.

[breathing heavily]

- [car door closes]

- [engine revving]

It was this deep rev of an engine

that reminded me of a Mustang.

[engine revving]

- [breathing heavily]

- I'm imagining that we're on a freeway.

I'm trying to pay attention,

counting the corners and the turns.

But the effects of the sedatives

are really starting to kick in.

[man on radio]

It's another beautiful morning

[Denise] And I can just picture,

you know, people commuting to work.

[man] travel coming up right after this.

I mean, the last thing

that I think anyone would imagine

is that that car that just drove by has

has got a woman

blindfolded and stuffed in the back.

[thrilling music continues]

[music fades]

[dramatic music plays]

[breathing heavily]

[car engine turns off]

[car door opens]

[trunk opens]

Even though I'm still wearing the goggles,

I can tell we're in broad daylight.

And I'm wondering

where the hell could we be now

where no one no one could see this?

[birds cawing, chirping]

I can smell pine trees.

It's quiet.

I'm picturing

a remote lot of land in the woods.

But then he just grabs my feet

and just drags me from light to dark.

[suspenseful music playing]

[footsteps treading]

It feels like I'm lying

on a cold concrete floor.

[door creaks open]

He tells me,

"I have to finish getting ready."

And I'm just thinking,

"Ready for what?"

[scrubbing]

And so I could hear him scrubbing.

[duct tape ripping]

I can hear what sounds like duct tape,

and every horror film I've seen

just kind of flashes in my mind.

And so I'm terrified that that's how

it's gonna end for me and that's what

[exhales]

That's what my last moments

on this Earth are gonna be like.

[breathing heavily]

He guides me into this house.

I think I felt carpet initially,

and then tile under my feet.

I'm just shaking with fear

and holding my breath.

[suspenseful music continues]

He moves me to a bed.

And I feel him sit down next to me.

And he says,

"This wasn't meant for you."

"This was meant for Aaron's ex, Andrea."

And I think, "What the f*ck?"

"This is about her?"

[breathing heavily]

And he goes on to tell me

that he's part

of this black market company

that kidnap people for money.

[continues breathing heavily]

He tells me that Aaron's been given

instructions of what to do.

"The plan is to release you in 48 hours."

As much as I want to believe

he really will release me,

the reality is that I'm isolated.

I'm alone. I'm drugged.

Next time he comes in, that could be it.

And that's the final thought

I have before I pass out.

[music ends abruptly]

[birds chirping]

I know I've been asleep

for a few hours because

when I wake up, even though

I'm still wearing the goggles,

I can tell that the

the light has shifted.

[pop music playing]

It sounds like he's in the next room,

the wall behind.

And I notice that there's, like,

French pop music that's playing.

[French pop song playing]

The weirdest part about the music

he was playing was that I liked it.

There's something that normalizes him.

He takes me on

these routine bathroom breaks

[knocking]

where he guides my hand,

and he tells me things like

how he's struggled with insomnia and PTSD,

that he was in the m*llitary.

He just seemed human

and thoughtful and polite.

[French pop song continues]

And so as this first day goes on,

I'm thinking maybe

I just need to stay calm

and that I'll be released

and that this this will all be over.

[pop song continues]

[song stops]

[footsteps approaching]

[knocking on door]

- But then

- [door unlocks, opens]

There's this

[clicks tongue]heaviness

[footsteps treading]

and hesitation in his steps.

And he says,

"We have a problem."

[brooding music playing]

"We don't have any collateral

to ensure that you won't speak

to the police."

"So one of us

is gonna have to have sex with you."

[breathing heavily]

"And it's gonna be recorded."

"And that way, if we think

that you're going to speak to police,

that we can release it on the internet."

[beeps]

And I just feel like

I've been punched in the face.

[beeps]

Almost just pulled out of myself.

And then he says,

"It's actually me who's going to have

to have sex with you."

"I want you to know I'm gonna be gentle."

[inhales deeply]

And then he just climbs on top of me and

[inhales deeply]

Starts kissing me and [exhales]

You know, every instinct I have

in that moment is to kick and scream and

do anything to push him off me

and protect myself

or say what I want to say.

[exhales]

But I know

it's just gonna make things worse.

It could make things more violent,

and I just want

it to end and be done and

just move on to the next

Just move on to the next thing, you know.

