Criminal - 48 Hours

Episode Date: June 18, 2021

“I think it was around 3:00 a.m., and that’s when I heard a strange man’s voice waking me from sleep.” This is part one of a two-part episode. Listen to part two in our next episode. Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn’s book is Victim F. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.  Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Botox Cosmetic, Adabotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years. So, talk to your specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right for you. For full prescribing information, including boxed warning, visit BotoxCosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. Remember to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name. To see for yourself and learn more, visit BotoxCosmetic.com. That's BotoxCosmetic.com. Support for Criminal comes from Apple Podcasts. Each month, Apple Podcasts highlights one series

worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story, a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home. His investigation takes him on a journey

involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault.

Please use discretion. In June of 2014, a woman named Denise Huskins moved to Northern California. She was a physical therapist and had decided to do her residency at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo, not far from San Francisco. During the first month she was there, she started noticing another physical therapist who worked at the hospital. His name was Aaron Quinn. And we always would gravitate to each other and have these really easy conversations. And at the end of July, he said that he was interested in hanging out with me a little bit more. And he let me know what was going on in his life.

He had recently broken up with his ex-fiance because of her infidelity. So he wasn't necessarily in the best position to start dating, but our connection was undeniable. I mean, I think two weeks in, we were just supposed to go to the baseball game and we're sitting in the parking lot talking instead. And we'd said, you know, it feels like we've known each other our whole lives. The conversations were just so easy. There was just a warmth and empathy and honesty about her.

And so we gave it a shot and we quickly fell in love. After they had been dating for about seven months, Denise learned that Aaron had been in communication with his ex-fiance. She knew that he'd struggled to get over the end of that relationship and to deal with being cheated on. But by this point, Denise needed him to make a decision about what he wanted. Our relationship came to a head when she found out I was still texting my ex-fiancé. And from there, Denise rightfully demanded a change. And so I actually thought I had ruined things with Denise, but I needed to make changes for myself.

If I was ever going to find someone like her, I was hoping that we could still work out things together. Aaron and Denise planned to meet to talk about what they should do about their relationship. They decided to meet at Erin's house, which was on a peninsula called Mare Island in Vallejo. I wasn't quite sure where the conversation was going to go and if this was going to be us moving forward as committing to each other or if this was going to be the end. It was emotional talk, but it was actually a new beginning.

And so although it was a long, emotional evening, we were in a good place. And we fell asleep around midnight. And we're in a really deep sleep. I think it was around 3 a.m., and that's when I heard a strange man's voice waking me from sleep. At first, I thought it was a nightmare. I guess I hoped it was a nightmare, but I couldn't deny it any longer, and my eyes shot open, and I froze in fear. Seeing a flashing white light against the wall and red laser dots scanning the walls and then disappearing as it went over our bodies. The man who spoke said,

this is a robbery. We are not here to hurt you. And so, I mean, when I first realized the situation, I mean, I froze, and there was nothing to really do because I didn't know. I mean, when you're awakened to a situation like that, I mean, you can't even imagine it. You only hear about it in movies and maybe bad news reports, but you don't think it's ever going to happen to you. So, you know, just thinking that the best thing for us to do is listen, and I mean, that's a thing.

They woke us up saying it's a robbery, and so you're hoping that that's actually true. My eyes popped open. I was staring at the ceiling. I could see the white light flooding the room and the red laser dots crossing over that I assumed were sights to a gun, but my body froze. And I could hear the voice saying something, but I just couldn't move until he finally said, Aaron, lie face down. They knew my name, and that broke me out of that frozen moment. So I rolled onto my stomach. I mean, it was just, I mean, the fact that they knew Aaron's name made me wonder what they were really here for.

I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. The man who spoke, he then instructed me to tie Aaron up. He put zip ties at the edge of the bed and quickly backed away. I reached behind to get the zip ties at the edge of the bed and quickly backed away. I reached behind to get the zip ties. I never looked back, afraid that we would be hurt if I did. As I was tying Aaron's hands together and his feet together, I couldn't see Aaron's eyes, but I saw him take a deep breath. And on his exhale out, he just said, oh my God.

