True Crime Vault: Taken

Summary

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20/20 True Crime Vault: "Taken"

Airdate: September 2, 2025
Podcast: 20/20 True Crime Vault
Host: ABC News
Episode Theme:
A harrowing real-life case of abduction, mistaken identity, and botched police work, centering on Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins, who found themselves victims not only of a bizarre kidnapping but also of a police investigation that turned their trauma into a public scandal.

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Episode Overview

This episode delves deep into the shocking 2015 kidnapping-for-ransom case of Denise Huskins from her boyfriend Aaron Quinn’s home in Vallejo, California—a case the police publicly dismissed as a hoax before it was ultimately revealed to be terrifyingly real. The narrative unfolds like a thriller, with dramatic twists, emotional interviews, and a sobering examination of police missteps, media sensationalism, and the lasting scars upon the victims.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime: A Night Like No Other

• Home Invasion & Abduction
  • At 3 a.m., Aaron and Denise are awoken by masked intruders in wetsuits, wielding blinding lights and laser pointers ([00:42-02:18]).
  • Both are bound, sedated, and subjected to pre-recorded threats and instructions; Denise is forced to tie up Aaron before she herself is taken ([02:55-08:33]).
  • Notably, the intruders appear highly organized and seem to mistake Denise for Aaron’s ex-fiancée ([09:18-11:22]).

Quote:

"I feel like I am some character in this crime drama. I'm like in a movie. The frogman obviously didn't do it. So who did it?"
—Aaron Quinn ([01:11])

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2. The Aftermath: Betrayed by Law Enforcement

• Aaron as Suspect
  • After a delayed 911 call under threat from the kidnappers, Aaron is rapidly treated as the prime suspect ([15:55-16:58]).
  • Police focus on inconsistencies in Aaron and Denise’s relationship rather than the abduction ([19:04-20:41]).
• Interrogation Tactics & Polygraph
  • Aaron undergoes an exhausting round of questioning and a polygraph, is told he "failed miserably," and is denied belief or sympathy ([27:36-27:55]).
  • Officers reference infamous cases, like Laci Peterson, to push Aaron toward a confession ([22:36-23:07]).

Quote:

"There's no question in my mind that you failed this test and you failed it miserably. It's not even close at this point."
—Investigator to Aaron ([27:36])

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3. Denise's Ordeal in Captivity

• Physical and Sexual Assault
  • Denise is held for 48 hours in a remote location, subjected to continuous sedation, sexual assault, and manipulative threats ([48:25-49:39]).
• Release and Doubt
  • She is ultimately released near her mother’s house, following threats and instructions not to reveal certain facts ([36:14-36:46], [48:25-49:39]), but is immediately doubted by police ([41:02-41:46]).

Quote:

"Now we meet face to face, eye to eye. I am Denise Huskins, the woman behind the blindfold. I'm not Victim F, the real life gone girl, a hoaxer. Just a body to take a random life. No, I am none of those things. I am Denise Huskins."
—Denise Huskins, victim impact statement ([80:08-81:06])

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4. Media Sensation & Gone Girl Syndrome

• "Gone Girl" Comparison
  • Police and press seize on the narrative that Denise orchestrated her own kidnapping à la "Gone Girl," compounding the trauma for both victims ([34:58-35:44], [55:19-55:39]).
  • The story becomes national tabloid fodder, further isolating Denise and Aaron.

Quote:

"The whole premise of it is that the two of them were lying and that this kidnapping never happened."
—Narrator ([41:46], [44:40])

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5. The Break: The Real Perpetrator Emerges

• New Crime Reveals Pattern
  • A strikingly similar home invasion in Dublin, CA leads detectives to Matthew Muller—a Harvard-educated former Marine ([59:25-62:41]).
• Evidence Finds Truth
  • Law enforcement finds physical evidence linking Muller to the Huskins kidnapping: goggles with blonde hair, a laptop, and a vehicle connected to the crime ([65:10-65:59]).
  • Investigators realize previous cases were linked and that the Vallejo kidnapping was real, not a hoax ([69:59-70:17]).

Quote:

"When they found the Mustang and the laptop, it was like… the sun breaking… They had executed a search warrant on the residence… everything looked exactly as Denise had described it."
—Aaron Quinn ([70:17])

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6. Vindication and Institutional Failure

• Apology and Settlement
  • Eventually, the city and police issue a private apology; Aaron and Denise sue and settle for $2.5 million ([76:31-79:24]).
  • Despite vindication, the department's lack of public accountability is critiqued, and the lead detective is ironically named Officer of the Year.

Quote:

"Yes, I run you over with my car, right? And, you know, I send you a new pair of shoelaces. You know, it just doesn't work."
—Aaron Quinn ([76:54])

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7. Healing and Moving Forward

• Their Relationship & Life After
  • Despite immense trauma and public shaming, Denise and Aaron endure, marry, and have a daughter ([81:17-82:44]).
  • Detective Misty Caruso, whose persistence brought truth to light, officiates their wedding, symbolizing the importance of individual good work in the justice system ([81:47]).

Quote:

"Although a lot of what we wrote about in the book is tragic and sad, it is actually really our love story. And there is a happy ending. And it's her. One thing especially that I'd want her to know."
—Denise Huskins ([83:19])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• "I feel like I am some character in this crime drama. I'm like in a movie."
  —Aaron Quinn ([01:11])

• "Tonight, Denise Huskins is still missing. Police have no suspects. The new twist in what some call the real life gone girl."
  —Narrator ([02:41])

• "You have to adjust... it's fine for people to make mistakes, [but] to not accept it and acknowledge it, I cannot understand."
  —Narrator ([77:34])

• "We can't rebuild our lives until people can see the truth. I was Victim F for female victim… We were still Victim F and Victim M."
  —Denise Huskins ([78:35])

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Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |--------------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:42–02:18 | The Break-in and Abduction Details | | 15:55–16:58 | Aaron Contacts Police, Treated as Suspect | | 27:25–27:55 | Aaron's Polygraph and Disbelief | | 34:44–35:44 | Denise Found Alive, Media and Police Reaction | | 41:02–41:46 | Denise's Interrogation by Police | | 48:25–49:39 | Denise Reveals the Full Ordeal (Assault and Threats) | | 59:25–62:41 | The Dublin Home Invasion and Matthew Muller’s Arrest | | 65:10–65:59 | Physical Evidence Linking Muller to Huskins Kidnapping | | 78:35–79:24 | "Victim F" and Fight for Truth | | 80:08–81:06 | Denise's Victim Impact Statement | | 81:17–82:44 | Wedding, Healing, and the Aftermath |

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Closing Reflections

This episode is a powerful indictment of “belief bias” in criminal investigations, the double victimization of those caught between crime and law enforcement, and the redemptive power of truth and resilience. Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn’s story, once dismissed as “Gone Girl fiction,” emerges—through pain, endurance, and the diligence of a few good investigators—as a moving testament to survival and to the consequences of snap judgments by both authorities and the media.

Transcript

[Aaron Quinn]

The Conjuring Last Rites on September 5th. The Conjuring Last Rites only in theater September 5th. Rated R.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Welcome to the true Crime.

[Aaron Quinn]

Vault, home to 2020's most chilling stories.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This is a crazy story about a home invasion. A 29 year old woman being abducted from her boyfriend's home in the middle of the night. Doesn't happen. People were terrified.

[Aaron Quinn]

This ninja is suddenly in their bedroom waking them up. I've been covering crime for more than.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

2 dec. Never seen anything like it. We're talking about swim goggles, blacked out headphones giving instructions, full body wetsuits. I mean, when do you hear about things like this?

[Aaron Quinn]

I feel like I am some character in this crying drama. I'm like in a movie. The frogman obviously didn't do it. So who did it?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now not only do they tell you, they don't believe you. They say, we think you killed her. He is the closest person and the last person to have seen Denise alive.

[Aaron Quinn]

There's no question in my mind that you failed this test and you fail did miserably. You know where she is? I don't know where she is. I telling the truth. I know the creepiest things. I told him, look, there's going to be a nightmare and there's no way you're going to be able to pinch yourself and wake up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I remember being asleep and hearing a voice and thinking it was a dream.

[Aaron Quinn]

Denise Huskins vanished from her boyfriend's home on Mare Island.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This voice was trying to pull me out of the dream and I was resisting like, no, no, no.

