A memoir (from French: mémoire: memoria, meaning memory, or reminiscence), is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below. The author of a memoir may be referred to as a memoirist.

The nature of memoirs[link]

Memoirs are structured differently from formal autobiographies which tend to encompass the writer's entire life span, focusing on the development of his or her personality. The chronological scope of a memoir is determined by the work's context and is therefore more focused and flexible than the traditional arc of birth to old age as found in an autobiography.

Memoirs tended to be written by politicians or people in court society, later joined by military leaders and businessmen, and often dealt exclusively with the writer's careers rather than their private life. Historically, memoirs have dealt with public matters, rather than personal. Many older memoirs contain little or no information about the writer, and are almost entirely concerned with other people. Modern expectations have changed this, even for heads of government. Like most autobiographies, memoirs are generally written from the first person point of view.

Gore Vidal, in his own memoir Palimpsest, gave a personal definition: "a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked." It is more about what can be gleaned from a section of one's life than about the outcome of the life as a whole.

Contemporary practices of writing memoirs for recreational, family or therapeutic purposes are sometimes referred to as legacy writing or personal history. Such products may be assisted by professional or amateur genealogists, or by ghostwriters.

Types of memoir[link]

The rhetor Libanius (ca. 314 – ca. 394) framed his life memoir as one of his orations, not the public kind, but the literary kind that would be read aloud in the privacy of one's study. This kind of memoir refers to the idea in ancient Greece and Rome, that memoirs were like "memos," pieces of unfinished and unpublished writing which a writer might use as a memory aid to make a more finished document later on.

In modern times, memoirs have often been written by politicians or military leaders as a way to record and publish their own account of their public exploits. Nineteenth-century examples include rambles in line with Gore Vidal's definition (see above) such as Henry David Thoreau's Walden or George Borrow's Lavengro.

Some contemporary women writers have combined the memoir form with historical non-fiction writing. Examples include Jung Chang's Wild Swans, Heda Margolius Kovaly's Under a Cruel Star and Helen Epstein's Where She Came From.

Other professional contemporary writers such as David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs have specialized in writing amusing essays in the form of memoirs. To some extent this is an extension of the tradition of newspaper columnists' regular accounts of their lives. (Cf. the work of James Thurber which often has a strong memoir-like content).

Memoir collection projects[link]

With the expressed interest of preserving history through the eyes of those who lived it, there are many organizations that work with potential memoirists to bring their work to fruition. The Veterans History Project, for example, compiles the memoirs of those who have served in a branch of the US Military – especially those who have seen active combat.^[1] Many public libraries give Memoir Writing classes that are geared towards senior citizens and some autobiographical service companies periodically publish memoir collections featuring clients that participated at no cost.^[2]

See also[link]

• Autobiography
• List of autobiographies
• Creative nonfiction
• Diary
• Fake memoirs
• Category:Memoirists

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.loc.gov/vets
2. ^ e.g., http://www.wickedlocal.com/scituate/news/x529239934/Library-offers-memoir-class

Look up memoir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Charlotte Gainsbourg
Background information
Birth name	Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg
Born	(1971-07-21) 21 July 1971 (age 40) London, England, United Kingdom
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	French pop, folk rock, electro
Occupations	actress, singer
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Phonogram Records, Atlantic Records, Because Music, Vice Recordings

Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (born 21 July 1971) is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released three albums as an adult (5:55, IRM and Stage Whisper) to commercial and critical success. Gainsbourg has also appeared in many films, including several directed by Lars von Trier, and has received both a César Award and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award. She is the daughter of British actress Jane Birkin and French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.

Personal life[link]

Gainsbourg with her mother Jane Birkin in 2010

Gainsbourg was born in London to Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg^[1] and was raised in Paris. Her maternal grandmother was actress Judy Campbell and her uncle is the screenwriter Andrew Birkin, who directed her in The Cement Garden. She attended École Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel in Paris and Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil in Switzerland.

Gainsbourg's longtime partner is French-Israeli actor/director Yvan Attal,^[2] with whom she has three children: a son, Ben (born on 12 June 1997) and daughters Alice (born on 8 November 2002) and Joe (born on 16 July 2011).^[3][4]

On 5 September 2007, Gainsbourg was rushed to a Paris hospital where she underwent surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage. She had been experiencing headaches since a minor waterskiing accident in the United States several weeks prior.^[5]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Gainsbourg at the Venice Film Festival in 2007

Gainsbourg made her motion picture debut playing Catherine Deneuve's daughter in the film Paroles et musique (1984). In 1986, Gainsbourg won a César Award for "Most Promising Actress" for L'effrontée, and, in 2000, she won "Best Supporting Actress" for the film La Bûche. In 1993, Gainsbourg made her English speaking debut in The Cement Garden, written and directed by her uncle, Andrew Birkin. She made her stage debut in 1994 in David Mamet's Oleanna at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse. In 1996, Gainsbourg starred as the title character in Jane Eyre, a film adaption of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel.

