Vallejo woman, fiance wrongly accused of kidnapping hoax settle defamation lawsuit

LOS ANGELES – Nearly three years after Vallejo police wrongly labeled a woman’s kidnapping a hoax, she and her fiance have reached a settlement in a defamation lawsuit against the city and its police department.

Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn filed the suit in March 2016, nearly a year after the Vallejo Police Department referred to the case as a “wild goose chase” and a waste of police resources. In an interview early Friday, Huskins’ father, Mike Huskins, said he wasn’t sure of the exact figure of the settlement, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported it as $2.5 million.

The Police Department and city did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Matthew Muller kidnapped Huskins on March 23, 2015, from Quinn’s home, held her for ransom and sexually assaulted her. While Huskins was being held captive, authorities in the Northern California city interrogated Quinn for hours, theorizing that he might have had something to do with his girlfriend’s disappearance.

Quinn was never arrested – and two days after her kidnapping, on March 25, Muller dropped Huskins off more than 400 miles away from Vallejo in Huntington Beach.

As relief spread over her family, Vallejo police again grew suspicious, this time questioning Huskins’ release and the fact that she reappeared carrying an overnight bag and wearing sunglasses.

Huskins “did not act like a kidnapping victim,” retired Vallejo police Capt. James O’connell later said in a sworn statement. Lawyer Anthony Douglas Rappaport, left, speaks at a news conference with his clients, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, right, in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2016.

Police offered leniency to both Huskins and Quinn to give the other up, their families said. Less than 24 hours after Huskins reappeared, Vallejo police labeled the

kidnapping a hoax.

“Today, there is no evidence to support the claims that this was a stranger abduction or an abduction at all,” Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Park said in a statement at the time. “Given the facts that have been presented thus far, this event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a crime.”

Vallejo police posted the statement to their Facebook page and dozens of people criticized Quinn and Huskins. News outlets likened Huskins to the lead character in the novel “Gone Girl.”

However, less than three months later, evidence gathered from a June 5, 2015, home-invasion robbery later helped authorities link Muller to the kidnapping. Muller was sentenced last year to 40 years in prison.

In their lawsuit, the couple claimed that because of the police department’s allegations that Huskins’ kidnapping was untrue, their reputations were tarnished and they were forced to move out of the town, where they had worked as physical therapists.

Mike Huskins said he was relieved a conclusion was reached in the lawsuit and expressed doubt that the police department would issue a statement regarding the case.

“I would be surprised if they say anything more. They just want to walk away and let it go away,” Mike Huskins said. “I feel like they should give her a public apology since they went out and publicly accused her of being a fraud.”