[Aaron Quinn]

Kidnapped. A ransom abducted from her Bay Area home.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But the voice kept talking and I just remember my eyes shot open and I could see the walls illuminated with a white light that was flashing and a couple red laser dots crossing the wall. And I could hear, wake up. This is a robbery. And in that moment I just thought, oh my God, this is not a dream.

[Aaron Quinn]

Tonight, Denise Huskins is still missing. Police have no suspects. I woke up on my back and I actually was like frozen. They questioned her boyfriend and I didn't move. I think I was in shock. The new twist in what some call the real life gone girl.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He tells me that he's going to put zip ties on the edge of the bed and I'm going to secure Aaron's hands behind his back and his feet together. So I'm kneeling on the bed and I'm looking down at Aaron and I could see him take a deep breath in and on his exhale he just said, oh my God. And I'm just going, what the hell is this? And how the hell could this be meant for anyone?

[Aaron Quinn]

I've always living on Mare Island.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Mare island is a beautiful island. It's part of Vallejo, which is just outside San Francisco.

[Aaron Quinn]

Mare island used to be a naval base, and they started building residential areas around there. Newer homes, pretty quiet neighborhood for the most part. White picket fences, kind of that California quintessential bedroom community. I bought that home in 2012 and I was really proud of it. It was the first big giant purchase.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When Aaron moved in there, he thought that he was going to live there for the rest of his life, get married, raise his family there. I moved to Vallejo for a residency. Denise Hoskins and Aaron Quinn meet, they're both physical therapists. Denise is doing a prestigious physical therapy residency and Aaron's a physical therapist in the same department. This is one of the most incredible, unforgettable stories I have ever covered. And it begins as a love story. How did you two actually decide to become romantic? He told me that he was interested in me and he wanted to spend more time with me. So at the time Aaron and Denise met, Aaron had just broken up with his fiance.

[Aaron Quinn]

I found out that she was having an affair. I was very conflicted because I obviously was attracted to Denise. I also didn't trust myself anymore.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And I could see who Aaron was, the man he was, and the good in him. I knew that he would be a great partner, but I could see that he was struggling, as any woman in that situation might be. Denise was a little concerned that Aaron might still have feelings for his ex.

[Aaron Quinn]

So I just adviser just be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt. And then when I went up to visit and met up with Erin and.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Her, wow, it just seemed so mature.

[Aaron Quinn]

Erin brought Denise up to visit and.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She was very pleasant, very nice, seemed smart, looked a little bit like his ex fiance was happy that he had another girlfriend. They're about seven months into their relationship when his ex fiance is still really a source of tension. I suspected that maybe there was something going on that I he wasn't being fully honest with me about. And so I checked his phone and saw that he had been reaching out to her and saying things like he wanted to get back together with her, which, oh, just devastated me when she.

[Aaron Quinn]

Found the text message. I was at a crossroads of my life and I needed to make a change.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I finally just put my foot down and said, look, I don't deserve this. And it was a couple weeks of kind of going back and forth. And I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted to hear him out. Then just last minute that Sunday was like, you know what? I'll just, I'll come over and I'll see what you have to say and we'll go from there. I brought a pizza and we sat on the couch most of the night and talked. We talked about how it would be difficult. Like I. We had to rebuild trust. But as long as he was willing to really give this a full shot, then we could try again. It sounds like March 22nd would have been a memorable night in your relationship with no matter what.

[Aaron Quinn]

That night was really positive night. And we went to bed feeling like there's definitely work to do. But it did feel like a fresh start.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At about midnight, they go upstairs and they go to sleep. Sometime around 3am they wake up to a voice that says, wake up. This is a robbery.

[Aaron Quinn]

This ninja is suddenly in their bedroom waking them up. And the first thing that this person says is, we're not here to hurt you. This is fin financial. Which is immediately going to get some level of compliance from them. It's like, okay, okay, just don't hurt us.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I tie his hands together and then his feet together. And then the boy says, good job. Now walk to the bedroom closet. Keep your head face down. Do not look up.

[Aaron Quinn]

She's thinking, if I see their faces, they're going to have a motivation to kill me. She's trying to comply in order to survive.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And as I'm walking and turning the corner of the bed, I could see two legs from two different. So it wasn't just one person. There was more than one person in that room. Yeah. And as I walked by, the one closest to the closet followed behind me. He tied me up in the closet and went to get Aaron and helped him hop over to the closet.

[Aaron Quinn]

When I laid down in the closet, I could hear a drill going on in one part of downstairs and people going through my cabinet. What I was hoping was that they're stealing stuff.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The intruder puts swim goggles over their eyes. The lenses are covered with black tape and he puts headphones over their ears. There was these pre recorded messages giving us instructions. What did those pre recorded messages say? That they were gonna give us a sedative and if we didn't take it, they would inject it intravenously.

[Aaron Quinn]

This is an organized planned event. When the voice put headphones on me, my recording started with this kind of muffled whisper of. It was like Aaron quick to the window. Aaron, quick, to the window.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He called you by your.

[Aaron Quinn]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What goes through your mind at that moment?

[Aaron Quinn]

That we're in a lot of trouble and this is planned.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And then the intruder says we have.

[Aaron Quinn]

A problem and so we got the wrong intel.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They're not there for Denise and Aaron. They're there for Aaron and his ex fiance. It's the middle of the night. Denise and Aaron were woken at 3am by intruders. They're both now bound and are in Aaron's master bedroom closet. When the voice came back to the closet, what did he say to you? He said he was going to move me to the router room, which is the spare bedroom where the router was located. So he knew where the router was, he knew the layout of the house. Yeah. And that was another indication of the planning involved. And so he guided me to the next bedroom and again played a new set of recordings. This time it actually had threats, saying they were going to ask us personal and financial information, but if they thought that we were lying, that they would then cut our partner's face or give electric shock.

[Aaron Quinn]

He got my laptop and then forced me to give up my Social Security security number, my bank accounts. He knew where I had banked, where I had my credit cards.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He's asking him for all kinds of personal information. They're looking for email and password information. They're looking for banking information.

[Aaron Quinn]

They're going to take all my money. That's fine, I'll figure it out. And obviously I was wrong about that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He's being asked questions and at some point the intruder realizes they've got the wrong person. The intruder says, we have a problem. And he says to Aaron, do Denise and your ex fiance look alike? And he knew your ex girlfriend's name?

[Aaron Quinn]

Yeah, I just let out this is like guttural sigh. I was like, yes, they both have long blonde hair. And he said we got the wrong intel.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They're not there for Denise and Aaron. They're there for Aaron and his ex fiance.

[Aaron Quinn]

They used to live there together and she has moved out and in fact only recently he's gotten all of her stuff out of the house.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He said we have to figure out what we're gonna do and walks out. Part of me had hoped if this is the wrong person, maybe they'll just leave. Deep down you knew that they weren't gonna leave. Yeah. And then the next time he came in, he said, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna take you for 48 hours. Aaron's gonna have to complete some tasks. It's never a good outcome when you're taken to a second location. No. I thought that it was probably the beginning of the end of my life and I could only imagine what was in store for me.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was eventually moved down to the couch.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He right away is told that there's a camera on the wall that will be watching his every move. There are tape markings on the ground setting up a perimeter that he can't leave.

[Aaron Quinn]

He puts duct tape around my ankles. He asked me if I'm comfortable and I was shivering. I asked for a blanket and he goes, oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how cold it is because we're wearing wetsuits. Wetsuits. That is a brilliant thing for a criminal to do because you're not going to leave any trace evidence.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The intruder explains to him that they're going to communicate with him via text and email, specifically to an email account that they've set up.

[Aaron Quinn]

Tells me I need to stay there until the morning. I have to call in sick to work. And they had given me Denise's passcode to her phone. I need to text her boss and tell them that she had a family emergency and was going to be gone for a week. I would need to go to the bank, get the money that they requested. I had to keep my phone line open. They're going to have a camera to monitor me. If I try to communicate, they would hurt Denise. If I went to the police, they would kill her and they would give me further instructions in the morning.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Denise is then being taken away. She doesn't know where she's going and she's scared. He lifts her up, he puts her in Aaron's trunk. I knew I just needed to stay focused and calm.