In 2006, Gainsbourg appeared alongside Gael García Bernal in Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep. In 2007, she appeared as Claire in the Todd Haynes-directed Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, also contributing a cover of the Dylan song "Just Like a Woman" to the film soundtrack. In 2009, she won the award for Best Actress at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for the film Antichrist.^[6] Gainsbourg starred in the French/Australian production, The Tree, released in 2010, and in Lars von Trier's science fiction disaster film, Melancholia.^[7] She was on the jury for the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012.^[8] May 2012 will see the premiere of Confession of a Child of the Century, where she will star alongside the British musician Pete Doherty.^[9]

Music[link]

Gainsbourg during the Air concert in Melkweg, Amsterdam on 27 March 2007.

Gainsbourg at Webster Hall, NYC, 25 April 2010

Gainsbourg made her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" in 1984.^[10] Two years later, she released her debut album Charlotte for Ever, which was produced by her father.

In 2000, Gainsbourg was featured on the Madonna album Music on the track "What It Feels Like For A Girl". There is a lengthy spoken intro by Gainsbourg, taken from the film The Cement Garden, which inspired the title of the song. The track was further remixed for the single version of this song in 2001, with Gainsbourg's The Cement Garden speech repeated during the song.

In 2004, she sang a duet with French pop star Étienne Daho on his single "If".

In 2006, Gainsbourg released her second album 5:55 to critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching the top spot on the French charts and achieving platinum status in the country. In the UK, the album was moderately successful, reaching #78 (The single "The Songs That We Sing" only made #129).

In late 2009, Gainsbourg released her third studio album, IRM,^[11] which was produced by Beck.^[12][13] One of the influential factors in the album's creative process was her time spent filming Antichrist.^[14] Gainsbourg's head injury in 2007 influenced the title of the album "IRM", an abbreviation for the French translation of "magnetic resonance imaging". While receiving a brain scan, she began to think about music. "When I was inside that machine," she said, "it was an escape to think about music. It's rhythm. It was very chaotic."^[15]

Her song "Heaven Can Wait" was chosen as the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week on 2 March 2010.^[16]

Her song "Trick Pony" appeared at the beginning of the Grey's Anatomy episode "Perfect Little Accident" (Season 6, Episode 16 / airdate: 25 February 2010). "Trick Pony" is also featured in the FIFA 11 soundtrack.^[17] and was used in the 2012 Teleflora Super Bowl advertisement featuring supermodel Adriana Lima.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charlotte Gainsbourg

• Official website
• Charlotte Gainsbourg at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlotte Gainsbourg Stage Whisper Album Track Lyrics
• Review of 5:55 on Subculture Magazine
• Interview with Jean-Paul Enthoven, L'Officiel, September 2001

David Bellavia
David Bellavia, Medal of Honor Nominee
Nickname	Bell
Born	(1975-11-10)November 10, 1975
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1999-2005
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Unit	2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Iraq War * Second Battle of Fallujah
Awards	Silver Star Bronze Star Army Commendation Medal Army Achievement Medal

David Bellavia (born November 10, 1975) is an American Iraq War veteran who was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Bellavia has also received the Bronze Star, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. He has also been nominated for the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross. In 2005, Bellavia was inducted into the New York Veterans' Hall of Fame.^[1] He has subsequently been involved with politics in Western New York State. Bellavia was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He attended Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire and the University at Buffalo.^[2]

Military service[link]

Bellavia enlisted in the United States Army in July 1999. He deployed to Iraq after service in Kosovo.

The actions for which Bellavia earned a Silver Star took place on his 29th birthday. As a member of Company A, Task Force 2-2, 1st Infantry Division, his platoon was assigned during Operation Phantom Fury to clear a block of twelve buildings from which insurgents were firing on U.S. troops. The platoon began searching house-to-house. At the tenth house, Bellavia fatally shot an insurgent preparing to load a rocket-propelled grenade. A second insurgent fired at him, and Bellavia wounded him in the shoulder. When Staff Sergeant Bellavia entered a bedroom, the wounded insurgent followed, forcing Bellavia to kill him. When another insurgent began firing from upstairs, Bellavia returned fire and killed him. A fourth insurgent then jumped out of a closet in the bedroom, yelling and firing his weapon as he leaped over a bed trying to reach Bellavia. The insurgent tripped and Bellavia wounded him. Bellavia chased the insurgent when he ran upstairs. He followed the wounded insurgent's bloody footprints to a room on the left and threw in a fragmentation grenade. Upon entering the room, Bellavia discovered it was filled with propane tanks and plastic explosives. He did not fire his weapon for fear of setting off an explosion and instead then engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the insurgent, which lead to Bellavia killing the insurgent by stabbing him in the collarbone with a Gerber pocketknife.^[3]

His actions in Fallujah were first documented in the November 22, 2004 Time magazine cover story, "Into the Hot Zone", by journalist Michael Ware, who was attached with Bellavia's unit during the fight.

