A teen from Suisun City admitted to authorities that she lied about being abducted to get attention from her family. Christina Almanza, who was reported missing Thursday afternoon, claimed "she was being held hostage, possibly with other females, in a basement and that one female might have been killed." But is it really that bad? Weren't we all raised with sitcoms that employed the use of fake kidnappings in order to get mom and dad back together? Or something like that? She's just a teenager. A stupid teenager. Like all teenagers. (We're on your side, Christina. We are. However, the part about telling your parents that you're being held by sex traffickers was downright horrific? You don't do that to you parents, no matter what your batshit hormones and mushy teenage brain tell you.) more ›

Over on the 200 block of Lobos Street, a man was walking home from work Wednesday night when he was forced into a van. According to SF Appeal, the suspects then drove him around and "demanded money from him and punched him in the face several times." After giving the cretins his wallet, they dropped him off at Capitol Avenue and Minerva Street. more ›

Update: Sadly, the bodies believed to be those of the father and daughter were found in the suspect's vehicle last night in a remote area of El Dorado County, near Placerville. more ›

Now that Phillip and Nancy Garrido's trial is over and they both pleaded guilty to kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her captive for eighteen years, Jaycee was finally free to give her first national television interview. She likely had her pick of interviewers, and she chose kindly Diane Sawyer at ABC, whose interview with Dugard just aired last night. more ›

Police are looking for three suspects who allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Oakland on Monday. She was taken against her will on Bancroft Avenue and Church Street at around midnight. "Police are searching for the suspects who were described as three black men and they were driving a blue Lexus,reports BCN (via KTVU). "Two of the men were described as being bald and around 40 years old. One was described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall and around 280 pounds. The other was described as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds The third suspect was described as being around 20 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 135 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes." more ›

Police found the vehicle in connection with missing 4-year-old Juliani Cardenas today. "It is not known whether the missing boy, Juliani Cardenas, or the man suspected of abducting him, Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, are inside, but the outlook is grim." The search for Cardenas started 10 days ago after his alcoholic, quasi-stepfather snatched him from his grandmother's home. [Chronicle] more ›

A statewide Amber alert is in effect for Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, who allegedly abducted four-year-old Juliani Cardenas in Stanislaus County at 4:12 p.m. this afternoon and is believed to be driving to San Jose. more ›

Egads, this sure sounds scary: a 14-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped in the Haight last night, robbed, and then dropped off in Oakland. more ›

A bad dude named Brian Adrong (a.k.a. Tony Fam) stormed into a home in the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose early Sunday morning, stabbed a 28-year-old man and kidnapped 18-year-old Judy La. It's clear that Adrong, who already has a criminal record, knew one or both of the victims. As ABC 7 reports, the stabbing victim's condition is listed as non-life-threatening, and his name has not been released. more ›

Alameda Country authorities are looking for Manuel Trujillo, 62, and Mohammed Kahn, 47, who allegedly kidnapped and killed 27-year-old Francisco Lopez "after mistakenly believing Lopez wanted to steal their marijuana." According to AP/CBS 5, "Lopez and his brother, Fernando, had gone to a home where Kahn and Trujillo were to buy the drug, not steal it on Feb. 26. The brothers were apparently tied up and beaten. Fernando Lopez was eventually able to get away." Lopez, however wasn't so lucky. His decomposed body was found on Aug. 26 near Niles Canyon Road. If you have any information about the case, call the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Tip Line at 510-667-3622. more ›

A Richmond car thief took off with a Cadillac sedan around 5:40 a.m. this morning from a gas station on Carlson Boulevard, only to discover there was a five-year-old girl in the backseat. The girl's father had left the keys and his daughter in the car while he went to pay for gas. The girl was found shortly thereafter on a street corner three miles away, and the car was later found abandoned only a quarter mile away. Word to the wise: Don't leave your keys in your car when paying for gas in Richmond. [Contra Costa Times] more ›

Isn't California nearly bankrupt? Anyway. Lawmakers in Sactown today awarded $20 million to kidnapping victim Jaycee Lee Dugard to settle claims against the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Apparently the Dugards had a pretty good case against the state, following on a November report that showed that parole officers "failed to investigate utility wires running from Garrido's house toward the shed where Dugard was held, to check out the presence of a 12-year-old girl during a visit, or to act on information that 'clearly' showed Garrido had violated the terms of his release." [CNN] more ›