And even though we couldn't speak to each other, I think there was this understanding that it was in our best interest to not fight and to comply considering the situation, the fact that they were armed and there was multiple people. I mean, this was really pretty quick. It was obvious how planned it was. I was then instructed to go to the bedroom closet,

keep my head down, do not look up. I did that, but as I passed the foot of the bed, I could see two people standing at the edge. They were dressed in all black. I saw from their feet to waist level it looked like they were holding something at their waist one of them followed behind me and I was zip tied

in the same way I tied up Aaron in the closet and then Aaron was escorted to the closet too we were both given blacked out swim goggles and headphones over our ears to listen to these pre-recorded messages with instruction. It was a really odd recording with wind chime-like music

and this really auto-tuned voice saying, be calm. this is not your fault. And it eventually said that they were going to drug us. We were going to take it orally, but if we refused, they would inject it. And so we did. And I was still somewhat hopeful that it was just a robbery thinking okay they'll knock us out so we really there is really no chance of us fighting back or trying to escape

and they'll clear out Aaron's belongings and eventually we'll wake, but we'll be okay. But each moment that passed, it just got worse and worse. The recordings eventually said that they were going to ask personal and financial questions. And they would ask me and Aaron. So I thought, okay, maybe they're going to wipe out our bank accounts. But then they moved me to a different room. And then they moved me to a different room, and then they moved me downstairs, and they never asked me any personal questions or financial questions. And eventually when I was downstairs, the voice that was speaking came down, and he said, we have a problem. This wasn't meant for you.

This was meant for, and he named Aaron's ex-fiance by her first and last name. And he said, we need to figure out what to do. And not long later, he came back in and said, this is what we're going to do. We're going to take you 48 hours. We're going to put you in the trunk of Aaron's car, transfer you to another trunk, drive you hours away. And Aaron's going to have to complete some tasks for your release. The man that we call the voice comes back and he asks me, do Denise and my ex look alike? And I just gave out this deep, guttural sigh. I said, yes, they both have long blonde hair. And he said, we have the wrong intel.

This was meant for my ex and we have to figure out what we're going to do next during that point there's a another probably 20 30 minutes of lack of interaction with him and i hope that maybe because it wasn't intended for denise that they would leave maybe they did leave but he eventually came back and told me that they're going to take denise for 48 hours. I would have to pay money. I can get her back. We can move on with our lives. How much money did he say you'd have to pay?

So they knew I had at the time $20,000, my checking account. They demanded $17,000, two payments of $8,500 to avoid the mandated federal reporting limit. They ended up playing this long 10-minute recording for me. I'd say that they're a black market group that people could hire for personal or financial debts. And in turn, they were going to make my home a prison. They were going to put a mirroring app on my phone so they could see if I was calling or texting anyone. They were installing a camera, which required me to stay in my living room area until I left for the bank. They said I needed to follow their rules and stay inside the camera.

I needed to always be available by my phone. If I didn't do that, they would hurt Denise. If I didn't do that, they would hurt Denise. If I didn't do that, they would hurt my family. If I went to the police, they would kill Denise. Denise, when you heard that they were going to take you, what happened next? What was your

first thought? What happened? I mean, I think I was in shock and just felt deeply defeated and defenseless. I thought, you know, maybe I can hop to the door. Maybe I can scream, but, you know, we're separated now. Aaron's upstairs. So anything I do could provoke them to hurt him. And, you know, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did anything that would cause him more harm. So, I mean, my response to him was just okay. And from that point on, I just heard a lot of commotion going on in the house.

I could hear the doors open to the driveway and someone moved my car to the front of the street. And someone in the garage opening and closing doors of Aaron's car, and just a lot of moving parts until he eventually said he was ready to put me in the trunk. And before he did, I asked to go to the bathroom, and he allowed me privacy is how he put it, which was odd. There was many points along that, that night of the home invasion of this odd politeness. When I was tying up Aaron, it was, you're doing a good job, you know, over and over again. And when he placed me on the couch, are you comfortable? He asks and places a blanket over me because I said it was cold, you know, and he, I mean, more or less handled me with care. So all of these things,

even that prerecorded message with that music playing that you would describe as soothing, but in a situation of such extreme life-threatening, you know, tactics. It's like, it was all the more chilling and disorienting, which obviously was by design. And because it was clear that all of this was by design and just made it even more like, why, what is, what is all of this? And what is their true motivation and their end game? And what and what really, what are they really in this for? And they had given you drugs.