After serving for six years, Bellavia left the service with the rank of Staff Sergeant in 2005.

Subsequent career[link]

Bellavia lives in Batavia, New York^[3] and is Vice Chairman of Vets for Freedom. He attended the 2006 State of the Union address as an honored guest.

In 2007, Bellavia published a memoir, House to House: An Epic Memoir of War, co-written with John R. Bruning.^[4] In September 2010 the book was chosen as one of the top five best Iraq War memoirs by journalist Thomas Ricks (author of Fiasco).^[5] In 2012 Bellavia signed an agreement with 2012 Oscar-winning producer Rich Middlemas to make his memoir into a major motion picture, due out in 2014. ^[6]

Since leaving the U.S. Army, Bellavia has twice run for congress in New York's 26th congressional district.

In 2008, he ran in the Republican primary to succeed retiring representative Tom Reynolds. Bellavia dropped out of the race before the Republican Party ballot was finalized and endorsed Republican Chris Lee, who went on to win the seat.

When Lee resigned from office in 2011, Bellavia again tried for the seat. State party officials endorsed State Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, so Bellavia launched an unsuccessful third-party bid, forming the "Federalist Party of New York".^[7] The New York State Tea Party announced their displeasure with the Republican party's choice of Corwin, and hinted that they might back Bellavia's run,^[8] but the ruling of State Board of Elections that Bellavia's petition to be placed on the ballot was deficient ended his 2011 run. Bellavia is a candidate in the 2012 GOP primary for the 27th Congressional District. ^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Bellavia, official website
• Silver Star citation

The kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard occurred on June 10, 1991, in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dugard was 11 years old at the time and was abducted from a street while she was walking from home to a school bus stop. Searches began immediately after the kidnapping, but no reliable leads were generated. She remained missing for more than 18 years.

On August 25, 2009, convicted sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido visited the campus of UC Berkeley accompanied by two young girls. Their unusual behavior there sparked an investigation that led to his bringing the two girls to a parole office on August 26, accompanied by a young woman who was then identified as Dugard.

Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 54, of Antioch, California, were arrested for kidnapping and other charges. On April 28, 2011 they pleaded guilty to Dugard's kidnapping and sexual assault. Law enforcement officers believe Dugard was kept in a concealed area behind Garrido's house in Antioch for 18 years. During this time, Dugard bore two daughters who were aged 11 and 15 at the time of her reappearance.

On June 2, 2011, Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years imprisonment; his wife received 36 years to life.^[1]

Background of kidnappers[link]

Phillip Craig Garrido   Nancy Garrido Booking photo Unknown extension tag "poem"   Unknown extension tag "poem"   Booking photo Unknown extension tag "poem"   Unknown extension tag "poem"

view talk edit

Phillip Craig Garrido was born in Contra Costa County, California, on April 5, 1951. He grew up in Brentwood, where he graduated from Liberty High School in 1969. His father, Manuel Garrido, who continues to reside in Brentwood, said his son was a "good boy" as a child, but radically changed after a serious motorcycle accident as a teenager, and later turned to drug use (primarily crystal meth).^[8] In 1972, Garrido was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, but the case did not go to trial after the girl declined to testify.^[9][10]

In 1973, Garrido married high-school classmate Christine Murphy, who said Garrido was abusive. Murphy alleges that Garrido kidnapped her when she tried to leave him.^[11]

In 1976, Garrido kidnapped Katherine Callaway in South Lake Tahoe, California. He took her to a Reno, Nevada, warehouse, where he sexually assaulted her.^[12] When a police officer noticed a suspicious car parked outside at unusually late hours, he came up to investigate. Callaway then emerged and asked for help. Garrido was promptly arrested.^[12] He was charged and convicted of crimes in both federal and state courts.^[12][13] In a 1976 court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, Garrido was diagnosed as a "sexual deviant and chronic drug abuser."^[14] The psychiatrist recommended that a neurological examination be conducted because Garrido's chronic drug use could be "responsible in part" for his "mixed" or "multiple" sexual deviation. Garrido was then evaluated by a neurologist. The diagnostic impression was: "normal neurological examination."^[15] In court, Garrido testified that he masturbated in his car by the side of grammar schools and high schools while watching young girls. Garrido was convicted on March 9, 1977, and began serving a 50-year federal sentence on June 30, 1977, at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.^[13][16]

At Leavenworth, Garrido met Nancy Bocanegra, who was visiting another prisoner, her uncle. On October 5, 1981, Garrido and Bocanegra were married at Leavenworth. On January 22, 1988, Garrido was released from Leavenworth to Nevada State Prison, where he served seven months of a five-years-to-life Nevada sentence. He was transferred to federal parole authorities in Antioch on August 26, 1988.^[13] In Antioch, the Garridos lived in the home of his elderly mother, who suffered from dementia. As a parolee, he was monitored, later wore a GPS-enabled ankle bracelet, and was regularly visited by police.^[17]

Abduction and search effort[link]

