Boston (ECN) - After 18 years of being held in a backyard tent, Jaycee Lee Dugard has been reunited with her family. Phillip Garrido, the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the backyard compound, is the father of two children with Dugard and is a registered sex offender.
The home, located near Antioch, had been visited in the past by authorities, but somehow the backyard was never checked and the tents were missed. The Contra Costra County Sheriff's Department admitted the investigations and monitoring of Garrido was not handled as well as it could be, but refrained from singling any one agency or person out as being at fault.
In November 2006 a neighbor reported to police that there were children and women living in the backyard. The deputy who responded did not check the backyard and deemed it a housing code violation. Another visit in 2008 by a task agency also missed the girls in the yard.
Although the Sheriff would not blame anyone particularly, a former police officer and a private investigator close to the case have both stated that authorities fell down on the job and mistakes had been made. Ralph Hernandez, the police officer, felt that authorities should have done unannounced visits to the home.
A representative for the state parole agency, Gordon Hinkle, explained that "This guy was very elusive, very stealthy in what he was doing." Assisting in solving the case was a parole agent checking on Garrido after Berkely police notified him of suspicious behavior.
