Jaycee Dugard breaks silence, saying she's beginning recovery [Updated]
In her first interview, Jaycee Dugard said she's grateful she is out of captivity and that she's glad to be reunited with her family.
"I am so happy to be back with my family, nothing is more important than the unconditional love and support I have from them," she told People magazine, which published the first photos of Dugard since she was rescued.
Phillip Garrido is charged with kidnapping Dugard outside her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991, when she was 11.
She resurfaced this summer along with two daughters allegedly fathered by Garrido.
Until now, Dugard has remained in seclusion, reconnecting with family.
"She has such a deep appreciation for this new life that she's embarking on," Dugard family spokesman Erika Price Schulte told ABC News this morning.
People reports that Dugard "rides horses, cooks meals and is thinking of collaborating on a book."
[Updated at 7:12 a.m.: The magazine cover quotes Dugard as saying "I am so happy to be back."
But it's unclear exactly how much Dugard herself participated in the article. According to NBC News, the story was based largely on interviews with people close to Dugard -- and not Dugard herself.
According to NBC, Dugard is living in Northern California.
"The 10-page article is accompanied by many pictures of Dugard and her mother. Dugard’s daughters are shown only from the back." the network reported. Asked by NBC whether People paid for the photos, managing editor Larry Hackett said: “We have bought photographs in the past. I don’t want to go into the details."]
-- Shelby Grad
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EDITOR'S PICKS:
karl you are more than a wack job posting every thing you dont like and disrespecting jaycee dugard with your your political views
Posted by: rod | October 19, 2009 at 09:05 PM
It is wonderful that this young woman was saved and is enjoying the unconditional love of her family, horseback riding, and cooking. The media doesn't have such adulation for the little girls in Congo hiding in bushes to escape being gang raped. Relatively speaking, the gushing of attention, and wealth is pretty foolish for one girl whose living conditions while in captivity would have looked like heaven in comparison to millions of less valued girls.
Posted by: Vickie | October 20, 2009 at 02:59 AM
I could not help shedding some tears when i first saw her picture...my God! i can't even imagine what she must of gone through all these years!..i guess i got emotional, cause i'm a mother of a eleven year old girl, the same age Jaycee was when she was kidnapped..what Jaycee's mother must of gone through...heart breaking...my heart and prayers go out to her and her family..i would rather see Jaycee on the cover of any magazine any given day, than all those artificial, good for nothing, wanna be starlets that we see in magazine covers everywhere...there's more to life than accomplishig to be a size zero...Jaycee you are beautiful and God bless you!!
Posted by: Miracleshappen | October 14, 2009 at 09:58 AM
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Oh yes Jaycee because you are blond and blue eyed you mean so much more to the world. Black girls are different in the eyes of the world. Wonder if anyone will ask Jaycee if she had to hide her daughters in bushes to keep them from being gang raped by armed thugs. Put some oil under those children in Congo and they would suddenly have more value in the eyes of the world. Sickening.
Posted by: Vickie | October 20, 2009 at 03:02 AM
The so called captor was in prison during which time she was being held by him. In addition, she met with the customers, both in person and on the phone. Sounds like another bunch of lies and propaganda by the so-called authorities. Posted by: Karl | October 14, 2009 at 04:21 PM
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Karl, I believe you may have a point here, whether the American Supermommies want to think it or not.
Posted by: Vickie | October 20, 2009 at 03:06 AM