When you hear people describe,

uh, an out-of-body experience,

I think it's hard to know

until you really experience it. Uh

You know, like,

completely detached from myself,

just watching this all happen and it just

[sighs]just my heart breaks

for that woman.

You know, it's

I want to help her, but I can't.

[somber music playing]

[whimpers, sniffles]

When he's finished

and he takes me into the bathroom,

and this time when he leaves,

he tells me that from now on,

I'm allowed to take the goggles off

when he's not in the room with me and

it just feels like he's conditioning me.

These are rewards

because I was a good girl.

And I

pull those suctioned goggles

off of my eyes

for the first time in over half a day.

Then I look in the mirror

and I'm just so detached.

Like, I don't

I don't know who that is in front of me.

You know, I just see

[sniffles]

[shower running]

But I take a shower,

and I just kind of curl up

in a ball with the water b*ating over me.

The water's just going down

and just feels like

every little bit of hope

is going down with it.

[upbeat pop music playing]

[vacuum whirring]

The next morning,

I hear him in the next room cleaning.

[pop music continues playing]

During the home invasion,

he said it was just a robbery,

and it ended up being a kidnapping.

When I got to the house,

he says he's not going to dehumanize me,

but then he still r*ped me.

So how can I possibly trust

that he's not gonna k*ll me?

You know, you hear about things like this

on the news,

and it never turns out well.

But now that I don't have the goggles on,

I try to figure out a way to escape.

But the windows have been barricaded,

and the door is locked up.

I scan the room

and just see what what options I have

as far as a w*apon, and

[pop music continues faintly]

There's nothing I can use.

[pop music continues playing]

[knock on door]

Then he comes in and tells me

we've lost contact with Aaron.

[Aaron laughs]

[tense music playing]

[Denise] My fear just spikes,

and I am just terrified

that something bad happened to him.

He says, "My associates are on their way."

"I have to give you another dose

of the sedative. It's protocol."

"When they do come,

it's best if you don't engage with them

and just pretend to be asleep."

"They're not as nice as me."

[car approaching]

I hear a car approaching the house.

[car engine whirring]

I don't know how big the organization is.

I don't know who's involved or why.

[indistinct chatter]

I hear them talking.

And it does feel strained.

Heated, almost. [exhales]

- [footsteps approaching]

- [door unlocks]

[ominous music plays]

[footsteps treading]

I'm terrified. I'm shivering.

[footsteps treading]

[door opens]

[door closes]

- [footsteps crunching gravel]

- [sighs]

- [car door opens, closes]

- [Denise breathes deeply]

[car engine starts]

[car pulling away]

[door opens, closes]

[Denise] And then he comes in and he says,

"It's been decided. We're going to need

to record a proof of life."

[pensive music playing]

"What we're gonna do

is have you say your name."

- And I say, "I am Denise Huskins."

- [recording plays] Huskins.

- I'm kidnapped. Otherwise, I'm fine.

- "I'm kidnapped. Otherwise, I'm fine."

[inhales deeply]

"And then you'll need to give

a current event."

[over recording] Earlier today there was

a plane crash in the Alps.

The sedatives that he gave me

were just really strong,

and I'm having the hardest time just

holding myself upright.

[over recording]

My first concert was Blink 182.

But I'm hopeful that this is

some strange task or procedure or

a a ransom that he's asking of Aaron,

and that as soon as that's complete,

then this all can just be over.

[pensive music playing]

[camera beeps]

But when he finished recording,

he tells me

that his associates have another demand.

He says the footage from yesterday

isn't good enough.

[clicks tongue]

"We'll have to record

us having sex again."

"This time, it needs to look consensual."

"It needs to look like

we're in a relationship,

that we've been having an affair."

[sighs]

I'm trying to figure out

exactly what that means,

but it does seem like

this time I'm no longer gonna be able

just to be detached and separate from it.

That this time I'm gonna have

to be present and perform,

and I just don't know how

how the hell I'm gonna do it. Just

[pensive music continues]

He leaves. And I pull up the blindfold,

and I see two full glasses of wine

and a couple of small bottles of booze.

What the f*ck does he think this is?

A date?

I chug the bottles of booze

and one glass of wine.

[knock on door]

And he knocks,

and I put the blindfold back on,

and he kind of makes a joke like,

"Oh. You started without me."