In September 1990, Jaycee Dugard and her family moved from the Orange County city of Garden Grove, to South Lake Tahoe, because they thought it was a safe community. At the time of the abduction, Dugard was in the fifth grade and because of her shyness, was worrying about an upcoming field trip. Dugard was close to her mother, Terry Probyn, and infant sister. Dugard's biological father had left the family, and although Dugard's mother had remarried, Dugard was not close to her stepfather, Carl Probyn. On June 10, 1991, Dugard's mother, who worked as a typesetter at a print house, left for work early in the day. Dugard, wearing her favorite all-pink outfit, walked up the hill from her house to catch the school bus, walking against traffic. When she was halfway up the hill, a car approached her. Dugard thought the man in the car would ask for directions, but when he rolled down the window, Phillip Garrido shocked Dugard unconscious with a stun gun and abducted her. Nancy Garrido, whom the District Attorney in the Dugard case believes scouted Dugard as a prize for her husband, held Dugard down in the car as Dugard drifted in and out of consciousness during the drive to the Garrido home in Antioch, three hours from Dugard's home. The only time Dugard spoke was when she pleaded that her parents could not afford a ransom.^[18]

Carl Probyn witnessed the abduction of his stepdaughter from within sight of their home. He saw two people in a gray sedan (possibly a Mercury Monarch or Mercury Zephyr) make a U-turn at the school bus stop where Dugard was waiting, and a woman forced Dugard into the car. (In a Primetime interview on July 10, 2011, Dugard stated a stun-gun was used to incapacitate her). Probyn then gave chase on a bicycle, but he was unable to overtake the vehicle. Some of Dugard's classmates were also witnesses to the abduction. Initial suspects included Probyn and Ken Slayton, Dugard's biological father. Probyn took and passed several polygraph tests, and Slayton was also quickly cleared of suspicion.^[19]

By the time the Garridos arrived at their home on Walnut Avenue, in an unincorporated area in northeast Antioch,^[20] they had removed Dugard's clothing, leaving only a butterfly-shaped ring that Dugard would hide from them for the next 18 years. In taking Dugard from their car onto their property, Phillip Garrido placed a blanket over Dugard's head and ushered her into an area of his backyard where a series of sheds and storage units stood, placing her inside a tiny one that was soundproofed, and handcuffing her before leaving her naked in the structure, which he bolted shut, warning her that Doberman Pinschers trained to attack her if she tried to escape were outside.^[18]

Within hours of Dugard's disappearance, local and national media converged upon South Lake Tahoe to cover the story. Within days, dozens of local volunteers assisted in the search effort, which involved nearly every resource within the community. Within weeks, tens of thousands of fliers and posters were mailed to businesses throughout the United States. Since Dugard's favorite color was pink, the entire town was blanketed in pink ribbons as a constant reminder of her disappearance and a demonstrated support for the family throughout the community.^[18][21][22]

Terry Probyn founded a group called Jaycee's Hope, which directed the volunteer and fundraising effort. Cassette tapes of the song Jaycee Lee along with T-shirts, sweatshirts and buttons were sold to raise money for poster materials, postage, printing and related expenses. Child Quest International and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were also involved in the effort. A reward was offered, which was displayed on the posters and fliers. The kidnapping case also attracted nationwide attention and was featured on the June 14, 1991 episode of the television show America's Most Wanted.^[23]

The ensuing months and years were a continuous effort of child safety awareness, fundraising events and candlelight vigils marking Dugard's disappearance and keeping her story before the public.^[24]

Captivity[link]

Immediately after he kidnapped her, Phillip Garrido forced Dugard into a shower with him. The first time he raped her, she was still in handcuffs, in which she remained during her first week in captivity. During that time, Dugard's only human contact was Garrido, who sometimes brought her fast food, and sometimes told her amusing stories. Garrido provided Dugard with only a bucket for her to relieve herself. At one point he provided her with a TV, but she could not see the news, and was unaware of the publicized search for her. Almost a month and a half after her kidnapping, by Dugard's recollection, Garrido moved her to a larger room next door, where she was handcuffed to the bed. He explained that the "demon angels" let him take her, and that she would help him with his sexual problems because society had ignored him. Garrido also told her that by engaging in sex acts with him, which he would videotape, she was protecting other girls that he would not need to victimize. Garrido also went on methamphetamine binges he called "runs", during which he would dress Dugard up, and spent time with her cutting out figures from pornographic magazines. He would also make her listen for the voices he said could hear from the walls. These binges ended with Garrido sobbing and apologizing to Dugard, but alternately threatened to sell her to people who would put her in a cage.^[18]