They'd given you some cocktail of drugs that must have been making you kind of out of it in the fact that I, you know, that fight or flight response where you're everything, you need to pay attention to every single thing. You know, your senses are on hypervigilant alert because anything, any bit of information can save your life. So there was this mix between in my body of needing to stay hyper aware and hyper alert and also the effects of the sedatives were kicking in and that, you know, I couldn't move quickly or I wouldn't be able to react quickly or do anything that physically. And then he, what happened when he just said, we're ready, and carried you outside? Mm-hmm. And then he placed me in the trunk where he lined a comforter so I'd be more comfortable. And I had waited some time.

And then actually before he left, I asked if I could get the blanket from the couch because I was shaking so much. And he said something like, oh yeah, you know, I forget how cold it is because we're all wearing wetsuits here. I mean, that statement for me, I just was like, okay. I mean, I couldn't, for me, I couldn't make sense of it. Aaron, this voice said that to Aaron at a different spot, and Aaron actually thought that that made sense. I assume they were wearing wetsuits to limit any hair gain in my house or DNA. Also, Mare Island's part of the city of Vallejo,

but it's actually a small island connected to it, and there's basically waterways to escape or a marsh. So it, to me, showed that they hadn't even thought about potentially escape routes or how to limit any sort of tracking to them. And when you came downstairs, what happened at that point when you were brought downstairs? When I came down, there was the camera that was mounted in my living room. It made this electronic dung sound. Three times, like dung, dung, dung. I asked him if he would be making that sound the entire time.

And the voice told me that they weren't able to get into my router, so they were loading it through Wi-FiFi and the sound should stop in the morning. And then he instructed me to stay on the couch until the morning time. I would call in sick to work. I would use Denise's phone to text our manager that she had a family emergency and she would be gone for the week and I would need to wait for further instruction. He left and I could hear my car in my driveway and I heard the voice say to Denise, I'm going to close the trunk now. And I heard Denise say, okay.

And I was afraid that was the last time I was going to hear a voice. So we closed the trunk, and at first I could feel that it was going to be really difficult to breathe as soon as he closed the trunk. And I was trying not to hyperventilate. I was trying to keep myself

calm. And not long after we were driving, he stops the car, comes out, opens the trunk, puts his hand on me forcefully and says, do not speak, do not scream. You're going to make this a lot harder on yourself. And I pleaded, you know, I didn't say anything. And so, I mean, that, it concerned me to really what might provoke him, even the slightest thing that I didn't do. And then we were driving maybe about 20, 30 minutes. We stopped somewhere. He takes me from that trunk to another trunk. He had cut my hands free for this longer ride to make it more comfortable is what he said. And we drove for hours and I was trying to pay attention to, you know, where we were turning and what was going on. But the effects of the sedatives were really starting to take over and I was in and out of consciousness for the next several hours. But the car started slowing down and turning and eventually stopped. And he said, we're here and

tried pulling me out of the trunk and it was awkward. And so I kind of pushed to help him get me out of there. He awkwardly stumbles with me, and his arm falls, and I drop to the ground. He lands on top of me, and he's frantic, and he just ends up dragging me across the floor. And I'm left on this cold concrete floor, and he says he needs to go inside to clean. And, you know, that's where I could hear him scrubbing, and I just kept picturing just, like, the bloody remains of prior victims that he might be cleaning up just to prepare for his next victim. And you cycle through all the different horror films that you've gone through and how extreme this could actually be

and wondering is this what they really are motivated to do. And they just said all that stuff just to keep me calm. And so right then and there I told myself, it doesn't matter what they do to me. I'm not going to beg and scream if that's what they want, if that's what they're in this for, I'm not going to give them that satisfaction. I'm just going to, if I can, I'm just going to stay as calm and quiet as possible. And he eventually comes back out, and he cuts the zip ties off my feet and says he needs me to shower. And he, again, allows me privacy.