[Aaron Quinn]

Then Aaron's worst nightmare, he hears the trunk of his car get closed. I was afraid that was going to be like the last time I was going to see her. I used the corner of the couch to push the goggles off and there was a digital clock and it was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Exactly 5am so Aaron's desperately trying to keep his eyes open, but the sedative is really making him tired.

[Aaron Quinn]

I just couldn't say I'd pass out. And then my alarm went off and I called, called in sick. I was able to wiggle my hands free. Then I text our manager. And then I was trying to stay awake and I just passed out again. I didn't wake up till 11:30, 30. And when I looked around, there was a house with red tape around the borders Defining where I should be, where the camera can see me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Shortly after, emails and texts start coming in from the intruders giving Aaron instructions.

[Aaron Quinn]

They tell me they want two payments of 8,500 to avoid the $10,000 federal reporting limit.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He starts messaging the intruders, and he hears nothing.

[Aaron Quinn]

My mind's rac. It was like 20 minutes, about 30 minutes, and I finally calmed myself. I start trying to think and I realize, like, if I give him the money, he could just take me and kill both of us. So I can't trust people who do this. He starts thinking his brother's an FBI agent. Do I call my brother? Do I call the police? What do I do? Imagine this agonizing period of time. Finally, he makes the decision. I've got to call Ethan. His brother who works for the FBI.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

His brother instructs him that they always tell you this, to not call 911. They tell you they're going to track you, but you need to call 911 right now. Aaron's holding his breath as he dials. He's doing the exact thing the intruders told him not to do.

[Aaron Quinn]

I hit nine and one and I just hesitate. He thinks if I press this one, if I finish calling the police, I might just get Denise killed. Either Denise is going to be dead or she'll. Or hopefully we'll be able to save her. The police are summoned to his home, and phase two of the nightmare begins.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Aaron's hoping that police are going to come to his rescue, but he is in for a surprise.

[Aaron Quinn]

I'm telling you, it did not happen. The way that you're describing it, it did not, period. I didn't hurt her. I didn't do any of that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

By the time Aaron calls police shortly before 2pm it's nearly nine hours since Denise has been taken.

[Aaron Quinn]

After I hit 911, it was all or nothing. I open the door and there's two officers and one of the first questions, they asked, are you on drugs? I said, yes. The kidnapper struck me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They come in and the first thing they do is rip that camera off the wall that he believes the intruders are watching him on.

[Aaron Quinn]

I just kind of gasped, like, what are you doing? From the police perspective, what they're confronted with is a man who said that his girlfriend was kidnapped in the middle of the night. There is a crazy story about this home invasion.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They notice there's a clean scent in the home, as though the carpets have been recently vacuumed. When they get to Aaron's bedroom, they notice there's A very small amount of blood. On the bed sheet, we have a comforter that's missing. Aaron is in possession of Denise's phone, which he used to text her employer.

[Aaron Quinn]

Aaron's car is missing and they know that he's waited a substantial period of time before dialing 911. They see all the components of what you might expect to see objectively in a domestic violence murder. Eventually, those officers seemed to soften a little bit and they told me they were going to take me to the station to give a statement. My name's Marianne Quinn.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I am Aaron Quinn's mother. My other son Ethan had sent us a text. So I called Ethan. He said, denise has been kidnapped and Aaron's at the police station. And I was just, I was shocked and I said, well, we're coming down.

[Aaron Quinn]

When I first went to the police station, they take DNA samples and they tell me that they have to take my clothes. So I go, that's fine, take it. They hand me a pair of pants and a shirt and I looked down at these pants and it says Solano County Prison on it. And I realized that the prison closed.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You're now in the police station talking to police, telling them your story.

[Aaron Quinn]

They were asking fairly open ended questions. I acknowledge. I'm like, this sounds like it's a movie. I know, it sounds bizarre.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We're talking about swim goggles blacked out with tape headphones giving instructions, intruders that are in full body wetsuits. I mean, when do you hear about things like this?

[Aaron Quinn]

They told me an area I needed to stay in my house. Said that there was going to be video recordings to monitor to make sure that I don't contact anyone. Detective Matt Mustard basically glazes over the incident at the house and it starts asking about our relationship. Then talked to my ex and at that time when I was still dating Denise. Is there tension in the relationship? Is she mad? I mean, she's upset, concerned. Is you cheating? No. Well, she felt I emotionally that was cheating in some sense.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He starts asking questions about Denise and, oh, you guys were having problems. And the tone starts to change.

[Aaron Quinn]

I mean, did she like discover something? Wow. Was she like going through your phone and like, you know, what the hell is this through my phone? What'd she find? Sound, text messages. That. What did it say? That means saying, I still care. I want to work things through with her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Aaron admits that they've had tension in their relationship. So you can sort of understand why police might be a little bit suspicious. They also are going to look at him As a suspect because he is the closest person and the last person to have seen Denise alive. At what point do you realize that you're in trouble? In big trouble?

[Aaron Quinn]

I know about 45 minutes in, he leans back in his chair and he tells me, I don't think you're being truthful. I don't think anybody came into your house. The story you're telling here, I ain't buying it all. You gotta think about how this is all gonna play out. I don't have anything to think about. I'm telling you what. Listen to me. There ain't no frogman came into your house. Nobody dressed in wetsuits or it didn't happen. Remember?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If Erin's story is true, Denise has been kidnapped. So every minute that ticks by, she's in incredible danger. While this is going on with him, his parents and his brother are at the police station. They grilled his parents. We were telling them what a good kid he was. They kept asking, has he ever gotten angry?

[Aaron Quinn]

Has he, you know, has he done drugs?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As a teenager? He was easy. He was the quarterback for the high school.

[Aaron Quinn]

He got voted as the boy of the year.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That's what they call for leadership abilities and commitment to good values. They really, really did not want to hear that. They had already decided he had killed her.

[Aaron Quinn]

They said, maybe we're in a fight and I pushed her down the stairs. Maybe we're experimenting with drugs. Maybe we're experimenting with prescription drugs. Maybe we're into weird sex things and something went wrong. I don't think this happened intentionally. I think something happened accidental. And you got to the point where you reacted the way that you did and you had to come up with this story. They were trying to get him to make the simplest concessions. You and her weren't getting along. Listen to me. You're a good guy, but you lost your temper. You killed her and threw her in the bay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Not only do they tell you, they don't believe you. They say, we think you killed her.

[Aaron Quinn]

Yes. Could you watch the Lacy Peterson got. Whatever the hell his name was. Did you watch that story in the public out of Modesto? Today is the third day of an all out search for Laci Peterson.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Mustard even brings up the Laci Peterson case.

[Aaron Quinn]

I came home and called mom and Lacey wasn't there and no one had seen her. Scott Peterson famously murdered his wife Lacy in kind of the same general area, central California. She and her unborn baby were eventually recovered in the San Francisco Bay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Investigators say they planned to bring Lacey's.

[Aaron Quinn]

Husband Scott in for more questioning. You look at that and you go, that dude's a lion. Son of a bitch. That's the way people look at you. They're telling him that he's gonna be perceived as a monster. And he keeps saying frogman because this person told them that he was wearing a wetsuit. The frogman obviously didn't do it. So who did it now? Well, it's the guy that I've been sitting here talking to tonight. So now I get out my puzzle pieces and I start figuring out, okay, how do I make it so you look like a monster? I don't want to do that. Ultimately, I'm looking for the truth.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At that point, did you think about just getting up and walking out?

[Aaron Quinn]

I didn't think about getting up and walking out because I assumed that I was going to be in handcuffs. As soon as I stepped up, they were going to arrest me. Then something incredible happened. The San Francisco Chronicle actually gets a message.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You actually hear Denise's voice.

[Aaron Quinn]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID and contact details. It's just one of the Many places.

[Aaron Quinn]

That has your personal info, and if.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

Aaron Quinn has just had the worst night of his life. His 29 year old girlfriend, Denise Huskins has just been kidnapped for ransom. But the police are convinced the person responsible for harming her is Aaron himself. In fact, they believe he killed her.