Seven months into her captivity, Garrido introduced Dugard to his wife, Nancy, who brought the child a stuffed animal and chocolate milk, and engaged in the same tearful apologies to Dugard. Though the lonely Dugard craved the woman's approval at the time, in retrospect she has stated that this was manipulation on the part of Nancy, who alternated motherly concern with coldness and cruelty, and who expressed jealousy over Dugard, whom Nancy Garrido regarded as the one at fault for her predicament. Dugard characterizes Nancy, who worked as a nursing home aide, as "evil" and "twisted". When Phillip Garrido returned to prison for failing a drug test, Nancy Garrido replaced her husband as Dugard's jailer. The Garridos further manipulated Dugard by presenting her, on two occasions, with kittens that would later "mysteriously vanish". When they discovered her signing her real name in a journal that Dugard kept about her cats, she was forced to tear out the portion of the paper with her name, the last time she would be permitted to say or write her name until years later.^[18]

Thirty-four months into her captivity, the Garridos began to allow Jaycee freedom from her handcuffs for periods of time, though they kept her locked in the bolted room. On April 3, 1994, Easter Sunday, they gave her cooked food for the first time. They informed her that they believed she was pregnant. Now age 13 and four and a half months pregnant, Dugard herself had learned of the link between sex and pregnancy from television. At this time, Terry Probyn was holding rummage sales to pay for private investigators and distributing a million flyers across the United States featuring a sketch artist's image of a teenaged Dugard, while raising her younger daughter, Shana. Dugard watched programs on childbirth, in preparation for the birth of her first daughter, which occurred on August 18, 1994. Her second daughter was born on November 13, 1997.^{[18][25][26][27]}

Dugard took care of her daughters using information gleaned from television, working to protect them from Phillip Garrido, who would continue his alternating enraged rants and Biblical lectures.^[18] A neighbor of the Garridos named Patrick McQuaid said he recalls, as a child, meeting Dugard through a fence in the Garridos' yard soon after the kidnapping. He said that she had identified herself by the name "Jaycee" and that when he asked her if she lived there or was just visiting, she answered that she lived there. At that point Phillip Garrido came out and took her back indoors. Garrido eventually built a eight-foot-tall fence around the backyard, and set up a tent for Dugard, the first time she was allowed to walk outside since her kidnapping.^[18][28] She coped with her continued captivity by planting flowers in a garden, and home-schooling her daughters. At one point, Phillip Garrido informed Dugard that to pacify his wife, Dugard and her daughters would address Nancy as their mother, and Dugard would teach her daughters that Dugard was merely their older sister.^[18] When Dugard and her daughters were eventually allowed to come into contact with other people, they upheld this fiction.^[29] Most U.S. media sources have declined to name the children, although names have been given in foreign media coverage of the case.^[30]

Garrido operated a print shop where Dugard acted as the graphics artist. Ben Daughdrill, a customer of Garrido's printing business, claimed he met and spoke by telephone with Dugard and that she did excellent work. During this time, Dugard had access to the business phone and an email account. One customer of the printing business indicated she never hinted to him about her childhood abduction or true identity.^[31]

While in Antioch, Garrido also kept a blog associated with what he called "God's Desire Church." In the blog Garrido said he had the power to control sound with his mind. Garrido asked several people, including customers, to sign testimonials confirming that they witnessed his ability to "control sound with my mind" and a device he developed "for others to witness this phenomena."^[32][33]

Law enforcement officers believe that at the time they became involved in 2009, Dugard's living quarters were in a secondary backyard behind Phillip Garrido's house. The private area of the yard included sheds (one of which was soundproofed and used as a recording studio in which Garrido recorded himself singing religious-themed and romantic country songs),^[18] two tents, and what has been described as a camping-style shower and toilet. The area was surrounded by tall trees and a 6-foot (1.8 m) high fence. An entrance to the secondary backyard was covered by trees and a tarpaulin. Privacy in the yard was enhanced by tents and outbuildings,^[34] and also housed an old car similar to the one used in the abduction. Electricity was supplied by extension cords.^[35] Law enforcement officers visited the residence at least twice, did not request to inspect the back yard,^[34] and did not detect Dugard or her children in the areas of the property that they did inspect.^[36] Witnesses interviewed stated Jaycee Dugard was seen in the house and sometimes answered the front door to talk to people, but never stated a problem or attempted to leave.^[37] While the family kept to themselves, the girls were sometimes seen playing in the backyard or as passengers in Garrido's car.^[38]

Dugard's aunt, Tina Dugard, and a former business associate of the Garridos, Cheyvonne Molino, have commented that Dugard's children looked healthy. Tina Dugard said that upon her meeting them after their reappearance, they "always appeared and behaved like normal kids". Molino said of the times she met them while they were captive "that in her presence the girls never acted robotically" and didn't wear unusual clothing.^[39][40]

Missed opportunities to rescue Dugard[link]

• Police failed to make the connection that Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, the same location as Garrido's 1976 kidnapping of Katherine Callaway Hall.