Yeah, I started without you.

I'm gonna do whatever I can

to numb myself

and just get this f*cking over with.

[footsteps treading]

He tells me he's figured out

that if he just tapes my eyes shut,

I'll just look like my eyes are closed.

I just I tell myself,

"You're not gonna break me."

"You're not gonna see me crumble

and cower."

"So yeah.

Let's just f*cking get this over with."

[music intensifies and fades]

["L'amour Fou" by Léo Ferré playing]

[knock on door]

A knock wakes me up in the night.

[door opens]

["L'amour Fou" continues playing]

And then he says,

"I want to show you something."

And

[breathes deeply]

I lift up the goggles just enough to see

If she sees this, I want her to know that

the family is is there.

We're

We love her.

And we're not giving up.

Sh She's my hero.

I mean, she's my little girl.

[breathing shakily]

[somber music playing]

That's the first time I really

really break down.

He puts his hand on my back

to console me.

And says, "It must feel real now."

And I just keep sobbing.

In some ways,

it feels like this whole thing

is a long game of trying to break me.

And I just think, "f*ck you."

- [pensive music playing]

- [footsteps treading]

But that's when he tells me

it's time

to go home.

[thrilling music playing]

He places me in the car,

gives me the dose of the sedative.

He says, "I'm not gonna be able

to drop you off in the Bay Area."

"There's just too many police

looking for you there."

"So, I'm taking you directly

to your family

in Huntington Beach."

[engine revving]

[car approaching]

The next thing I know,

he's shaking me awake.

I'm sitting in the front seat,

my eyes are taped shut,

and I'm wearing sunglasses.

I could just peek out through the tape

and see the white

the exterior of the car.

He says to me,

[sighs] "Because Aaron went to the police,

you will have to speak to them

at some point."

[inhales deeply]

"But there are two things

that you cannot say to them."

"One is that any one of us

was in the m*llitary."

"And the second, and even more important,

is you cannot say that we had sex."

"We will always be watching you."

"So if we find out that you said anything,

it's not just you,

but it's your family we can come after."

[car door opens]

- [car door closes]

- He helps me out.

[sighs]

And he tells me to count to ten

when I hear the car start to drive off.

[car engine starts, revs]

[car pulling away]

[Denise breathing deeply]

And I count slowly.

And I take a few breaths to make sure

that he's definitely gone.

[hopeful music playing]

I feel it's finally safe

to peel the tape off of my eyes.

[hopeful music continues]

For the first time in 48 hours,

I'm no longer in captivity.

And as I start to walk

between these two apartment buildings,

I notice this

bush full of blooms

of purple morning glories.

[birds chirping]

And it all feels too surreal to even

know how to take in.

[hopeful music continues]

And then I look to my right.

I see the sign Utica.

It's a street that I've walked down

hundreds of times in my life.

[dog barking in distance]

[speaking indistinctly]

[Denise] I have a flood of memories

of my childhood.

I'm home.

[breathing shakily]

[music fades]

[birds chirping]

[gentle music playing]

[line ringing]

[operator] Emergency.

[Mike on phone] I just got a a message

on my phone from her. It's definitely her.

[Denise] So I get to my dad's house.

He's not home.

And a neighbor says,

"Oh my God. Are you okay?

What can I do? How can I help?"

So I go inside to her apartment.

Officers walk in.

I look over and I notice that one of them

is holding a recording device.

- [helicopter hovering]

- [indistinct chatter]

I'm hearing helicopters.

The media is collecting outside.

[officer] We're here.

Everybody's gonna take care of you.

Obviously, we're gonna have

to ask you a whole bunch of questions.

[Denise] Do I have to talk right now?

'Cause I'm really scared.

I'm worried, but I tell them

about the home invasion,

the days in captivity, the group.

And then he asked me

[officer] Were you sexually assaulted

or anything like that during this?

I don't want to lie,

but I also feel like

there's a g*n pointing at me,

and there's a g*n

pointing at my family and I can't

I wouldn't be able to live with myself

to know that I did something

that would cause them to be k*lled.

And I immediately say

[over recording] No.

[officer] They didn't touch you

or do anything against your will?

[Denise] No.

[officer] Do you think there's a chance

this could happen again to you?