[Aaron Quinn]

When they believe that Denise essentially has been murdered, the police notify her parents and tell them that she's missing. The detective told me to expect the worst and I said, wow. So of course I was shaken. He did not have one nice thing to say about Erin. He thought everything that was coming out of his mouth was a lie. You want me to go tell her family that she's dead? Because that's what I'm prepared to do. I'm going to go tell them that I'm not looking for alive Denise. I'm looking for dead Denise. It did feel like I am some character in this crime drama. I'm like in a movie. I'm living a nightmare right now. There's blood in your house. There's blood. Yeah. Okay. I knew there was an old stain on my sheet. I had to wash those sheets multiple times. It was just a small stain. I wasn't able to get out. Little did I know a quarter sized blood stain was gonna mean that I was a murderer.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Because this is a kidnapping. The FBI is involved, and an FBI agent asks Aaron if he'd be willing to take a lie detector test. You took a polygraph?

[Aaron Quinn]

I think if I wasn't so sleep deprived, I would have said no because I know they're nonsense.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He keeps cooperating because he wants their help in finding Denise.

[Aaron Quinn]

All right. There's no question in my mind that you failed this test and you failed it miserably. It's not even close at this point.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Aaron, who has not had sleep, has this officer that is now barraging him with questions. Tell us what happened to her. Let's get her family closure.

[Aaron Quinn]

I did not do anything. Okay? I did. I. I pretty sure. Maybe you didn't. Maybe you didn't do. Maybe you didn't do anything. Maybe, maybe she. Something happened to her that you didn't plan. Maybe. I don't know. You tell me. But it can't start with three guys showing up at the house, taking it. Taking her away. That's not what happened. You know where she is? I don't know where she is. At one point, I actually started doubting my own Sandy. And I thought maybe, maybe I could have a schizophrenic breakdown. I want you guys to find her. I don't know where she is. He's run out of road. He's exhausted, he's traumatized, and he thinks that he's going to get arrested for murder. Finally he says, look, there's nothing more I can tell you. And I guess I need a lawyer. What's that? I guess I need a lawyer. We're done. They convinced my brother to come in and they're hoping that he can can get a confession from me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You see Ethan walk into that room with Aaron, and Aaron just grabs onto Ethan and he just starts sobbing.

[Aaron Quinn]

I am telling the truth. I know is the craziest thing. I just start crying because there was someone there who actually wanted to help me. He says, I'm going to get you an attorney.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's like 6:30 in the morning. Ethan was just calling around and came up with Dan's name, Daniel Russo. And Dan ended up being in the office already.

[Aaron Quinn]

The phone rings. I pick it up. He says, my name is Ethan Quinn. My brother's being held by loyal police. He needs a lawyer right away. I said, okay, I'll put my suit on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Dan Russo is a scrappy fighter. He's the guy you want to represent you if this happens to you.

[Aaron Quinn]

There seems to be a stream of blatant lies coming out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He's from the Bronx, he's got a thick accent. He says whatever he wants.

[Aaron Quinn]

He has basically died and gone to hell. I know the police officers and I say, okay, is he under arrest? Well, if he's not under arrest, it's time to say good night, Gracie. And then I took Aaron back to the office, and then he told me the whole story. And it was hard to believe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We all cried and cried. I think the thing that really got to me was when Dan Russo gave.

[Aaron Quinn]

Us a bail bondsman card.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It never crossed my mind that he might need could be bailed out.

[Aaron Quinn]

I told him, look, there's going to be a nightmare, and there's no way you're going to be able to pinch yourself and wake up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That is, unless there's some sort of proof that Denise is actually still alive. And later that day, that is exactly what arrives.

[Aaron Quinn]

At about 12:30 on March 24, something incredible happens. The San Francisco Chronicle actually gets a message from the kidnapper. With what's called proof of life. My name is Denise Huskins. I'm kidnapped. Otherwise mine.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's Denise's own voice. So we know that she is still alive, and she gives information relevant to present day. She talks about a plane crash in the Alps.

[Aaron Quinn]

An Airbus A320 plummeting in the French Alps. 150 people now fear dead.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Earlier today, there was a plane crash in the house.

[Aaron Quinn]

My other attorney, Amy, called and said there was a proof of life and that the police wanted me back at the station. I just was told by a detective an hour ago that the boyfriend was responsible for killing her. And now I'm saying, oh, she's alive. They said they want to send a message back, and they also wanted me to look at my phone, the phone that they've had in their possession since I. I called the police the day before. I bring out my phone, and then I hear my attorney's paralegal saying errands on airplane mode. And of course, if a device as well know is on airplane mode, it's not receiving incoming messages. And as soon as he takes it off airplane mode, his phone explodes in a million text messages.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why would the police put your phone on airplane mode if that was the only means of communication from a kidnapper who has your girlfriend?

[Aaron Quinn]

Exactly. They're just leaving Denise to fend for herself.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's not just Aaron Quinn who's being interrogated. Police are also speaking with Denise's family. The kinds of questions they're asking seem to insinuate that they think this entire kidnapping might be staged. The detective asks Jane, has anything bad ever happened to Denise? I said she was molested as a young girl. We were camping. The others had fallen asleep, and this adult kept after Denise. And according to court filings, the detective responds with a shocking theory.

[Aaron Quinn]

Detective Musser tells me that those that have this molestation here happen want to.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Relive it and experience the thrill of it again.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was dumbstruck.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective Mustard has denied making this statement.

[Aaron Quinn]

She is clearly still alive. And rather than entertain the possibility that, oh, my gosh, maybe this story is true, they immediately shift into, well, this must be a hoax.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This morning I. A shocking twist. Denise Hoskins found safe in Huntington Beach. They had already decided she was dead.

[Aaron Quinn]

Denise Hoskins was located safely at an undisclosed location. It was very inconvenient for them when.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She showed up alive.

[Aaron Quinn]

Desperate search for California woman Denise Huskins vanished from her boyfriend's home on Mare island yesterday.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Kidnapped from ransom in the middle of the night. Ms. Huskins whereabouts are unknown and we.

[Aaron Quinn]

Are treating this matter as a kidnapped ransom. Police have no suspects.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A 29 year old woman being abducted from her boyfriend's home in the middle of the night doesn't happen. People were terrified. Just gives me the chills of thinking about it.

[Aaron Quinn]

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This was of course going to be a huge story.

[Aaron Quinn]

Don't hurt her. Please don't hurt her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This morning, a shocking twist. Denise Huskins found safe in Huntington beach.

[Aaron Quinn]

On Wednesday, March 25, news breaks that Denise Huskins, who's been missing for 48 hours, reappears in Huntington Beach, 400 miles away from where she was kidnapped.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When Denise Huskins reappears, this story explodes.

[Aaron Quinn]

It was so sexy. The bizarre kidnapping case that looked like a real life Gone Girl. It was Gone Girl. Nancy Grace, Liz Huskins, a real life Gone Girl.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Like the movie, the movie Gone Girl is about a woman who fakes her own kidnapping. Meticulously Stage your crime scene with just enough mistakes to raise the specter of doubt. Hints in on her husband who's cheating on her and then leaves and allows the media to hone in on her husband.

[Aaron Quinn]

I turn on the tv, it's on every news network.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now to the latest twist in that kidnapping case in California. And then it just grew and grew and grew.

[Aaron Quinn]

Denise Huskins was located.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She is alive and well, 400 miles away. Where her parents live was everywhere.

[Aaron Quinn]

I couldn't believe she was alive. I mean this is a bizarre case.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The mystery continues. And that mystery has now become the subject of a book. It's called Victim F. Her kidnapper decides that there's too many police in Vallejo. He can't take her back to Vallejo, so he takes her to Huntington beach where her family lives. Stops the car, he lets me out. He had put tape over my eyes and given me sunglasses.

[Aaron Quinn]

Her bags are taken out of the cartoon and she's instructed to count to 10 until the car drives away and that they're going to be monitoring her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When did you realize that you were safe? I heard him drive off. I slowly counted to 10. I peeled the tape off my eyes and I was by myself in this alley. I grabbed my bags and I started walking and I looked at the corner street name and I saw Utica, which is the street that I grew up on. I thought, oh my God.

[Aaron Quinn]

She realizes that she's within walking distance of her mother's house in Huntington Beach.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You know, it's a street I've walked down hundreds of, of times in my life as I'm stumbling, still sedated, just walking down the street. All I wanted to do was to hug my mom and dad and finally feel safe. She goes to her mother's house, but no one's there. She sees someone working on the home and she asks to borrow a cell phone. She first calls her dad and he doesn't pick up and she leaves a voicemail.