• On April 22, 1992, less than a year after her kidnapping, a male caller contacted the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department from a gas station in Oakley, California, less than two miles from the Garridos' home in Antioch. The caller reported that he saw Dugard in the gas station staring intently at a missing child poster of herself. The caller then reported seeing her leave in a large yellow van, possibly a Dodge. In 2009, after Dugard's release, an old yellow Dodge van was recovered from the Garrido property, one that matched the description of the van given in the call. The license plate was not reported in the 1992 call; and the caller, the girl, and the van were gone by the time police arrived. The caller never identified himself, and the police did not pursue the matter any further.^[41] Jaycee Dugard reported that she never left the Garrido property from the day she was kidnapped until shortly before her first child was born in August 1994.^[42]

• In June 2002, the fire department responded to a report of a juvenile with a shoulder injury that occurred in a swimming pool at Garrido's home. This information was not relayed to the parole office, which had no record of either a juvenile or a swimming pool at Garrido's address.^[43]

• In 2006, one of Garrido's neighbors called 9-1-1 to inform them there were tents in the backyard with children living there and that Garrido was "psychotic" with sexual addictions. A deputy sheriff spoke with Garrido at the front of the house for about 30 minutes and left after telling him there would be a code violation if people were living outside on the property. After Dugard was found in August 2009, the local police issued an apology.^[44][34]

• On November 4, 2009, the California Office of the Inspector General issued a report that enumerated various lapses by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that contributed to Dugard's continued captivity. The central finding was that Garrido was incorrectly classified as needing only low-level supervision and all other lapses were derived from it. In his report, the inspector general detailed an instance in which a parole agent encountered a 12-year-old girl at the home of Phillip Garrido, but accepted Garrido's "explanation that she was his brother's daughter and [the agent] did nothing to verify it."^[45]

Reappearance[link]

On August 24, 2009, Garrido visited the San Francisco office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and left a four-page essay containing his ideas about religion and sexuality, suggesting he had discovered a solution to problem behaviors like his own past crimes. The essay described how he had cured his own criminal sexual behaviors and how that information could be used to assist in curing other sexual predators by "controlling human impulses that drive humans to commit dysfunctional acts." On the same day, Phillip Garrido went to a University of California, Berkeley police office seeking permission to hold a special Christian event on campus as a part of his "God's Desire" program. He spoke with U.C. Berkeley special events manager Lisa Campbell. She perceived his behavior as odd and asked him to make an appointment for the next day, which he did, leaving his name in the process. The next morning, August 25, Campbell notified campus police officer Ally Jacobs about the meeting later that morning with Garrido, and her concerns. Jacobs ran a background check, learned that Garrido was on parole for rape, and decided to sit in on the meeting. Garrido arrived with two girls, whom he introduced as his daughters. At the meeting, Jacobs felt that the girls' behavior was unusual, and phoned the parole office to relay her concerns. As no one was in, she left a report of the meeting on voicemail.^[45][46][47]

After hearing Jacobs' recorded message, two parole agents drove to Garrido's house later that day. Upon arrival, they handcuffed him and searched the house, finding only his wife Nancy and his elderly mother at home. Then the parole agents drove Garrido back to the parole office. En route, Garrido said that the two girls who had accompanied him to UC Berkeley "were the daughters of a relative, and he had permission from their parents to take them to the university." Although the parole office had barred Garrido from being around minors a month before, and although Berkeley was 40 miles from Garrido’s Antioch residence, 15 miles in excess of the 25-mile limit from his home to which he was allowed to travel without permission from his parole agent, the agents overlooked this violation. After reviewing his file with a supervisor, they drove him home and ordered him to report back to the office again the next day to further discuss his visit to UC Berkeley and follow up on their concerns about the two girls.^[45]

Garrido arrived at the parole office in Concord on August 26 with his wife, Nancy, the two girls and Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was introduced as "Alyssa Franzen". When they arrived, his parole officer was on the phone with Jacobs to obtain a more detailed description of her interaction with Garrido and the two girls. Jacobs informed the officer that the girls were calling Garrido "Daddy", but the parole officer believed that Garrido had no children.^[48] The parole officer then decided to separate Garrido from the women and girls to obtain an identification.^[49]

Dugard, maintaining her false identity as "Alyssa" (Some sources give the name as "Allissa"^[48][50]), told investigators that the two young girls were her daughters. Although she indicated that she was aware that Garrido was a convicted sex offender, she stated that he was a "changed man", a "great person" and was "good with her kids",^[49][51] comments that were echoed by the two girls. When pressed for details that would confirm her identity, Dugard became "extremely defensive" and "agitated", demanding to know why she was being "interrogated", and subsequently stated that she was a battered wife from Minnesota who was in hiding from her abusive husband. The parole officer eventually called the Concord police. Upon the arrival of a police Sergeant, Garrido admitted he had kidnapped and raped her. Only after this did Dugard identify herself as Jaycee Dugard. It was later suggested that Dugard was beginning to show signature signs of Stockholm syndrome during her questioning.^[49][51]

Garrido and his wife were then placed under arrest. An FBI Special agent put Dugard on the telephone with her mother, Terry Probyn. Dugard retained custody of her children and was soon reunited with her mother.^[52][53][54]

Aftermath[link]

Reunion and afterward[link]