[Denise] Yeah, if

if I talk too much, yeah.

- [helicopter hovering]

- [police siren wailing]

The detective says that he has

a Vallejo detective on the phone,

and they're offering you

a proffer agreement,

and he's like

"Well, it's basically, like, immunity."

My initial response is

[exhales sharply]

"Immunity from what?"

- [reporters clamoring]

- [cameras clicking]

I just felt really lost and confused.

I feel like I need guidance.

I realized that I needed an attorney

to help me figure out what to do.

[pensive music playing]

I get a hold of Doug Rappaport.

He's a lawyer based out of San Francisco.

She said, "I'm down here.

The police think that I'm a suspect."

[Denise] He tells me, "You've already

given a statement to them."

"You shouldn't give them more statements,

'cause if you make

any contradicting statements,

they will use that against you."

She said, "Okay."

"Um, I'm going to follow

your directions. What are they?"

He's like, "Look, you just need

to get up here as soon as possible."

"Get on the next plane if you can.

The clock is ticking."

[cameras clicking]

[reporter] Who kidnapped her?

Was there a ransom paid?

And why exactly did any of this happen?

We are still waiting

for some of those answers as well.

[Denise] And as we're driving off,

someone's taking pictures,

and that's when it really hits me

how public this is.

I, in no way,

was prepared for the media storm.

[Kenny] Ms. Huskins has plundered

valuable resources away from our community

while instilling fear

amongst our community members.

[reporter 2] When Denise Huskins

turned up this morning,

she initially agreed

to talk to investigators.

But when it came time to get back up

to Vallejo, she clammed up.

[newsreader] According to police,

Huskins hired an attorney

and is hiding out

in an undisclosed location.

[Aaron] The media just keeps perpetuating

this story.

And any channel I turn to,

anywhere I look, it says,

"Denise is a hoaxer."

Police now wondering,

is Huskins a real-life Gone Girl?

[Aaron] But it doesn't make any sense.

Denise is the most honest person

I've ever met.

[contemplative music playing]

I don't know where she is.

I don't know what she's going through.

I just want to see her.

[Doug] That night,

Denise gets to my offices.

[Denise] He's all business.

He asked me to sit down in front of him.

I tell Denise,

"While you were flying up here,

the Vallejo police department

has basically thrown you under the bus."

If we feel that there is

sufficient evidence to move forward,

we will be requesting criminal charges.

[dramatic music playing]

[Denise] First, I'm a little stunned.

For the last 48 hours,

I had been living moment to moment

trying to survive.

The last f*cking thing

that you're thinking about

is if I do survive,

I really got to make sure

that all of this is believable.

[pensive music playing]

I tell Doug everything.

The kidnapping,

the home invasion, the r*pes.

We've gone over the story

three, four times.

And I say to Denise,

"I absolutely believe you."

"But if we're going to catch

the perpetrator of this crime,

we need to get you to a SART exam."

"That's a sexual as*ault exam

where the Vallejo police

will collect forensic evidence."

It's really essential

that we do it as soon as possible.

I tell him that I'm terrified

to speak to the police

about the sexual assaults

because of the threats that were made

against me and my family.

And he says,

"Don't let the kidnappers

have power over you."

"That's what people like this do."

"They wanna have power and control

over someone for their life."

And I say, "Okay, I'll do it."

[line ringing]

[Doug] And so I called

the Vallejo Police Department.

[line continues ringing]

And I said, "We need to get

a sexual as*ault exam ASAP."

And his response to me was,

"We want her to come in

and give us a statement,

and then we'll give her that exam."

It just all seemed so

backwards and so

demeaning.

But I want them to catch these guys.

So I just say, "Okay."

"I'll speak to them,

and I'll tell them everything."

[dramatic music playing]

[reporter] New information on

a strange story involving a Vallejo woman.

Denise Huskins, the alleged victim,

is inside Vallejo Police Headquarters

as we speak.

Thursday morning we learn

that Denise has showed up

at Vallejo police with her lawyer.

Maybe she's going to confess.

Maybe she's going to be arrested.

We're just waiting to see

where the story goes.

We're taken into

what seems like an interrogation room.

I'm gonna need one more chair.

One more?

[Denise] There's an FBI agent with us.

He introduces himself

as Special Agent David Sesma.

- This is David Sesma.

