Police Investigate Possible Link Between Sex Offender and String of Murders

Detectives in California are scrutinizing Phillip Garrido, the sex offender who held Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years, as they suspect he may have been involved in multiple murders and missing persons cases across the Bay area. Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy, have pleaded not guilty to 29 counts, including kidnapping, rape, and unlawful imprisonment, after their arrest last week for hiding Dugard and her two children in tents and sheds in their garden.

Key Takeaways:

• Phillip Garrido is being investigated for possible links to a string of nine murders between 1998 and 2002 in Pittsburg, a town near his home, where the victims' bodies were all found in a remote industrial zone.
• The victims' bodies were all found with similar methods of killing, and Garrido used to work in an industrial park on the waterfront near where several bodies were discovered.
• The police have also reopened more than 10 cases concerning murdered and missing women in the area, including the unsolved case of Michaela Garecht, who was kidnapped in 1988 from Hayward, and has not been seen since.
• The police are also investigating the suspected involvement of Garrido in the murder of 15-year-old Lisa Norrell, who was attacked and asphyxiated in 1998.
• Garrido's backyard, where Dugard and her children were kept, was found to be a "backyard within a backyard" with an intricate system of tarpaulins and an earth floor under tents and sheds.
• The police have been searching the Garrido property and the house next door, using metal detectors, digging holes, and clearing vegetation.

Statistics:

• 29: The number of counts against Phillip Garrido, including kidnapping, rape, and unlawful imprisonment.
• 18 years: The length of time Jaycee Dugard was held captive by Garrido.
• 11: The age of Jaycee Dugard when she was abducted in 1991.
• 9: The number of murders between 1998 and 2002 in Pittsburg that the police are investigating for a possible link to Garrido.
• 20: The number of books on the shelves in the makeshift living area where Dugard and her children were kept.
• 2: The number of children Dugard had with Garrido during her captivity.

Sources:

• New York and Bobbie Johnson, San Francisco: "Police from Antioch, the town near San Francisco where Jaycee Dugard was held hostage for 18 years by a sex offender until her dramatic release last week, will meet today to discuss reopening more than 10 cases concerning murdered and missing women in the area."
• KTVU: Lisa Norrell's mother, Minnie Norrell, said on local television that police had told her they were now searching for clues to her daughter's death.
• Local authorities: "The search of the Garrido property and the house next door relates to a string of nine murders that occurred between 1998 and 2002 in Pittsburg, a town of almost 60,000 in the San Francisco Bay area just seven miles from Garrido's home."