He says because he doesn't want to dehumanize me any more than he already has to. And he had to get the room ready. I mean, I was still blindfolded, and I was to knock when I was done. It was quicker than he anticipated. And so he put me on a couch, and I could hear him. I could hear cardboard, duct tape, and eventually he puts me in a bedroom and places me on a bed and says, this is where I'll be staying. And he says he needs to leave for a little bit. There's someone else going to be watching over me while he's gone. And it's in my best interest to not talk to this person. And I mean, as soon as I heard that car leave, I passed out again from the sedatives that they gave. And I think some hours went by and he said he was back and it was just going to be him.

And Erin, you were back at your house and you've been told, you know, whatever you do, don't tell anyone what's happened and don't call 911. Tell me about what you decided to do and what you needed to do. Yeah, so when the kidnappers had taken Denise, I was able to push the goggles off my eyes by using the armrest on my couch. And I saw a digital clock and it was exactly 5 a.m. I tried to stay awake but without the threats right there and the commotions the sedatives took over and eventually I was able to wake up and stay awake around 11 30. I started receiving text messages and emails giving instructions of the exact payments and that Denise is being well taken care of. Eventually, they tell me that I will need to drop the money off Tuesday night and they will return Denise Wednesday morning. And during that time, the camera kept on making the dung, dung, dung sound.

I mean, I was panicking, trying to stay calm, my mind spinning. But after I received the email that they were telling me to drop off the money and they would return to the East at a different time, I realized that I can't trust these guys. If I show up with the money, they can take me as well and kill us both to get away with it. Because they had said they had put monitoring app on my phone, I believe 911 wasn't an option. But my brother is an FBI special agent.

And so I took the risk of calling him thinking that he could alert the authorities and if the kidnappers did see my phone call I would lie and say that my brother was gonna come over. I reached my brother he told me I needed to call 9-1-1 because we need a full force of law enforcement enforcement behind us and I agreed with them so I remember putting numbers in not hitting the call button yet and just really thinking that I could be killing Denise with this phone call because the police would show up I would be okay but the kidna, if they see that I went to the authorities, they would kill her. That was the hardest decision I've ever made.

And the police made everything worse. I'm sorry. One series worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story, a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home. His investigation takes him on a journey involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. Subtle results, still you, but with fewer lines. Botox Cosmetic, adipotulinum toxin A, is a prescription medicine used to temporarily make moderate to severe frown lines, crow's feet, and forehead lines look better in adults. Effects of Botox Cosmetic may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness may be a sign of a life-threatening condition.

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Aaron called 911 at 1.54 p.m., almost 11 hours after he and Denise had been woken up by the intruders, and told the dispatcher that his girlfriend had been kidnapped. Two Vallejo police officers arrived at his house. They asked me if I was drugged. I said yes. I told them that the kidnappers had drugged me. But they repeated asking me if I'd been partying multiple times. Even when they came into my living room, the camera made the dung sound

when officers went over and immediately unplugged it without wearing gloves, didn't ask me anything about it. Then they asked me to go down to the station to give a statement, which I agreed, and I signed up for them to search my house. I told them anything they need to find Denise, I'll do it. When I went down to the police station, two detectives take my initial statement. But during that time, they told me that they needed to take my clothes for evidence. So I agree, not knowing that they were going to have me stand up and take pictures with my arms spread. They'd take a picture of my front, my side, my back, and my other side, and then you would take a piece of clothing off, and you would repeat that all the way down to where I was naked,

and they were taking pictures of me. In turn, they'd give me prison clothes to wear. It literally says Solano County Prison on the side. And then they'd take my statement, and they leave me alone for hours until another detective comes in, Detective Matt Mustard, and he asks me to go through his statement again. At this point, I don't know exactly what the time is because I'm in a small room without a window with no clock isolated from everyone. But I assumed it was around 7.30 because I could kind of tell the

sun was going down when Mustard opened the door. But he asked me to go through the statement again, even though I had told him everything. He's not taking notes. He asks me more about my relationship with Denise than actual kidnapping. Eventually he stops and goes, the story you're telling is extraordinary. I agreed with him. He said, I don't think that happened. Something bad happened, but there's only one guy.