- [David] Hi. I'm with the FBI.

- Doug Rappaport.

- [David] Nice to meet you.

[Denise] And this officer sits down

in front of me,

and he introduces himself

as Detective Mustard.

Our goal when this thing started

was to see you come home safe.

And, um, I'm glad

that you survived, um, this incident,

and, ultimately,

what we're chasing is the truth.

[Denise] They just held a press conference

last night saying that I'm lying.

And so, I'm immediately

just kind of on guard.

But at the same time

[breathes deeply]

I know that I desperately

want to show them the truth.

And show them that they can believe me.

[Mustard] I'd like you, um, to start

So he starts off by asking me questions

about me and Aaron and our relationship.

He [sighs]

asks me to go through

each detail of the home invasion.

I woke up to a flashing light,

kind of like a strobe light.

There's the red laser pointer,

and the recording was this calm music.

I tell them that the man

who held me c*ptive is lean,

and that I think he's tall,

maybe maybe six foot.

He was a w*r vet.

He has PTSD. He has insomnia.

You know,

there's somewhat of a physical description

that they can at least begin to go by.

I remember going right and then left.

I tried to give them every possible detail

of where I was located,

how long the drives were.

Surely they're right now checking

all the surveillance footage

of the surrounding area

to find this person.

[exhales]

And we start to go through

the details of the r*pes.

He says that,

"I am to videotape having sex with you."

"And this videotape is to prevent you

from going to the police."

I go through one disgusting,

humiliating detail after the other

and pull myself back into that place

that I was trying so desperately

to detach from at the time.

[exhales]

Um

I'm sitting with my head in my hands,

as if I'm still blindfolded,

and I'm trying to give him

every everything I've got.

He said we had to do it again.

It had to be believable,

like we were a couple.

And I played along

'cause I didn't know what else to do.

And I didn't want to do it again.

[sobs softly]

[sobbing]

[Doug] She's holding up.

She's doing her duty.

She's doing the right thing

despite how incredibly difficult this is.

And they seemingly are believing her.

Until they start asking her

questions like

Have you ever been

in the trunk of that car before?

Uh, n no.

"Did you fight back?

Why didn't you fight back?"

"Did you scream? Why didn't you scream?"

- [David] Did you make any noise?

- Uh, no. I was woken from a dead sleep.

And I realize

they're they're looking at her

like she's a piece of trash.

Like she's a criminal.

Let's take a few minutes, all right?

- [door creaks open]

- [Mustard clears throat]

[Doug] All right, just hang in there,

okay? You're doing great.

[woman] I get a call from Doug Rappaport,

and he tells me

that Denise and Aaron should not talk

until the interrogations are over,

but we share some information.

Amy tells me everything Denise is telling

the police matches what I told them.

So this is good news.

And then

She says that, uh

Denise is going to go to the hospital for

a sexual as*ault exam.

Uh, because she had been r*ped.

[breathing heavily]

f*ck.

[brooding music playing]

[Denise] I'm taken into a treatment room

for the SART exam.

They note that there's these

little micro lesions inside my cervix

that indicate that there was

sexual intercourse in the last two days.

Now, there's actual physical evidence

to prove that this really happened.

Surely they'll see

that I'm telling the truth.

[Doug] The next day, we are escorted

into another interrogation room.

There There's no compassion whatsoever.

They are They are all business.

And I'm thinking to myself

that something is wrong.

[brooding music continues]

[Denise] The FBI agent, David Sesma, says

[smacks lips]

"You know, there's a lot

of inconsistencies with your story."

[inhales deeply]

"Is there anything

that you want to change?"

[tense music playing]

"I want you to know

that it's a federal crime

to lie to a federal agent."

And I'm just sitting there, like

[exhales sharply]

Like a b*mb went off,

and my ears are ringing,

and I'm just kind of in shell shock.

I didn't just make all this stuff up.

The nurses said

there's actual physical evidence

corroborating what I had

just told the police.

[Doug] And so I pull them aside and say,

"There has not been one discrepancy

in her story."

"How can you possibly believe

she's lying?"

And he says to me

"Haven't you seen the movie Gone Girl?"

[dramatic music plays]

How could this person

who's charged with investigating crime

think that this is like

a Ben Affleck movie?

That's Hollywood. This is real life.