Melissa Huckaby, the 29-year-old Tracy woman who you may recall kidnapped and murdered that 8-year-old girl last year, will appear in court this a.m. and is expected to receive a life sentence with no parole. Huckaby made a surprise guilty plea last month to the first degree murder and kidnapping of Sandra Cantu in March of 2009, and in exchange for the plea prosecutors dropped sexual abuse charges and took the death penalty off the table. more ›

Over in Oakland yesterday, two men are wanted in connection with an alleged kidnapping and robbery. According to reports: "Two men, one who had a handgun, approached another man in the 4200 block of Foothill Boulevard in Oakland at about 11:40 a.m." The suspects then "forced the victim into his vehicle and made him drive them to a bank" where they had him withdraw some cash, then let him go unscathed with his car. The victim wasn't injured, no arrests have been made, no description of said suspects is available, and there you have it. more ›

Whether you want to admit it or not, this is what we've all been waiting for. The money shot. The big reveal. Move that van. Here is what Jaycee Dugard looks like today. The most recent edition of People released an exclusive photo of the adult Dugard early this morning. And, well, here it is. more ›

While pulling over at 19th Street and South Van Ness to "adjust something in the trunk of her car," a woman was kidnapped and robbed by a passing driver a little around 4:30 a.m. this morning. According to CBS 5/BCN, "[a] pickup truck pulled up next to her and a man inside forced her into the cabin of his vehicle ... drove her around for a few minutes before taking her purse, stopping the truck and forcing her to get out" a mile away. She was uninjured. No arrests have been made. more ›

Although both Philip Garrido and his robot wife, Nancy Garrido, have pleaded not guilty to all 29 charges of kidnapping, rape, and false imprisonment charges, Philip's bail was set today at $30 million. His wife, however, "continues to be held without bail, something her attorney did not object to during Monday's hearing," reports CBS 5/AP. So far, the Garrido's have been charged with crimes only related to Jaycee Lee Dugard. In related news, a stun gun was used to subdue Dugard during her 1991 kidnapping. Also, District Attorney Vern Pierson denied rumors that Dugard will make her first public appearance on . So, yeah, there you have it. more ›

The mentally ill man who kidnapped, raped, and held Jaycee Lee Dugard prisoner outside his Antioch home for almost 18 years, Philip Garrido, was also an aspiring musician. Marc Lister, a Garrido business associate who has a sample of the recordings, slammed them as "absolutely horrifying," according to MSNBC. more ›

New details have emerged in the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kept hidden inside an Antioch home for 18 years. It seems Dugard helped her captor, Philip Garrido, run a small printing business from inside the home. According to NBC Bay Area, "Garrido's printing business customers described Dugard as a polite and efficient aide who straightened out orders on the phone and by email." Experts claim that Dugard never made a run for it due to fear/identifying with Garrido and his wife. One customer, Carla Kirkland, described Garrido as suffering from schizophrenia. "Just knowing the weirdness and the bizarre literature he would leave," Kirkland says, "the things he would say and singing songs. Now that I look back I think -- something was definitely wrong." Garrido is now being treated as a suspect in a series of unsolved Antioch murders. In related news, people have been venting their anger at Garrido on his loopy website. What with Garrido locked in the clink now, those rants are falling on deaf ears. Oh, and Antioch, it seems, is a haven for registered sex offenders. more ›

Oh wow. This story just gets better and better. Jaycee Lee Dugard's alleged kidnapper's brother, Ron Garrido, just spoke to The Chronicle about his deviant brother, Phillip. "It just seems so bizarre, but I can believe it," said the 65-year-old Brentwood resident. "I know my brother, and I can believe he did that. ... He's a fruitcake." (Can we have a moment to talk about the derogatory use of the word fruitcake? It's awesome in that it covers so many bases. Well said, Ron.) Phillip also dabbled in LSD and drug dealing before being run out of town by angry drug dealers. Also, he kidnapped and raped a woman in Reno in the 1970s, hence his Megan's Law profile. Regarding his sister-in-law, Nancy Garrido, who assisted in the kidnapping and rapes, Ron says, she "was 'a robot' under her husband's control." He went on to say that Nancy "would do anything he asked her to" and that she was "no different from Manson and those girls." Read The Chron's entire interview with Phillip Garrido's brother here. more ›