[Aaron Quinn]

I heard the voicemail and then I went into a panic. Denise's parents were both hours away up in Vallejo, unable to get to her. She was walking over to my house, which was a mile away, about a 10, 15 minute walk. I'm thinking, okay, I've got about five minutes to get a hold of Huntington beach police.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I get to his house, I knock on the door. Nothing. And then his neighbor says, can I help you? And I said, I'm looking for my dad. Denise goes to the neighbor's home and asks to use the restroom. When I came out, there were already two officers from Huntington Beach Police Department and said, you know, are you Denise Huskins?

[Aaron Quinn]

There's actually a recording of the conversation that they had with Denise. Where do they drop you off here?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Down Utica.

[Aaron Quinn]

They see a woman who's wearing sunglasses, who appears to be very calm and her actual overnight bag is with her. So I noticed that you have obviously a purse and your jacket. How did you get that stuff?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They brought it with me. They knew that it was my stuff.

[Aaron Quinn]

She tells him the same crazy story that Aaron had told the police in Vallejo.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Denise tells them everything from waking up at 3am to the White flashing lights, the kidnapping, and put in the trunk. She tells them everything she can think of. I was put in the trunk of Aaron's car and then he started driving. I was in and out of consciousness. I knew it was hours and hours that we were driving. I feel the car slowed down and I realized that we're reaching our destination. The entire time that Denise is kidnapped, she's regularly given liquid doses of benzo. Likely that seems sedative that she was given the first night.

[Aaron Quinn]

Did you ever ask him to let you go?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I asked him if he was going to hurt me. I asked him if he was going to kill me. He had said there was no reason for that.

[Aaron Quinn]

They also asked in that interview, you know, you were kidnapped for two days. Did they sexually assault you? Were you sexually assaulted or anything like that during this? No. They didn't touch you or do anything to you against your will?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

No. Weird, because it's all Things considered, they treated me really nicely.

[Aaron Quinn]

Although Denise appears to be pretty calm, to the officers that are talking to her, she does express fear. She does talk about how she's. She's scared. At one point, she actually says she thinks she needs to talk to a lawyer. Our detectives are gonna have to talk to you. He does have a camera we're showing him, at least.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yeah, I wanted to see if it's about talking with a lawyer first. I continue asking for my parents. That's all I want to do is talk to them. You know, I'm asking, where are they? Can they. I just really want to speak to them. And then finally, my cousin comes in. Hi. Hi.

[Aaron Quinn]

Oh, God.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Seeing someone that I know and love come in finally. I, like, could finally take a deep breath.

[Aaron Quinn]

Can you give us a couple minutes?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Thank you. He just took control of the situation. My cousin and I finally felt safe. She's left the building with a family member.

[Aaron Quinn]

And at this time, all information is.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Being turned over to Vallejo pd.

[Aaron Quinn]

We're confident that we're going to be able to piece together this puzzle and have a better picture of what really occurred once we speak to Ms. Huskins. The Vallejo police want to interview her as well as the FBI.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Nick. Her cousin, who is the attorney, starts talking to Detective Mustard. And the first thing Mustard tells him is, we'll give immunity to whoever confesses first to, like, making this whole thing up, basically. And Tadice is like, what? Detective Mustard has denied making this offer.

[Aaron Quinn]

And it becomes very clear to her very quickly that she is actually in a legally precarious situation.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was obvious that I needed to get a defense attorney.

[Aaron Quinn]

And the FBI wanted to give her a courtesy flight on their plane. I said, absolutely not. You make sure she gets on a commercial flight. And I want her to go directly from the airport to my office.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Meanwhile, what's being portrayed to the media is Denise isn't cooperating. We have a plane ready to get her. She turned it down.

[Aaron Quinn]

We have not heard from Ms. Huskins.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And they say we've lost contact with.

[Aaron Quinn]

Her, and we are no longer in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Contact with any of the family members. And so the nature of. Of the press conference turns very quickly.

[Aaron Quinn]

From this point forward, I will not refer to them as a victim or a witness.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was very clear that the only people being investigated were Aaron and Denise. Police say the kidnapping was a hoax. I was mentally preparing myself for a fight, and it would have to be a fight to the death. Every moment, every ounce of energy is about, how do I live to See another second. The story so incredible, Vallejo police didn't believe it. This morning, a shocking twist. Denise Huskins found safe in Huntington Beach. The whole premise of it is that the two of them were lying and that this kidnapping never happened.

[Aaron Quinn]

He said, oh, she just wants to be another gone girl. She read the book, saw the movie.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The last thing that you're thinking about is if I do survive, I need to make sure that I'm believable.

[Aaron Quinn]

I gone from her murderer to me a hoax.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was very clear that the only people being investigated were Aaron and Denise. Picking up the pieces of our life one by one by one, all the while being in a constant state of terror, knowing that the kidnappers are out there and knowing that people think that you're liars. My name is Misty Caruso. I am a sergeant at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Before I became a detective, I was obsessed with watching 2020 tonight on 20 20, I like watching how the detectives worked and how they solved the crimes. It was always so intriguing to me. In March of 2015, I remember hearing about this gone girl case, kidnapped for.

[Aaron Quinn]

Ransom, found safe this morning.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And still the same questions remain. And then I had seen Vallejo PD press conference.

[Aaron Quinn]

The same day that Denise is released, Lt. Kenny park with the Vallejo Police Department had an extraordinary press conference.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lieutenant Kenny park comes out and he starts by thanking reporters for being there.

[Aaron Quinn]

I really appreciate your time coming in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Vallejo police issued a press release even before that press conference, basically saying this. It was an orchestrated event. So the reporters were already geared up for this to be a lot of drama. At this press conference, the statement that.

[Aaron Quinn]

Mr. Quinn provided was such an incredible story, we initially had a hard time believing it. And upon further investigation, we were not able to substantiate any of the things that he was saying. As soon as Kang park started talking, I knew that they're gonna go after us. From this point forward, I will not refer to them as a victim or a witness.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I just remember thinking, this is insane.

[Aaron Quinn]

He was angry. I had gone from a murderer to now committing a hoax.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lt. Park never outright called Aaron Quinn or Denise Huskins liars. He never used the word hoax. But if you listen to the entire press conference, the whole premise of it is that the two of them were lying and that this kidnapping never happened.

[Aaron Quinn]

The fact that we've essentially wasted all of these resources for really nothing is upsetting. And I'm thinking to myself, how could you say that? You have no idea. No one's investigating this is before they've even spoken to her. This is the same day that she's released by the kidnapper. Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins has plundered valuable resources away from our community. It is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins that owes this community an apology.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I'm sitting watching the newscast, knowing that.

[Aaron Quinn]

She'S alive, and then they insult her by saying that her and Erin owe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The everyone an apology.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was aghast.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Police officers don't go on camera and give press conferences unless they're certain about what they're saying.

[Aaron Quinn]

To hear the reporters just go with his version of the story without even pressing them, one of the reporters asked if Denise I were facing charges. There are still some loose ends that we need to tie up. And at the conclusion of the investigation, if you feel that there is sufficient evidence to move forward, we will be requesting criminal charges.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So Denise has no idea that this has happened because while the press conference is going on, she's making her way from Huntington beach, where she was released, up to the San Francisco area to meet her attorney. The plane lands in San Francisco at 9:30 at night. And I walk into my defense attorney, Doug Rapoport, his office, and one of the first things he says when I sit down, he's like, look, Vallejo police, they just held a press conference and completely threw you under the bus. What do you have to say about it?

[Aaron Quinn]

I'm not somebody who just automatically believes my clients. I would be a fool if I did. And that's why I met with her and I went through the story repeatedly with her. When she was going through the story, the emotion was so real, not only were the facts consistent, but I. I remember the most telling fact was when she was taken to the house and she was bound. She had been in the trunk for hours.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was awkwardly trying to get me out of the trunk when he grabbed me. He stumbled, he fell. He pulled you into a garage? He just drugged me. And it was a cold. A really cold concrete floor. He put a blanket over me and said he had to go inside and clean.