In the days following Dugard's return, Carl Probyn, her stepfather, confirmed that she and her daughters were in good health and intelligent, their reunion was going well, and they were proceeding slowly. He said his stepdaughter had developed a significant emotional bond with Phillip Garrido, and the girls cried when they learned of their father's arrest. According to Jaycee Dugard's aunt, Tina Dugard, about the two girls: "They are clever, articulate, curious girls who have a bright future ahead of them."^[55][56][57] Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said Dugard's reappearance is an important event for families of other long-term missing children, because it shows that there is hope even in long-term cases. Notable abduction survivor Elizabeth Smart has stressed the importance of focusing on the future with a positive attitude as an effective approach to accepting what has happened.^[58][59][60] Shawn Hornbeck, another abduction survivor, also commented on the case.^[61]

Three weeks after her release, Jaycee Dugard made a request to gain control of the pets that were raised in the home where she was held captive.^[62] On October 14, 2009, People published on its cover the first verified photo of Jaycee Dugard as an adult. Her mother, Terry Probyn, was reported in 2009 to have planned with Broadway Books to publish a book, originally set for release in 2010, detailing the girls' decades-long absence and return.^[63] Dugard's memoir, A Stolen Life, was published on July 12, 2011, by Simon & Schuster.

Police investigations[link]

Following the arrest, police extensively searched the Garrido house for evidence of other crimes. Because Phillip Garrido had access to his neighbor's house, it was also searched for evidence.^[64][65] Police also searched the homes and business of one of Phillip Garrido's printing business clients.^[66] Police agencies from Hayward, California, and Dublin, California, conducted searches of the Garridos' property for evidence pertaining to missing girls from those communities. The results of the search turned up no clues to the disappearances of the girls.^[67] In July 2011 Hayward police announced that Garrido has not been eliminated as a suspect and is still a person of interest in the case of Michaela Garecht.^[68]

Garrido's statements[link]

On August 27, 2009, KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, interviewed Garrido in his jail cell by telephone. During the interview Garrido said, "In the end, this is going to be a powerful, heartwarming story",^[69] because, in his version of events:

Investigators at the Garridos' Antioch home

Garrido repeatedly told the reporter how he "filed documents" with the FBI on August 24, 2009, which, when they were published, would cause people to "fall over backwards" and that he could not reveal more because he "had to protect law enforcement" and "what happened" [...] was "something that humans have not understood well." In the interview Garrido denied he had ever harmed Dugard's two daughters. He said their births changed his life and "they slept in my arms every single night since birth. I never touched them." On August 28, 2009, FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler confirmed that Garrido had indeed left the documents with the agency, as he had claimed, but declined to discuss further details.^[69] The document, titled Origin of Schizophrenia Revealed, was eventually released by the FBI. The document is about stopping schizophrenics from turning violent and controlling sounds with the human mind.^[70]

Legal proceedings[link]

On August 28, 2009, Garrido and his wife pleaded not guilty to charges including kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment. A bail review/pre-preliminary hearing was held September 14, 2009, at the El Dorado County Superior Court in Placerville, California.^[71] At the hearing, Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister set bail for Phillip Garrido at $30 million. However, there was a no-bail parole hold on Garrido. The judge kept Nancy Garrido in custody on a no-bail hold, but able to request bail at a later date.^[72][73] At the September 14 hearing, Phimister also granted a request from Phillip Garrido's attorney to have a psychologist or psychiatrist appointed to conduct a confidential evaluation of Garrido. Such examinations can be used by the defense to assist in case preparation, and additional mental health examinations can be ordered at subsequent phases in the proceedings.^[74] On October 29, 2009, a short hearing was held to set a date for the next pre-preliminary hearing when issues such as discovery were to be discussed. This hearing occurred on December 11, 2009. Katie Callaway Hall, whom Phillip Garrido raped in 1976, appeared in the courtroom in both the October and December hearings. She did not speak in either proceeding.^[75][76]

On November 5, 2009, Phimister ordered Nancy Garrido's defense attorney, Gilbert Maines, to be removed from the case. According to a posting on the court's website,^[77] the decision occurred in review of "confidential evidence" that has not been disclosed to the public, and details of the proceedings were kept sealed. The decision was immediately stayed until November 30, 2009.^[78] On November 12, 2009, Phimister appointed Stephen A. Tapson as interim counsel for Nancy Garrido.^[79] Gilbert Maines appealed the decision and was given a favorable ruling by the California Third District Court of Appeal on December 15, 2009.^[80] On December 22, 2009, the same court gave the Eldorado Superior Court until January 2010 to respond to the ruling.^[81] Both Gilbert Maines and Stephen Tapson appeared at the discovery hearing on December 11, 2009.^[76] A hearing was held on January 21, 2010. At that hearing, Maines was removed from the case and Tapson was appointed defense counsel for Nancy Garrido. In addition, bail in the amount of $20 million was set for Nancy Garrido.^[82]