As details of the kidnapping case still unfold, a lot of people are asking why Jaycee Lee Dugard didn't manage to escape during her 18 years of captivity in an Antioch backyard. Why didn't she scream for help? Alert a neighbor? Jump the fence? more ›

Jaycee Lee Dugard, the girl who was kidnapped on her way to catch a school bus in 1991 only to reveal herself to police this week, had spent most of her life in captivity. According to reports, Dugard was "kept hidden from the world behind a series of fences, sheds and tents for nearly two decades, even giving birth to her suspected abductor's children." (Take an aerial look of the yard via this Google Maps view.) CBS 5 / AP reports that her kidnapper, 58-year-old Phillip Garrido, "raped her and fathered two children with her, the first when Jaycee was about 14." The children, girls ages 11 and 15, "also were kept hidden away in the backyard compound behind the Antioch home." more ›

Oh wow. According to Claycord (who has been going above and beyond excellence in covering this story), Jaycee Lee Dugard's alleged abductor, Phillip Craig Garrido, is all kinds of batshit insane. Above is his registered sexual predator page profile. (His offense: "rape by force.") more ›

Yesterday, a woman walked into the Concord Police Department claiming to be Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped in 1991 in Lake Tahoe. Dugard, now 29, "was last seen on June 10, 1991 as she was walking to a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe." As her mother Carl Probyn "looked on from the family’s driveway two blocks away, a gray sedan pulled up and someone yanked Jaycee into the car and sped off." Two people have since been arrested in connection with her dissappearence. According to the Chronicle Probyn, 60, said, "I gave up hope for 18 years, just went into recovery mode. I thought it would be nice just to recover her and capture the people and find out why they did this," said Probyn. "Now, I just won the lotto. It's just unbelievable. This is going to be a great day today." Probyn is en route from Orange County Riverside to reunite with her daughter. more ›

A statewide AMBER alerts was issued this morning after a baby was snatched from his car seat a little after 5 a.m. today. According to KGO, Davion Bryceon Dunn-- who has has "black hair and brown eyes"--was taken by his father, Dimiante Dunn--who is "African American, 5'11" tall, weighing 167 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes--in the wee hours of Wednesday morning at the intersection of Holland and Payne in Pleasanton. Dunn, who was following in a car behind, assaulted the mother and another passenger in the car before kidnapping his son. KGO goes on to report that "Dunn is in a 1988 Oldsmobile with 22-inch rims. There are two other adults in the vehicle. The vehicle was last seen going southbound on Hopyard Road, near the intersection of interstates 580 and 680." Please call 911 if you have any information on Dunn. more ›

Mission Loc@l reports that there have been three documented cases this month of Latinos being forced into a vehicle with the intent of mugging them, while walking in isolated parts of the Mission late at night. Police speculate that day laborers might be the target both because they carry cash and are often undocumented and are afraid to go to the police for fear of being deported. more ›

Melissa Huckaby, the woman accused of killing Sandra Cantu, was officially charged with murder and rape today. And good news, crazy death penalty zealots: After adding three special circumstances to the charges, Huckaby is now eligible for the needle. The San Joaquin County district attorney's office, according to SF Chronicle, alleges that "the killing was committed during a kidnapping, involved a lewd or lascivious act on a child, and involved rape with a foreign object." more ›

Some horrible human beings stole a chihuahua puppy stolen from Animal Care & Control this past Friday, January 23, between the hours of 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. How mean! The stolen puppy was "a distinctive golden brindle color with white markings and weighed approximately two pounds." The little guy was scheduled to be put up for adoption to the public on Saturday. And judging by those eyes and ears, he would have found a great new home right away. more ›

Yesterday at around 3 p.m., four suspects entered a home in the 700 block of Missouri Street, kidnapped an unidentified victim inside the residence, drove said victim to the bank, and demanded money. The victim "happened to see a police officer and alerted him of the robbery in progress," effectively getting his two captors arrested. Kudos! Two suspects, however, are still on the lam. more ›

After enduring months of brutal muggings, Glen Park residents are now stunned by the attempted murder and kidnapping that took place on August 30th right in the heart of the neighborhood. more ›