[Aaron Quinn]

She heard him cleaning inside and thought, he's a mass murderer and he's cleaning up from the last victim and that I'm gonna die.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In your book, Victim F, you write about a promise that you made yourself in that moment. I told myself, no matter what they do, no matter what they put me through, I'm not gonna beg and scream. If it is the last moment that I'm going to be living, I'm just going to stay calm. And be grateful for the life I had.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was absolutely convinced that she was telling the truth. By the time she meets with her lawyer and she's in a safe space, she's able to actually give the complete details of what happened. She told me that she did not tell the officers two things because he told her, do not mention these two things. And she was petrified of this person.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

One, that he was in the Marines, and two, that she had been raped. So that first day in captivity, he says, we have a problem because this wasn't intended for you. We don't have anything on you to make sure that you comply. So one of us is going to have to have sex with you. And it will be recorded to make sure that you don't go to the police. And if we think that you are going to go to the police, we will air it on the Internet. He acted remorseful and hesitant, like he didn't want to do this. I shared with him about being molested as a child and thinking some bit of him will just go, okay, I won't do this to her. But that didn't happen. No. During the course of those two days, he did rape her and video. And not just once. No. Her kidnapper tells her that the group has decided the recording doesn't look believable enough. They have to do it again. He had told me it doesn't look consensual. So this time we'll have to kiss and we'll have to make it look like you're enjoying it. It's an unthinkable thing to go through to be raped then to have to act like you're enjoying it. You know, I had to do and say things that I would with Aaron. It's cruel. It's cruel. It's beyond cruel. It's a certain level of torture. After two days of Denise feeling like her life is being held in the balance every moment, her kidnapper comes to her and says, I'm going to release you. That was always the plan, but. But as the clock was ticking, I realized that if that 48 hours came and went and it didn't happen, I was mentally preparing myself for a fight. And it would have to be a fight to the death. And he woke me up. He said it was around 2am and that he was going to drive me down to Huntington, where my family lives. And then I just was in and out of consciousness. He stops the car, and before he pulls me out, he says that my strength is admirable and he really wishes that we would have met under different circumstances. But the police seem to have already decided that Denise's harrowing story isn't true.

[Aaron Quinn]

Nothing but a hoax.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It is possible she could face criminal charges. And that that's about to draw the ire of someone unexpected. The kidnapper. The San Francisco Chronicle receives another email.

[Aaron Quinn]

Here was a guy trying to defend his victims. It just got more and more surreal. Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

Yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it. Are you. Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

@Mintmobile.Com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only. Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com this episode is brought to you by JCPenney. Yes, JCPenney. And if you've been there recently, you know it's the place to go for jaw dropping looks at Bragworth. They've got something special for every style and budget. Not to mention rewards and deals that make finding those hidden gems even sweeter. If you already shop JCPenney, you're already.

[Aaron Quinn]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

Is there any evidence that makes, you.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Know, conclusively that this was all a.

[Aaron Quinn]

Our investigation has concluded that none of.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The claims has been substantiated.

[Aaron Quinn]

And I can go, I could go one step further to say this, that this was not a random act and that the members of our community are safe and that they have nothing to fear.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Police say the kidnapping was a hoax, an orchestrated hoax.

[Aaron Quinn]

According to officials, Denise Huskins, purported orchestrator of this possible kidnapping hoax. You can't fathom that Elise would be this aggressive with nothing to back it up. For a minute, I thought maybe Denise made it up. Maybe because of how I hurt Denise in the past, maybe she was trying to get back at me. The fact I even thought for a moment that Denise made this up was something I'll carry with me till the day I die.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I was at my criminal defense attorney's at, you know, ten o' clock at night until five the next morning.

[Aaron Quinn]

During the course of that evening, I'd been talking with the Vallejo Police Department and trying to get a sexual assault exam.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They said, you know, we need to speak to her first. We'll talk to her tomorrow, and then we'll determine whether or not we'll set up that exam.

[Aaron Quinn]

And according to court filings, when Denise attorney asked for that exam, Vallejo police initially disregarded that request. Said, we have evidence that's going to dissipate. You're going to lose your DNA, you're going to lose, you know, fibers. They said, well, the most callous thing I think I've ever heard somebody say from law enforcement, they said, well, just have her sleep in her clothes and don't take a shower, and we'll talk about it in the morning.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Vallejo has denied this account. And my attorney told me, you know, you don't have to speak with the, the police, but the only way that we're going to catch this, this guy and the people who are involved is if you speak to them. Denise does go in to speak with law enforcement. She has two days where she endures questioning after having experienced such a traumatic event. The first day, I was questioned by the Vallejo police. And then the second day, the lead FBI agent took over. And, and with his questioning, it was very different.

[Aaron Quinn]

They spoke to her just like any other suspect. There wasn't one time, I think, where they showed any real compassion or understanding, and that's because they believed that she was a criminal.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It seemed like that FBI agent's main goal was only to trip me up, and he made me go through the assaults again, what position I was put in, what his body felt like. And at the end of it, he basically says, you know, are you sure? Is there anything else you want to say? Because it's a crime to lie to an FBI agent.

[Aaron Quinn]

They basically threatened her. They said, you can be prosecuted. The FBI agent told me after we concluded Denise's interview that he was 99% certain that she was lying.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And he told my attorney, you should watch the movie Gone Girl. It would explain a lot. When they started calling Gone Girl, I was shocked.

[Aaron Quinn]

He said, oh, she just wants to be another Gone Girl. She read the book, saw the movie.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And I thought, what does that mean? I had heard of the book and the movie. I hadn't seen it, and I had no clue.

[Aaron Quinn]

The new twist in what some call the real life Gone Girl, the story.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Is being compared to the movie Gone Girl, where a beautiful woman fakes her own kidnapping.

[Aaron Quinn]

She is not the Gone Girl.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She's responsible person. Once you've been through the trauma, you've been through no one would expect. Well, no. And you disbelieved something like that. And every moment, every ounce of energy is about, how do I live to see another second? That is all you can think about. The last thing that you're thinking about is, if I do survive, I need to make sure that I'm believable. On Thursday, March 26, the San Francisco Chronicle receives another email, and it is filled with details about the kidnapping. The author of the email writes, it isn't a hoax. They're not lying. They'd seen the headlines, apparently, where Denise and Aaron are being blamed and saying that they made the whole thing up. And they're basically like, no, telling the truth because we did it.

[Aaron Quinn]

The kidnapper, the guy who invaded their home and raped her, was offended that the Vallejo Police Department would say it was all a hoax. Just got more and more surreal.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The kidnapper wanted credit.

[Aaron Quinn]

Yes, I do believe they wanted to clear our names, but they also wanted credit for their work. There was also a level of arrogance of like, look how clever we are.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Not only are there explicit details about the kidnapping, but they attached photos of evidence showing even the room that Denise Huskins was held in, pictures of the squirt gun with a laser thing duct taped on it to make it look like that's what the red dots were. It describes crimes that they had committed on Mare island leading up to the kidnapping. They started out as car thieves, but they weren't making enough money. And then they started getting into this kidnapping for ransom. They call themselves Ocean's Eleven. Gentlemen criminals.

[Aaron Quinn]

Why do this? Why not do it? They probably thought they're like George Clean, Brad Pitt. Moreover, the. The emails came to the Chronicle while Denise was being interviewed. You would think that was a fact that would vindicate her, or at least let law enforcement think, aha. There may be something else going on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Here while all of this is going on. You two haven't seen each other yet. We're talking, and I tell him that I'm still in the Bay Area. We made a plan to have him come and so we could see each other. I was just sick with anticipation, wondering what he thinks of me. Is there any bit of him that thinks that I'm this horrible liar who would do something like this to him?

[Aaron Quinn]

I just wanted to see her. I just wanted to hold her. I just wanted to tell her I was sorry. And I was really afraid that she. She wouldn't want to see me, that she would just want to wipe her hands clean.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And in captivity, I kept picturing him. I kept just visualizing what that feeling must be like to finally feel safe in his arms again. And so when he knocked on that door and I open it, I mean, we just embraced and, like, we're just crying and holding each other.

[Aaron Quinn]

I knew our lives had changed forever and that we were gonna go through a lot more struggle. But, like, we're together.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At least you had each other.

[Aaron Quinn]

Yeah, at least each other. Now.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A little more than two months after this, there was a home invasion in Dublin, California.

[Aaron Quinn]

County emergency.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Finally, Aaron and Denise's story is about to get a big shot of believability.

[Aaron Quinn]

They are out there right now. My husband's fighting with them. When the Dublin incident happened, I said, that's a wrap.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As the weeks pass with no breaks in their case, Denise and Aaron find themselves the prime suspects in their own home invasion and abduction.