It's just you. And then he, for the next 45 minutes or so told me that I killed Denise she was dead he he's uh already accepted that I need to accept it and if I keep telling this crazy story they'll paint me as a cold calculated monster and Denise what is what's going on at this point in the house, in the room that you're in? Yeah, so later, sometime that maybe late afternoon or evening, well, he'd come in to tell me a little bit more about the organization that he and his associates were involved in. So it was a black market startup company to be hired to fulfill these personal or financial debts.

And they were hired specifically for Aaron and his ex, but he got the wrong intel. If only he would have checked my purse and seen my identification, then this never would have happened. I was like, okay, what am I supposed to do with that information being here now? And I had asked him to just stop telling me because I was afraid of anything more that I knew that it would put me at more risk and it'd be more likely that they would end up killing me. And he said that, you know, that wasn't the plan. And so it was strange in the fact that he spent a lot of time talking to me and sharing things with me.

And then it just felt like he was trying to force this rapport with me to get me to trust him. And I just kind of had to play along. And then a little bit later, he came back into the room to say, we have a problem. And at first, I was just afraid that something happened to Aaron. But then he said, because we didn't have any information on you, we have nothing to use against you. And so one of us is going to have to have sex with you. We're going to record it.

And so that way, if we think that you ever are going to go to the police, we will use it and put it on the internet. And he leaves for a little bit to say, you know, I have to figure out exactly how we're going to do this. And then comes back and says, you know, can I lay down with you and talk with you a little bit? And he starts telling me about how he's had psychological difficulties. He was in the military and has PTSD. And I sat there and listened to make it seem like this was an open space because I'm still being drugged. I don't know where I'm at. I'm just absolutely defenseless. And so my only defense is to really show him the human that was in front of him and hope that it'd be less likely

that he would kill me. He eventually then leaves and comes back and says that he's going to have to do it. And I mean, during it, I still had these blacked out swim goggles on. I'm like, this is just going to look like a rape. I mean, I don't, you know, because I think he said something like it should look consensual. And I just tried to detach. And at the same time, this is going on to Denise. You're at the police station, and they've just told you, Aaron, well, it's clear you're lying. What happens next? What do they tell you to do?

After Detective Muster went after me, I kind of gave a more forceful answer than i had prior to and he uh i told him i'm not gonna say i did anything because i didn't do it and where do we go from here you guys need to find her and he tells me we'll figure out what we're gonna do next and leaves the room again i'm left alone for hours in this cold room in prison clothes. I asked if my brother's there. They tell me they don't know, even though my brother was in the police station with my parents, but they kept me isolated. They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom by myself. And eventually they asked me if I'll take a polygraph to eliminate me as a suspect. And I knew I was telling the truth.

I've never blamed them for looking at me as a suspect, because I was the last person to be with Denise. I just didn't realize I was going to be the only suspect, and they would ignore all sorts of evidence. So I did the polygraph, and it was done by Special Agent Peter French. And you sit there. You can't take a deep breath. You can't shift.

You can't move your head. You've got blood pressure cuffs squeezing your arm and the whole time you're afraid that maybe your body is what is the proper response that your body's giving at the time it's 3 in the morning when they're doing this and after we're done agent French puts me in a corner of the room he angles himself where he's just not quite blocking the exit, but I would have to step around him. And he just tells me, there's no doubt in my mind you failed this miserably.

You know where she is, and you need to tell us where she is. Thank you. of artificial intelligence. We're answering all your questions. What should you use it for? What tools are right for you? And what privacy issues should you ultimately watch out for? And to help us out, we are joined by Kylie Robeson, the senior AI reporter for The Verge, to give you a primer on how to integrate AI into your life.

