Jaycee Dugard Tells of Horrors of Abduction
Jaycee Dugard, who was infamously kidnapped and held in captivity for 18 years, gave an insightful and emotional interview with ABC News on Sunday night.
During the interview, Dugard spoke in detail about her experiences during her kidnapping and testified she did what she had to do to survive the ordeal.
Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped in 1991 from in front of her house in California by Phillip and Nancy Garrido. She was held for 18 years, over which time she gave birth to two children. She wasn’t found until 2009.
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Now 31, Dugard told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer, “There's a switch that I had to shut off. Just went someplace else.”
She added, “I can't imagine being beaten to death, you know? And you can't imagine being kidnapped and raped, you know? So, it's just, you just do what you have to do to survive."
Dugard spoke bravely about how she was abducted, describing how she was on her way to school when she suddenly felt “tingly” and “numb” – she had been hit by Phillip’s stun-gun. Her abductors grabbed her and threw her into a car.
She explained how Phillip laughed as they drove away with her, telling his wife: “I can't believe we got away with it.”
Dugard explained: “It was like the most horrible moment of your life x10.”
Going into intimate detail, Dugard then told ABC News how she tried hard not to cry, because they had tied her hands behind her back and she wouldn’t be able to wipe away her tears to stop them from irritating her face.
Her first child arrived when she was just 14 years old. She described: “I didn't know I was in labor. Then I saw her. She was beautiful. I felt like I wasn't alone anymore. I had somebody that was mine ... And I knew I could never let anything happen to her.”
Dugard also told how she cried regularly when she would think about her mother and how she worried whether her mother would forget what she looked like or sounded like.
Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison last month after his guilty plea to kidnapping and 12 counts of sexual assault.
His accomplice, Nancy Garrido, was given 36 years to life in prison for kidnapping and one count of rape by force.
Dugard now wants to leave the past behind and become a writer. Her memoir A Stolen Life will be released Tuesday.
