Kidnapping ‘hoax’ couple settle lawsuit
Nearly three years after Vallejo, California police wrongly labelled 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 lawsuit 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.
Huskins’ father, Mike Huskins, said he wasn’t sure of the exact figure of the settlement, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported it as US$2.5 million (NZ$3.46m).
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, theorising 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 650 kilometres away from Vallejo, in Huntington Beach.
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 Captain James O’Connell later said in a sworn statement.
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 labelled the kidnapping a hoax.
‘‘There is no evidence to support the claims that this was a stranger abduction or an abduction at all,’’ Lieutenant 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 criticised Quinn and Huskins. News outlets likened Huskins to the lead character in the novel and movie 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 that a conclusion had been reached in the lawsuit, but expressed doubt that the police department would issue a statement regarding the case.
‘‘I feel like they should give her a public apology, since they went out and publicly accused her of being a fraud. But if this doesn’t come, it’s not the end of the world. We can go on with other things in life.’’
Huskins and Quinn got engaged last year and plan to wed in September.