So tune into AI Basics, how and when to use AI. A special series from Pivot sponsored by AWS, wherever you get your podcasts. radically changed by the tools we use to do it. So what is enterprise software anyway? What is productivity software? How will AI affect both? And how are these tools changing the way we use our computers to make stuff, communicate, and plan for the future? In this three-part special series, Decoder is surveying the IT landscape presented by AWS. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts. Aaron says the special agent continued accusing him of knowing exactly where Denise was for almost 40 minutes.

Here's the tape. Something happened to her that you didn't plan. Maybe she, I don't know. You tell me. But it can't start with three guys showing up at the house taking her away. That's not what happened. You know where she is. I don't know where she is. And all you wanted to do was make it stop. I knew I wasn't going to tell them that I killed Denise, but I can only imagine what other people have gone through.

Eventually, I get a word in. I ask them, you know, what evidence do you guys have that I did anything? And he couldn't point to it, and I asked for a lawyer. The special agent left the interrogation room. Aaron says he fell asleep on three chairs he pulled together. Eventually, the detective on the case, Detective Matt Mustard, came into the room with Aaron's brother. And they were lying to my brother the entire time outside that interrogation room,

saying I was having a schizophrenic breakdown, that they know I killed Denise, and they wanted to extract a confession out of me. My own brother, they were trying to get a confession. And when I saw him, I just started breaking down. Because it was like the first time there was someone there to help me. And, you know, he had to leave because he needed to get me a lawyer. If they didn't send him in, I don't know if they would have ever got me an attorney.

I would have been stuck in that room forever. That's what it felt like. When my brother said that we should get him an attorney, because it's my constitutional right, Detective Mustard said, I'd like to try a few more things. Thankfully, my attorney, Dan Russo, picked up the phone when ethan called and got down the station to help me get out of there denise during this time what what happened he had me shower

again and this time he said that i could have the goggles off when i'm not in the room with him and there was a bunch of toiletries laid out. I took it all as rewards for being compliant. And it just felt like, yeah, like he was just trying to condition me. And later that evening, he ordered me pizza. He gave me wine, and he acted like, you know, a remorseful abuser, you know, just very soft. And he gave me more of the sedatives, saying that it was protocol, and, you know, I eventually passed out again. The next morning, I asked about Aaron, and he said he wasn't sure what was going on at that end. And then later that morning, he said that two of his associates are going to come to the house, and I could hear a truck pull up. It sounded like a truck because it was just a

different type of engine, higher from the ground than the car that I was driven in. And it could hear car doors open, the bedroom door was opened and then closed. And then I couldn't quite hear what was being said. There was always music being played. And then about 20 minutes later, they left, the car drove off. And as the car is driving off, he comes back in saying, they're gone. We're not going to, it'll just be us. They won't need to come back. And then not long after that, he wakes me again to say that we need to record a proof of life. And he explains what this proof of life is, because I don't know. And he says that it needs to have my name in it. It needs to have a current event to verify it's the same day when I'm giving this and a specific detail about me that only people close to me would know. And so we go over this and he has me repeat it several times, feeding me the lines until he thinks I've got it and tells me to go ahead and start.

And so it said something more or less of, you know, I'm Denise Huskins. I've been kidnapped, but otherwise I'm fine. And then I give the current event and my first concert that I went to. And he said, good, got it. And I just fell over into the bed and passed out again. I didn't know who he was sending it to. I figured it was probably going to be sent to Aaron, but I didn't know. Yeah. And then hours went by again. And eventually, at some point, he came back in to say that the recording of that first rape, of course he didn't call it a rape, wasn't good enough. And this time, you know, I can't wear the goggles. And we'd have to kiss and say things to make it seem like this is an affair, like we've been seeing each other for a while.

Yeah, I mean, so he tapes my eyes shut, and we go through it all, and I perform because I don't want this to happen again. And I really felt like I was performing to save my life. There was an FBI agent who was a hostage negotiator, which I initially took as a positive sign. He told me that he was just catching up and I needed, they want to ask me a few more questions. Eventually, they play the proof of life for me. I just remember hearing Denise and feeling, knowing how scared she was, but her ability to stay calm, but I could hear her tremble in her voice.

