Attorneys For Allegedly Kidnapped Vallejo Woman, Boyfriend, Say Kidnapping Wasn't Hoax
VALLEJO (CBS13) - The lawyer for a Vallejo woman who claims she was kidnapped says her story is no hoax. In fact, her attorney told the public Thursday night that Denise Huskins' kidnapping was not staged, as police had previously reported.
Huskins met with Vallejo police for several hours yesterday.
Police have called this case a "wild goose chase", but the Vallejo couple accused of staging a fake kidnapping says the police are chasing the wrong geese.
"She is distraught, she is emotionally and physically broken," said Doug Rappaport, Huskins' attorney.
Rappaport says he can't get into the details of the case, but he says it was no hoax. Huskins met with police for several hours yesterday before she was quickly driven away.
"She is absolutely, equivocally, 100 percent positively a victim," said Rappaport.
It was less than 48 hours ago when Vallejo police were calling her story of a kidnapping a lie. He says that has made her even more upset.
"She was victimized initially by being kidnapped. And then a second time by allegedly being a suspect by the Vallejo police department," said Rappaport.
Her boyfriend's attorney has a similar story.
"He has basically died and gone to hell. He is in terrible shape, he is exhausted mentally and physically," said Daniel Russo, the attorney of Huskins' boyfriend Aaron Quinn.
Russo says the reason Aaron didn't report the incident to police for 10 to 12 hours is because he was tied up and drugged by some potion he was forced to drink. Since then, his lawyers insist he has endured 17 hours of questioning by police, gave them his computer and even his phone, which happened to be in airplane mode. Russo says it was one of his staffers who suggested the FBI take it off airplane mode, and that's when they started getting messages, including one demanding ransom.
"No one in this mess of FBI team figured out to look at the phone even though he had given them the phone and given them consent to go through the phone. No one had looked to see until Sam said something, that it was on airplane mode," he said.
Police say the investigation is ongoing.