[Aaron Quinn]

The nightmare, in many ways, is just getting started for Denise and for Aaron.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They believe that they're not safe, that whoever is responsible for the burglary and Denise's abduction is still out there. And police certainly are no longer looking for those people. We were picking up the pieces of our life one by one by one, all the while being in a constant state of terror.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was about to get fired from my job. They were looking for, I believe, praying reasons to fire me because they didn't want my bad reputation tainting up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It plants a seed in people's minds to doubt us. Everything we worked hard for, it just got wiped away. And I became this vision of everything that people want to hate. I was an object to throw stones at. It was devastating to see both of them.

[Aaron Quinn]

They could not function.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Were you concerned that you were going to be arrested and charged? Yeah. I mean, yeah, that was the plan. We were preparing for a defense. But there's about to be a very big break in the case, which will change everything.

[Aaron Quinn]

On June 5, 2015, I received a call about a home invasion robbery that just occurred in the city of Dublin. Dublin is a small California town. It's about an hour south of Vallejo.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

An older couple wakes up during the middle of the night to a bright flash shining in their faces.

[Aaron Quinn]

The wife had reported seeing a laser also being pointed at her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's this exact same thing that happened to Aaron and Denise. Only this time, things go awry pretty quickly.

[Aaron Quinn]

When he attempts to tie up the wife, the husband jumps across the bed and tackles the suspect.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The wife is able to slip away and go to the bathroom and call 911.

[Aaron Quinn]

County emergency. We had a break in. They are out there right now. My husband fighting with them. I just broke loose. I will hide in the bathroom right now. Husband fighting with a subject. Standby. Is that subject that's fighting still in the house? The suspect tries to get away. He in turn hits the husband upside the head with a maglite style flashlight and exits the house. He run away already? He ran away. Okay. My husband. Husband's bleeding. He had a pretty good head injury, but he fought this man and essentially chased him out. Well, in the struggle, the kidnapper wound up leaving a cell phone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Law enforcement was able to quickly find out who the owner of this cell phone was. And it comes back to a woman in Orangevale, California.

[Aaron Quinn]

So when we reached out to her, she had told us that her son, Matthew Moeller, lost his phone the day before. They learned some pretty astonishing things about Matthew Muller. He joined the Marine Corps for five years, and he actually was discharged honorably as a sergeant. He graduated summa cum laude from Pomona College out here in California. He had a number of years of military experience, so that set him apart from most of our classmates. Certainly prioritized his studies over his social activity, and then went to, of all places, Harvard Law School. You don't get into Harvard Law without being some combination of smart and hard working. And he was very clearly both. He went into immigration law. He got married. He had this very successful life that was just getting started. Mueller claims that in 2008, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And by 2015, his life was kind of falling apart. He'd been disbarred by the California State Bar for failing to return $1,200 to a client. He'd been separated from his wife. When we reached out to his mother, she just told us where he was at. That was in their family cabin in South Lake Tahoe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They had located the suspect of the home invasion they were going to survey. Search warrant. Misty Karasu was still a day away from officially being a detective. But when her boss called and asked her if she'd let like to go to South Lake Tahoe for one of their cases for a search, she said, sure, I'm there. The house was your typical cabin in the woods. The house looked quiet. It didn't look like there was anybody home. We all lined up tactically and walked up to the front door.

[Aaron Quinn]

We kicked down the door. The place was cluttered. As we make our way across all the debris, we see Matthew Mohler coming out from one of the bedrooms. And then we asked him, do you know why we're here? He said, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When I went to take pictures of him, he was just shut down. Didn't want to talk. Just like a blank stare. They start doing a search of the house and Misty, from the minute she walked in, she was just getting a very creepy feeling about the place. There were a lot of ski masks, there were a few stun guns.

[Aaron Quinn]

We did recover a number of laptops, cell phones. There was one specific laptop that was stuffed in between the mattress and the box ring of his bed.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was driving a stolen Ford Mustang. We opened the trunk and there was a large green bag that had a blow up doll in it.

[Aaron Quinn]

It was kind of stuffed in there but had very rigid wires that that allowed it to be erect on its own. It had zip ties, duct tape were a number of replica squirt guns. One of them had specifically just your typical pen style laser pointer that was duct taped to it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There were several swim goggles that were duct tape black. One in particular had a blonde hair strand attached to the duct tape. The Dublin home invasion. None of them had blonde hair. She knows something isn't right. She knows that something bad happened to someone, but she doesn't know who.

[Aaron Quinn]

This can't be the first time this person's done this and she's going to find out what else Matthew Muller has done.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Aaron Quinn]

After the break in in Dublin, Detective Misty Caruso doggedly pursues this.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

At that point there was enough evidence tying him to their crime. She could have stopped right there and nobody would have faulted her for it because they had this case closed. But she Just couldn't get it out of her head that this had happened to someone else. Looking back at all the evidence, there was just no denying that this wasn't his first time committing a crime. I just had to figure out where these other crimes occurred. She puts Matthew Mueller's name into the police database, and he comes back as having been a person of interest in a string of unsolved crimes in nearby cities. There were two incidents from 2009 in the neighboring cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View, where Mueller was listed as a person of interest. In both cases, a man broke in in the middle of the night, bound the female victims, covered their eyes, and threatened to rape them.

[Aaron Quinn]

We believed at the time that those two cases may be linked and may have been committed by the same suspect.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They just hadn't been able to charge him.

[Aaron Quinn]

There was also the recovered stolen Mustang.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And Misty tracks down the owner of the white Mustang, and it turns out he's a college student who lived on Mare Island. He mentioned that there was a kidnapping that had occurred at the same time that his vehicle was stolen. A kidnapping case that was labeled a hoax by Vallejo Petey. And it caught my interest. I Googled the Vallejo kidnapping case and all of the Gone Girl stuff came up.

[Aaron Quinn]

Police are investigating whether those kidnappers were, well, imaginary.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And I saw the Voyopedy lieutenant in his press conference.

[Aaron Quinn]

It is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That owes this community an apology. It all came back to me and I thought, this is beyond crazy. She wants to talk to Vallejo. She can't get a call back. She finally reaches them and like, well, you got to talk to the FBI. And she calls the FBI. I said, I have this suspect in custody who may be a person of interest to you in the Vallejo kidnapping case that you guys deemed a hoax. And he told me that it wasn't the FBI saying that it was a hoax and that it was Vallejo PD.

[Aaron Quinn]

That said it was a hoax. And they came pretty quickly after that. There was one representative from Vallejo pd, and then there was two FBI agents that came to our station as well. And when we showed them the pictures of the evidence we had, they were shocked. They were shocked.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Lo and behold, all of these details that Aaron and Denise had told them had happened are now being corroborated. And it turns out it's not so bizarre that, you know, this is, in fact, what happened. So three months later, you get a call from your attorney that investigators want to talk to you again. Yes.

[Aaron Quinn]

And they tell me that they think they caught the guy.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did they tell you his name?

[Aaron Quinn]

No, they told me very little detail. They said they had found my computer at the place they had found a goggle with long blonde hair. I just realized, like, our whole lives can change. When they found the Mustang and the laptop, it was like, you know, the sun breaking. I mean, that's so cliched, but that's what it really felt like. They had executed a search warrant on the residence we found out was in Lake Tahoe, which made sense because Denise said she was in the car, you know, held in the trunk for a couple hours while they were driving there, everything looked exactly as Denise had described it. She said, daddy, the kidnapper has been found. And they found evidence that that connects them to the kidnapping. And I said, what? Like, what did they find? They found his car that had GPS on it. We had to identify where this car had been. And later we find, after we're doing research into the Vallejo case, one address in particular was East Utica Avenue in Huntington, the exact area where Denise was dropped off.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The news breaks immediately and it's headlines all over the world.

[Aaron Quinn]

Major break in a strange kidnapping case in California.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Well, this case may have finally come together.

[Aaron Quinn]

How did this case take yet another surprising turn? Good afternoon, everyone. Today is a fabulous day. We held a press conference and I said, you know, we're expecting full apology. Are hoping that Vallejo PD steps up to the plate. It was really joyful to go out there and trumpet his innocence.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I remember they were squeezing each other's hands so tightly. Throughout the entire press conference, Dan Russo and Doug Rapoport are taking turns back and forth, just pummeling the Vallejo Police Department.

