POLICE MISSED an opportunity to free Jaycee Lee Dugard in 2006 when they were called to the house where she was allegedly held for 18 years but failed to find her, a spokesman said last night.
Sheriff Warren Rupf said officers were called to the home of convicted rapist Phillip Garrido three years ago after reports people were living in his back garden.
He added: “On November 30th, 2006, we missed an opportunity to bring earlier closure to this situation. A caller to our 911 dispatch offered that there were tents in the neighbour’s backyard, that people were living in them, and that there were young children.
“The caller also said that Garrido was psychotic and had a sexual addiction.”
He said officers went to Garrido’s home but did not go inside and said they found no evidence “of criminal behaviour”.
He apologised for what he described as “not an acceptable outcome”.
He added: “We should have been more inquisitive, more curious and turned over a rock or two.”
Mr Garrido (58) and his wife Nancy (54) are being detained on suspicion of kidnapping.
The kidnapped woman is believed to have borne two children – now aged 11 and 15 – by her captor in a chilling echo of the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who fathered seven children with his daughter while she was imprisoned in his cellar.
Garrido is also being held for investigation of rape by force, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sexual penetration, a spokesman for the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department said.
The Garridos were arrested on Wednesday after Garrido – who was convicted of rape and kidnap in Nevada in 1971 – admitted the kidnapping under close questioning by a parole officer.
He had been called in after being seen with two children at the University of California, Berkeley.
In a statement, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said: “The diligent questioning and follow-up by the parolee’s agent of record led to Garrido revealing his kidnapping of the adult female. It was further revealed by Garrido that she was Jaycee Lee Dugard and that the children were his.”
The house in Antioch remained cordoned off yesterday as it was searched by FBI agents and police officers. – (PA)