And so then the police asked me to look through my text messages and phone calls on my phone that they've had in possession since I called them. While I'm looking through, there's tons of messages and calls, and then my lawyer's paralegal notices that my phone's on airplane mode. You were kind of off the grid, which would have... No, the police put my phone on airplane mode. Which could have put Denise in even greater harm if you had gone off the grid, kind of. Yeah, and when I take it off airplane mode, it just gets flooded by more and more text messages, multiple phone calls. Literally, my phone maxes out on voicemails.

And I just think that during that time, the kidnappers could be calling. One of those phone calls could lead them to Denise. Then they asked me to go through my emails, which I had given the police access to all those as well, and as I looked through the laptop that they provided me, I'd see that there was a few emails that had been at least open, most likely read. And one of them, actually multiple of them, are from the kidnappers saying that they were going to call around 9 p.m.

And this was now almost 24 hours after that email was received. And I have never been that angry in my entire life. I literally, my vision starts shaking because they had the opportunity to track and find her and they just ignored it. And

this is more than 24 hours after the kidnappers had sent the emails, and now we're getting close to 36 hours since the home invasion. Detective Mustard the day before told me the kidnappers weren't communicating at all. And later we found out that the kidnappers actually did call three times within five minutes on Monday night when they said they were going to call. But as far as we know, they never investigated that lead. When did you find out that, or did you find out that Aaron had, that they lost contact with Aaron and that he had gone to the police? What happened next? I think sometime that evening or later that afternoon, he told me that they had lost contact with Aaron.

First, he said he wasn't sure why, if either Aaron didn't want to fulfill the tasks or if maybe he went to the police and I knew that he wouldn't have just left me hanging on my own. Eventually, he said, you know, Aaron did go to the police and I knew that he wouldn't have just left me hanging on my own. Eventually he said, you know, Aaron did go to the police. It's being covered in the media, but you know, it doesn't really worry us because it'd be good PR for our group to show that they're capable of fulfilling, you know, an operation like this and could still release the victim, quote, unquote, unharmed. And then later, he shared with me that there was an article out there describing that Aaron went to the police, and he had me read it. And as I was reading it, I read a quote from my dad saying, telling me to stay strong and that the family's there doing what they can.

And as soon as I started reading it, I broke down and started sobbing. The whole time, I just had hoped that they didn't know you know I just hoped that I was just kind of in it on my own cause I I couldn't emotionally handle what that could be doing to them

and as I'm crying there he puts his hand on my back and says, you know, oh, I know this must be hard to read it out loud. It must feel real, finally feel real or something like that. And I just cried and said, no, I just can't imagine what my family is going through. But that whole time, the two rapes, I mean, I never cried in front of him. And that was the first time I felt like he broke me. Every time I talked to him, I said, you're going to kill me. I know you're going gonna kill me I know you're gonna kill me just didn't see that it'd be a possibility why would he risk releasing me you know and he just kept saying that's not what we're in this for we're not gonna do that we're gonna release you after 48 hours late Tuesday night early Wednesday morning is the release and he was consistent about, but I didn't believe him.

And as the clock was ticking down to that 48 hours, I was starting to prepare myself to have to change my game plan. And especially because he was so consistent with it, I told myself, you know what? If that 48 hours comes and goes and he doesn't follow through with it, then he's never going to release me. And I'm going to have to figure out a way to not take the sedatives and find something to use as a weapon. And I was preparing myself mentally for a fight to the death to save myself. He said that we were going to leave around 2 a.m. that next morning, and he woke me up and was getting things together and put me in the front seat of the car this time. And we're leaving, and I'm somewhat relieved, but then at the same time going, oh my God, maybe he's just taking me away from this home so he could take me somewhere and kill me. And so again, I'm just swinging back and forth with that, but I'm trying to show him that he

can trust me to release me, that he can take me somewhere and that I've been calm and I haven't screamed and I haven't tried to escape. And at one point on the drive, because he gave me another sedative, I'm in and out of consciousness. He wakes me up to let me go to the bathroom. And I could tell it's quiet. He said it's a rest stop. And as he pulls me out of the car and I'm taking a few steps over gravel and dirt, I'm thinking, oh, my God, it's still dark out. This is when he's going to kill me any second.

