On March 23, 2015, the lives of Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Quinn would forever be changed after being left to fend for themselves from a devastating attack.
Attack on Huskins
The kidnapping happened around the San Francisco Bay area in the city of Vallejo. Denise was at home with her boyfriend Quinn at the time, the couple were enjoying each other's company when a group of intruders broke in and took Denise. Quinn was zip-tied and blindfolded while the intruders forced Quinn to drink a substance that put him to sleep, when he woke up there was a message stating that the kidnappers wanted ransom to release Denise.
During this time Denise claimed she was raped twice during her captivity.
Vallejo Police Investigation
Huskins was found two days later after the event had happened 400 miles away from Vallejo, she was wandering around her hometown in Southern California. When Denise was taken into custody she had told the police what had happened between the time the intruders broke in and the time she was held captive. The Vallejo police did not believe Huskins due to little physical evidence being presented. Huskins stated “it was insulting” when being interviewed. The police claimed that Huskins was a “Gone Girl” which is a reference to another high-profile case where a woman staged her kidnapping. Huskins received backlash on social media due to the contrary belief that she faked her own kidnapping. Huskins was devastated and she claimed she didn't know what had to happen to her to get the help she needed.
An Alameda police detective was reading about Huskins' story and stated the Vallejo police were at fault for not finding her fast enough, he said they had plenty of opportunities to save her.
Kidnapper was Found
The same detective responded to a similar case to Huskins and arrested Mathew Muller for the crime which was the primary suspect in Huskins's case. Muller pleaded Guilty to one count of kidnapping regarding the Huskins case and is now serving a forty-year sentence; he made an agreement to avoid a life sentence.
Muller has a total of five felony convictions which include the following: two counts of rape, one count of burglary, one count of robbery, and one count of false imprisonment.
Later during an interview in 2018 with NBC, Muller stated he was not in the right state of mind to be discussing a plea deal, he then went on claiming his innocence and said he didn't commit the crime.
Vallejo Police Department at Fault
The Alameda detective who was working in Huskins' favor claimed there were multiple holes in the department's actions regarding the case. Huskins said the department would have been able to prevent the second rape from ever happening if they had just tracked Quinn's phone to pick up a pin from their location. The police also misread Quinn's Polygram and accused him of having something to do with the kidnapping.
It was later discovered that the primary detective working on Huskins' case had been sweeping similar cases under the rug, specifically regarding sexual assault. The department then released a statement that the incident was a fabrication and the couple should apologize.
Due to the trauma that the couple had endured, they filed a lawsuit against the city of Vallejo and settled for 2.5 million dollars.
Aftermath
The couple is now married and has two kids but still recovering from their traumatic experience. They were grateful to be able to share their story of the Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare” that tells the true story of the events that occurred.
Muller continues to claim his innocence and is attempting to fight the charges the couple has pinned against him, his fighting hasn't gotten him anywhere and he is currently serving his 40-year sentence.
The Detective who solved the couple's case was later promoted to lieutenant for his actions and support for the couple.
Recently the new head detective for the Vallejo Police Department issued an apology regarding the family's trauma caused by the department.
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