At a press conference on February 28, 2011, Tapson said that Mr. and Mrs. Garrido had both made a 'full confession' in the case. The development came as lawyers for both sides re-opened discussions on a possible plea deal that had the potential to obviate the need for a trial. Mrs. Garrido's attorney acknowledged that she was facing "241 years, eight months to life" and that he was working for a reduced sentence in the 30-year range. He stated that the prosecutor had acknowledged that Mr. Garrido was a master-manipulator and that Mrs. Garrido was under both his influence and that of substances during the period of Dugard's kidnapping, so should receive some consideration while alluding to parallels with Patty Hearst and Stockholm Syndrome.^[83]

On Thursday, April 7, 2011, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, instead of pleading guilty (as had been expected based on the previous statements) pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and raping Dugard, as well as other charges, in an amended indictment. Phillip Garrido's attorney, public defender Susan Gellman, alleged that the grand jury might have been improperly selected and might have acted improperly. Gellman did not elaborate on her claim in the courtroom, but said outside that she had questions about the racial and geographic makeup of the grand jury that originally indicted the Garridos in September 2010. Judge Phimister noted that there were issues about the process itself before the grand jury, and also stated that the court would consider whether the grand jury acted appropriately. These developments were largely unforeseen by attorney Stephen Tapson, who represented Nancy Garrido; Tapson had said earlier that week that Phillip Garrido had made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life in prison. Gellman was upset with Tapson for telling reporters that her client had planned to plead guilty, saying that Tapson should speak about only his own client, Nancy Garrido. Tapson said he found out about Gellman's plans only late on April 6. Neither attorney would elaborate further on the specific concerns about the grand jury. El Dorado County, California District Attorney Vern Pierson said he did not think the complaints about the grand jury would ultimately derail the case against the Garridos.^[84]

On April 28, 2011, the Garridos pleaded guilty to kidnapping and rape.^[85] On June 2, 2011, Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years. Nancy Garrido received 36 years to life.^[1] Phillip Garrido is serving his sentence at California State Prison, Corcoran while Nancy Garrido is incarcerated at Central California Women's Facility.^[86] Dugard, who did not attend the sentencing, had sent a written statement that was read aloud in court:

"I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence. I've chosen to have my mom read this for me. Phillip Garrido, you are wrong. I could never say that to you before, but I have the freedom now and I am saying you are a liar and all of your so-called theories are wrong. Everything you have ever done to me has been wrong and someday I hope you can see that. What you and Nancy did was reprehensible. You always justified everything to suit yourself but the reality is and always has been that to make someone else suffer for your inability to control yourself and for you, Nancy, to facilitate his behavior and trick young girls for his pleasure is evil. There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions. To you, Phillip, I say that I have always been a thing for your own amusement. I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you and the sexual perversion you forced on me. To you, Nancy, I have nothing to say. Both of you can save your apologies and empty words. For all the crimes you have both committed I hope you have as many sleepless nights as I did. Yes, as I think of all of those years I am angry because you stole my life and that of my family. Thankfully I am doing well now and no longer live in a nightmare. I have wonderful friends and family around me. Something you can never take from me again. You do not matter any more."

—Jaycee Lee Dugard, June 2, 2011

Settlement with the State of California[link]

In July 2010, the State of California approved a $20 million settlement with Jaycee Dugard, to compensate her for "various lapses by the Corrections Department [which contributed to] Dugard's continued captivity, ongoing sexual assault and mental and/or physical abuse." The settlement, part of AB1714, was approved by the California State Assembly by a 70 to 2 vote, and by the California State Senate by a 30 to 1 vote. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Daniel Weinstein, who mediated the settlement, stated that the settlement was reached to avoid a lawsuit which would be a "greater invasion of privacy and greater publicity for the state."^[87]

The bill was signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 9.^[88][89]

Lawsuit against the United States[link]

On September 22, 2011, Dugard filed suit in United States District Court for the Northern District of California accusing the United States of failing to monitor Garrido when he was a federal parolee.^[90]

In media[link]

• Dugard documented her life in captivity in a book, A Stolen Life: A Memoir, which she wrote as part of her therapy with Rebecca Bailey, who specializes in post-trauma family reunification. Dugard says she wrote the book, which was published in July 2011, in order to assist other survivors of sexual abuse.^[18]
• An American crime show on the Investigation Discovery network titled Wicked Attraction aired an episode about Phillip Garrido and Nancy Garrido, which detailed Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping and recovery.^[91]
• A documentary that aired in October 2009 on Channel 4 in Britain titled Captive for 18 years: Jaycee Lee focused on the story of Dugard's kidnapping, recovery and the beginnings of trial including interviews with Jaycee's step-father.^[92]
• Dugard was awarded a "Lifetime Leadership" honor at the third annual Diane von Furstenberg awards on March 9, 2012 for her courage and her JAYC Foundation which gives support to families dealing with abduction and other tragedies. The DVF awards honor women who are courageous and fight for justice.^[93]

See also[link]

• Cases of children kept in captivity
• Cases of kidnapped American children
• Michaela Garecht

References[link]