[Aaron Quinn]

Had you asked some very important basic questions? Which Vallejo Police Department? It just completely went over their head. I mean, there were just so many factors that they could have looked to to determine that, Geez, maybe Denise and Aaron are telling the truth. But no, they were so stuck in supporting their snap judgment at that press conference.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I knew that I was not going to look down. I was going to try to look every reporter in the eye so they could see me, too. You know, I'm not just a picture. I'm not just a name. She wanted them to know without words, that she wasn't a liar. Here I am. This really happened to me.

[Aaron Quinn]

They are absolutely, 100%, positively, unequivocally, not just not guilty, but innocent. That moment was vindication to a certain degree, bittersweet. They were now coming out the other side.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There are so many Questions for the Vallejo Police Department about how they got this so very wrong. They catch the perpetrator, but they say he acted alone. Even though Aaron and Denise know that there were other people there that day, night, it just would have been impossible to have been done with just one guy.

[Aaron Quinn]

Matthew Mueller was charged in federal court in Sacramento, California, with the kidnapping for ransom of Denise Huskins. What he wasn't charged with were the sexual assaults. The reason being is that there was no jurisdiction in federal court for those crimes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There's still part of me that wants him to tell us what really happened. I think there's more to it. Aaron and Denise know there were other people there that night. There was things that happened that we saw, that we heard. It just would have been impossible to have been done with just one guy. There's other people out there. That's something that we've had to live with. I somehow make peace with that. When the indictment is unsealed, we never see Lt. Kenny park on camera again. He's still working as a PIO for the Vallejo Police Department. They serve up Captain John Whitney to answer reporters questions. My ABC News colleague, Cecilia Vega was there among the reporters grilling Captain Whitney. So does the department still stand by the statements that it made so publicly four months ago that this was a hoax that wasted valuable city resources?

[Aaron Quinn]

Yes, but we're also continuing to investigate it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Does the Vallejo Police Department owe this couple an apology?

[Aaron Quinn]

We're going to evaluate that when the investigation is complete and then go from there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There are so many questions for the Vallejo Police Department. If they had been investigating what Aaron was telling them, if they had looked at his phone and made sure that it wasn't on airplane mode, maybe they could have gotten to Denise sooner. The kidnappers did call Aaron's phone three times around 8:30 that Monday night. Right before Mustard was going to interrogate Aaron.

[Aaron Quinn]

He voluntarily gave him his phone and they put it on airplane mode. Even though he told him, the kidnapper's gonna call me on this phone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You never cut off lines of communication to a person, perpetrator, ever. Every communication that came in and out of that phone should have been tracked. They actually did have the evidence that could have led them, if not to rescue me, at least afterwards, to go to his exact location, maybe they could have prevented what happened to the couple in Dublin, California. The Vallejo Police Department publicly threw you under the bus. So when the truth comes out, you were telling the truth the whole time. Did they ever say, I'm sorry the.

[Aaron Quinn]

City attorneys wrote a letter of apology that the chief of police signed.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The letter, in part, says, it is now clear that there was a kidnapping on March 23, 2015, that it was not a hoax or orchestrated event. It also admits that the words that Lieutenant Kenny park spoke during that press conference were harsh and offensive. A private apology, though not a public one.

[Aaron Quinn]

Yes, I run you over with my car, right? And, you know, I send you a new pair of shoelaces. You know, it just doesn't work. You know, it's totally absurd. So I was happy. They. They sued the city. Aaron and Denise filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging a number of claims, including defamation. When Lieutenant park falsely accused Aaron and Denise of faking the kidnapping, the police department did not have all of the information they needed. You can have a theory, but your theory should not survive contact with the first contrary facts. You have to adjust.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And it's fine for people to make mistakes, to not accept it and acknowledge it. I cannot understand why that's not something that they don't seem willing to do. When we asked about that apology, the City of Vallejo sent back a statement. It says, in part, the case was not publicly handled with the type of sensitivity a case of this nature should have been handled with. And now, six years later, the current Police Chief, Shawnee Williams, writing, I would like to extend my deepest apology to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn for how they were treated during this ordeal.

[Aaron Quinn]

But at the time, the department had a very different response.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Unbelievably, the lead detective on this case, Detective Matt Mustard, is named Officer of the year for 2015, the year of this case.

[Aaron Quinn]

I thought, boy, he blew it big time in this case. So he must have done a fabulous job in some other case to make up for it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Your new book is called Victim F. Why'd you pick that name? When the FBI agents were writing the affidavit for the rest of Matthew Mueller, they asked us specifically, do you want your names in it? And typically, in affidavits like that, victims remain anonymous because of the sensitive and violent nature of the crime. But we weren't anonymous. And we said, of course, yes. We can't rebuild our lives until people can see the truth. I was Victim F for female victim. Aaron was Victim M for male victim. And when the affidavit was made public, we were still Victim F and Victim M. We requested interviews with the Vallejo Police Department, Detective Matt Mustard and Lieutenant Kenny park, as well as the FBI, but we did not hear back.

[Aaron Quinn]

Ultimately, Aaron and Denise settled their civil Suit against Vallejo, Detective Mustard, and Lieutenant park for $2.5 million. With no party admitting any wrongdoing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There will be a sentencing hearing. And then Aaron and Denise get their chance to read their victim impact statements. You actually were staring him down face to face. What was that Moment like? On March 16, 2017, almost exactly two years after their harrowing experience, Denise and Aaron come face to face with Matthew Mueller.

[Aaron Quinn]

At his sentencing hearing, Matthew Mueller entered a plea of guilty. He received a 40 year sentence. Denise got up to give her victim impact statement.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Denise Huskins was so brave. She said to the judge, your Honor, for healing purposes, I'm going to address Matthew Mueller directly. You actually were staring him down face to face? Yeah, I mean, for those days in captivity, I was blindfolded. I never saw his face, never looked me in the eye, and I was gonna make sure that he was going to. Now we meet face to face, eye to eye. I am Denise Huskins, the woman behind the blindfold. I'm not victim F the real life gone girl, a hoaxer. Just a body to take a random life. No, I am none of those things. I am Denise Huskins. After this all happened, many people, my friends and family members, said, well, are they going to stick together?

[Aaron Quinn]

Have they broken up?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I go, they're never going to break up. No one's going to understand what they went through except each other. Tell me what your wedding day was like.

[Aaron Quinn]

Our wedding was just a perfect day. Everyone who had supported us over the last few years were there. All our attorneys were there, including the.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective who linked him to our case, Misty Crusoon.

[Aaron Quinn]

It was beautiful.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The impact that I had made to these people I didn't even know is a very overwhelming emotional feeling. You just never know how you're going to impact people based off of the things that you do.

[Aaron Quinn]

I was the officiant at their wedding. It was a tremendous honor to be asked. The sun was shining, glistening off the ocean. Everybody was happy. I'm not a big wedding guy. I don't like to show emotion other than anger. Right. I'm very good at showing anger, but it was a very emotional thing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's a lot of laughters and a lot of tears.

[Aaron Quinn]

Dirk's Bentley Riser was our. Our first song. It's very much about overcoming tragedy and rising like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Survive, Survive.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's kind of become an anthem for you. Mm. Yeah. I can't talk about it. Look at you now. You got married. You have a little girl. She was born five years to the day of my release from the kidnapping. It just was an incredible, just like rebirth, you know, life just coming full circle. Have you thought about what you will tell your daughter one day about any of this? I'll tell her everything. Although a lot of what we wrote about in the book is tragic and sad, it is actually really our love story. And there is a happy ending. And it's her one thing especially that I'd want her to know. Erin and I went through a lot of therapy afterwards, but it's still, you know, I still felt like there was a little something missing, like I just wasn't quite the same. And wondering maybe will I ever really feel whole and complete again? I just feel like she just completed me, that little piece that was still broken and missing. And so she's given me more than she could ever know. And I do want her to know that.

[Aaron Quinn]

You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault Friday nights at 9 on ABC. You can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening. I'm Dennis Cooper, host of Culpable, and I want to tell you about this case I've been following in a small Ohio town. When 17 year old Danny Violet stormed out of his house one afternoon in 1998, his family thought it was just another episode of teenage angst. But their worst fears materialized when his lifeless, asphyxiated body was later found in a nearby cornfield. The question remains, what happened to Danny? From Tenderfoot tv. An all new season of Culpable is available now.