A woman and her boyfriend, previously accused by police of concocting a kidnapping hoax, have been vindicated as the FBI has determined the kidnapping to be very much real, with a suspect apprehended.
A criminal complaint unsealed Monday revealed new details in the case of the March 23 kidnapping-for-ransom and sexual attack of Denise Huskins. Sacramento resident and suspect Matthew Muller, 38, is a Harvard Law School graduate and disbarred attorney, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The search for Huskins involved over 100 trained search and rescue personnel and dive teams searching underwater.
Authorities questioned Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn after strange aspects of their story such as a paltry $8,500 ransom, messages from a “phantom” kidnapper and an unusual sequence of events.
Vallejo Police eventually stated, “Today, there is no evidence to support the claims that this was a stranger abduction or an abduction at all.” CPD Lt. Kenny Park stated on March 25, “Given the facts that have been presented thus far, this event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping.”
Huskin’s uncle, attorney Jeff Kane, had refuted the claim that the kidnapping was a hoax.
Revelations in the case led FBI to Muller as a suspect. He was then found at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin for a crime strikingly similar to the Huskins case, the Chronicle reported.
Appearing in a press conference with attorney Douglas Rappaport, Huskins and Quinn stood silent while Rappaport declared, “This is a fabulous day,” and “Our clients have been nothing but cooperative throughout. Today the Vallejo Police Department owes an apology to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn.”
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