'No Evidence' California Physical Therapist Was Abducted, Say Police
Denise Huskins was found in another city about 400 miles away.
-- Police in Vallejo, California, have found "no evidence to support the claims" that a physical therapist was abducted from a home there before she was found alive two days later and more than 400 miles away.
Denise Huskins was found in Huntington Beach, California, Wednesday morning, police said. Her father, Mike Huskins, told ABC News that his daughter called him from Huntington Beach to say she was safe.
Vallejo police said that, through family members, Huskins had promised to speak with investigators but as of late Wednesday they were unable to contact her or her family. Police said she has since retained an attorney.
“All indications initially were that she would be cooperative with the investigation,” Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Park said during a news conference Wednesday night. But, “as of right now, we have not heard from Ms. Huskins.”
The FBI, which assisted Vallejo police in its investigation, had arranged for a jet to bring her from Huntington Beach to Northern California for the interview, said police.
"There is no evidence to support the claims that this was a stranger abduction or an abduction at all," read a statement from the Vallejo Police Department. "Given the facts that have been presented thus far, this event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping."
Huskins, 29, was reported missing at 1:55 p.m. Monday by what police described as a 30-year-old man who called to report the alleged kidnapping and claimed he witnessed it. Police previously said that Huskins was abducted from the home where she was staying in Vallejo, California, hours earlier, at about 3:30 a.m.
The home from where Huskins was reportedly taken belongs to 30-year-old Aaron Quinn, ABC News has learned. Huskins' family describes him as her boyfriend and says he is the man who called 911 hours after her abduction. Park said the two were dating.
Park said that Quinn claimed whoever abducted Huskins made an $8,500 ransom demand.
The San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday reported it received an email the day before from an "anonymous person claiming to be holding Denise Huskins."
The newspaper reported the email said that Huskins "will be returned safely [Wednesday]" and that "any advance on us or our associates will create a dangerous situation for Denise."
The e-mail was also reported to include an audio file of a woman identifying herself as Huskins who referred to Tuesday’s plane crash in southern France and identified the first concert she had attended in her life, the name of a childhood friend she attended the concert with, and the name of the friend's mother as proof of her identity.
“That was her. The tape recording was her. That I know. They said they were going to drop her off and they did,” Mike Huskins told the Chronicle after being played the audio recording. “I’m relieved. You have to expect the worst -- but in my heart, I knew she was still alive."
Police in Vallejo said they received the same email and audio file but did not confirm its contents.
Vallejo police said in its statement that it would request either state or federal charges "if evidence indicates that either Ms. Huskins or Mr. Quinn have committed a criminal act."
"The Vallejo Police Department would like to ensure the public that there is no indication that this was a random act of violence," police said in its statement.
More than 40 detectives from the local, state, and police levels assisted in the investigation and search for Huskins, Park said.
“That is a tremendous amount of resources that in my opinion was wasted,” he said, adding that the search could be classified as a “wild goose chase.”
The investigation is ongoing and police are still trying to determine whether anyone else was involved, Park said.