Photo of woman held captive released

October 15, 2009|Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - The first photo of Jaycee Dugard since she was reunited with her family after 18 years in captivity shows a smiling woman with long, light-brown hair.

Dugard, now 29, tells People magazine she’s “so happy to be back with my family’’ after being reunited Aug. 27. People published the photo and comments from Dugard in its latest issue, which hits newsstands tomorrow. Excerpts from the story, and the cover of the magazine with Dugard’s picture, were posted on the magazine’s website yesterday.

Dugard is living with her mother, Terry Probyn, 50, and two daughters - Angel, 15, and Starlit, 11 - fathered by her alleged kidnapper, Phillip Garrido, People reports. Authorities say Dugard and her daughters lived in a hidden encampment of sheds and tents in Garrido’s backyard.

Garrido and his wife, Nancy, have been charged with kidnapping and rape in Dugard’s 1991 disappearance outside her South Lake Tahoe home.

The Garridos have pleaded not guilty.