I'm going to hear a gunshot. And that's it. It's going to kill me. Any second I hear a gunshot, and that's it. It's going to be over. And before I know it, I hear the echo of a door closing, and I pull up the blindfold, and I'm actually in a bathroom, like a rest stop, campground bathroom. And I realize that's when I realized, like, this was his last chance. He is actually going to release me. And hours go by in the car. Along the ride, he gives me tape again and puts sunglasses over my eyes so in the daylight, it doesn't look so suspicious.

And eventually, we're stop and go traffic. He says we're in L.A. and then keeps driving and wakes me back up and says he's where he said he was going to release me, which was within walking distance to my mom's house. He had said, you know, there's two things you can't say to the police because you're going to talk to the police. Aaron went to the police. Two things you can't say is anything about us being in the military or anything about us being in the military or anything about

us having sex. And, you know, I know where your family lives. I, you know, we watch our victims. So now the threat's not just against me, but it's against my family as well. And so he takes me out of the car and tells me to count to 10 and he drives off. And I count to 10 and eventually I pull the tape off of my eyes and I walk down this alley thinking I could be anywhere. But I turn that corner and I look at the street name and it's the street where my mom lives, where I grew up on. And I mean, I'm finally free. So I just start walking, you know, I'm still just heavily sedated and just kind of stumbling down the street, just thinking. I mean, all I can think of is I have to get to my mom and dad.

I just need them to hug me and hold me and say that it's okay, that I'm safe. And I go to my mom's house. She's not home. I go to her next door neighbors. They're not home. And my dad lives a mile from her. So I start walking to his house. I stop someone, use the phone.

And I'm trying not to cause any alarm or attention because I was instructed not to. Both call my mom, dad goes voicemail, leaves it. I leave a message for my dad saying, you know, I'm okay. And I'm, I don't have a phone. I'm walking down to your house. This is the route I'm going to go. I get to his house. And again, he's not home. I talked to a neighbor. She takes me in, and I use the bathroom, and within minutes, I step out of the bathroom, and I see two Huntington Beach police officers coming in, and they ask me, you know, are you Denise Huskins?

I say yes. Were you kidnapped? I say yes. The first thing that concerned me with speaking to them was that the one that was really talking to me he was holding a recording device by his side uh discreetly like I he didn't tell me he was going to need to record me and so then that scared me and it scared me and wondering too is this recording going to get out and if what I say to them is that going to get out? And if what I say to them,

is that going to get out to the public? Again, because of those threats. And so then I'm very aware the possibility of the kidnappers finding out what I say. And then I'm afraid of fully disclosing what really happened. However, I do go through the whole thing, the home invasion, the kidnapping, being held captive,

and I say how they treated me nicely, that they let me shower and have food and water. And initially, the officer says that a detective's going to come in and talk to me, and CSI is going to come in. I keep asking to talk to my parents parents if I could just talk to them. And they say, yeah, a little later. And I hear helicopters outside and people gathering and time kept going on. And that's when I just started wondering. Something didn't feel right.

And finally, my cousin comes in with my aunt. My cousin's an attorney, and that's why they let him in. And he tells the officers to step outside. He comes to me, asks me the first question anyone asks me, and gives me a choice. What do you need right now? And I say, I just want to go somewhere safe. I just want to finally feel safe. Her family took her to her aunt's house. Her mother and father and her uncle, who was also a lawyer, were all up in Northern California. They had gone to Vallejo to see if they could be helpful and find out more. Her uncle wanted to speak with her. We get on the phone and he says,

they don't believe you. We'll have the rest of Denise and Aaron's story in our next episode. Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Susanna Robertson is our producer. Engineering by Russ Henry. Audio mix by Michael Rayfield, Johnny Vince Evans, and Rob Byers of Final Final V2.

Special thanks to Lily Clark. Julie and Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com. We're on Facebook and Twitter, at Criminal Show. You can read more about Denise and Aaron's story in Victim F, from Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors. We'll have a link on our website. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC.

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