He is so sure that he is right.

It's called confirmation bias.

Do they really think

all of this is an act, this whole thing?

And why? What do I have to gain?

What

[spluttering]

What's the point?

[Doug] What Denise is facing

is prosecution for lying

to a federal law enforcement officer.

She's looking at being sentenced

somewhere between

a year and 18 months in federal prison.

She is facing a lifetime

of not being believed,

of betraying people's trust.

Her life is basically destroyed.

Those two days of captivity,

all I wanted was to return to my life.

All that got me through it

was the thought of my future.

And now that's all taken away.

[music intensifies, ends]

[seagulls cawing]

[Aaron] After Denise is back

with her family,

she says she wants to see me.

[gentle music playing]

So I tell her

I'll be there as soon as I can.

[sighs]

You know, for days in captivity,

what grounded me was

was the thought of reuniting with him.

Even though I knew that Aaron had been

trying to pursue things with his ex,

the night of the home invasion,

he told me that he loved me

and that he really wanted to try

to work things out with me.

He told me about the work

that he was doing in therapy,

and it did feel like

the ghost of of his relationship

and of his ex was finally lifted.

We could finally start fresh.

[gentle music continues]

But after everything I've been through

[sighs] I'm afraid

that he'll see me differently.

And then she opens the door [sighs]

And then Denise just [exhales]

starts crying and crying saying,

"I didn't want to."

[inhales sharply]

She said, "I didn't want to."

[clicks tongue] "They made me do it.

They made me do it."

I just hold her.

I'm like, "I know. I know they did."

I tell him, you know, "I"

[breathes deeply]

"I don't want something like this

[breathes deeply]

to be a reason why you stay with me

if you don't really want to be with me."

And he kind of reassures me,

"No, no, no.

Like, I love you. I I absolutely"

[breathes deeply]

"I wanna be with you."

[inhales deeply]

So then I tell Denise

I'm gonna do everything I can. I'll

I'll support us. [exhales]

I'll take care of her if she lets me.

[smacks lips]

I never want to leave her.

[gentle music playing]

But I'm afraid.

Because I know the kidnappers

are still out there.

The police aren't looking for them.

And maybe they'll want to come back.

There's no one protecting us.

[contemplative music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Henry] As far as the media is concerned,

this story is done.

Seems like case closed.

Now, the only question is,

are the couple going to be charged?

[menacing music playing]

But then I get an email notification.

No idea who it's from.

[menacing music continues]

Is this a confession? They're actually

telling me that they kidnapped Denise?

They talked about

breaking and entering on Mare Island.

There's photos of what looks like

a g*n with a flashlight duct taped to it.

Here is Denise's apparent kidnapper,

angry that she's being branded a liar,

essentially confessing to the crime

and saying, "You need to believe Denise."

It's just stranger and stranger.

So I send these emails to Vallejo police

asking them, "Hey, what should I do?"

Never heard back from them. Black hole.

[Doug] I get a call from Amy.

She's just received emails

from the kidnapper

that went to the San Francisco Chronicle.

[pensive music playing]

In the email,

there's a mention of a Mustang.

Denise said she was put into a trunk

that resembled a Mustang.

There were photographs that resembled

the description that Denise gave

of the location where she was held.

But I'm running up against law enforcement

with such tunnel vision.

They couldn't see anything

except that narrow tunnel

that led from them to Denise behind bars.

[Denise] What will it take for the police

to finally take this seriously

and investigate it?

[email chiming]

[Doug] I'm getting

email after email after email.

[chiming]

And I'm hearing nothing

from Vallejo police.

I'm thinking,

"What in tarnation is going on?"

[chiming]

Then one final email, they say,

"We are three acquaintances,

two of which are college grads."

They're almost trying

to identify themselves

to prove to me and others that,

"We did what we did."

Then finally they say,

"If Denise and Aaron

don't get an apology from Vallejo police,

we're going to do it again."

And I'm thinking, "Gosh,

could there really be a g*ng of kidnappers

operating around Northern California?"

"Did we all get this wrong?"

[suspenseful music playing]

[crickets chirping]

[operator] County emergency?

[woman] We have a break-in

at North Terracina Drive in Dublin.

They are out there right now.

My husband is fighting with them.

They have our daughter.

[thrilling music playing]

[music ends]