'Daddy, I'm Okay' -- Kidnapped Vallejo Woman Found Safe In Southern California
VALLEJO (CBS SF) -- The Vallejo woman at the center of a kidnap ransom case in Vallejo has been located and investigators say information is starting to trickle in about her abductors.
According to family members, 30-year-old Denise Huskins is "home safe and sound." Police have been looking for the missing woman ever since she was reportedly abducted from her Vallejo apartment on the 500 block of Kirkland Avenue sometime early Monday, and held for ransom.
Wednesday morning her father, Mike Huskins, said she was found safe in Southern California.
The Huntington Beach Police department notified police in Vallejo at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday that they located the missing woman.
Cousin Amy Mattison told KPIX 5, "Denise is home safe and sound, which is the best possible outcome we could have hoped for, the best news we could ever receive."
Mattison said Huskins left a message on her father's voicemail saying, "Daddy I'm okay they dropped me off at mom's house, she's not there, I'm walking to your house."
When she arrived a tenant in the building called Mike Huskins saying, "Denise is here, I have her, she is safe, I'm going to call 911."
Mattison told KPIX 5 that Huskins told her dad she did not know her abductors. She was blindfolded and gagged for part of the time.
"She heard multiple voices throughout the time, but she wasn't physically injured in any way," she said.
Since her return, Mattison said the Huskin family has been calling one another non-stop.
"Honest to God we are all on our phones trying to call everybody we know and make sure everybody is up to speed," she said. "There have been a lot of cheers on the phone and a lot of "thank Gods" and I can only imagine that will continue."
Earlier Wednesday the San Francisco Chronicle confirmed that someone claiming to be her kidnapper had contacted them.
"The Chronicle's No. 1 priority is to get Ms. Huskins back with her family as soon as possible," said Chronicle Editor, Audrey Cooper. "It is true that we have received information from someone claiming to be her kidnapper, and we believe it to be authentic."
The confusion as to the actual whereabouts of Huskins began swirling after Chronicle reporter, Evan Sernofffsly tweeted Wednesday that Mike Huskins said she was safe in Huntington Beach. That tweet has since been confirmed true.
Still, how Huskins wound up in Southern California remains a mystery. It is also unclear if she was, in fact, abducted and held for ransom.
Vallejo police issued a statement saying they were making travel arrangements for Huskins so detectives can meet with her and piece together details of the kidnap for ransom. They said they are still "tenaciously moving forward while evaluating and verifying all information flow and investigative leads."
Tuesday afternoon, search crews, dive teams and cadaver dogs combed the marshland of Mare Island, but found nothing. Vallejo police said little other than that it was search dogs who lead them to the water's edge. Police believed there was a mass the size of an adult human submerged in the water.
It's believed, but not confirmed by Vallejo detectives that her co-worker and live-in boyfriend Aaron Quinn reported her abduction and the demands for a ransom, but that he called police 11 hours later.
Tuesday, the woman's father told reporters he didn't understand why it took so long for Quinn to make that call.
"Of course, unless he's tied up. Why is he waiting 10 hours to tell the police that she's missing. That somebody came in and abducted her. I don't get it," said Huskins.
Police said Quinn is not a suspect in the case.
Huskins is a physical therapist. She and Quinn both work at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, in Vallejo.
