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California woman who police say faked her kidnapping is missing again

The Columbian
Published: March 26, 2015, 12:00am

LOS ANGELES — A 29-year-old Vallejo woman who police say faked her kidnapping and ransom demand is missing again.

Police said Denise Huskins’ hoax sent them on a “wild goose chase.”

Huskins and her family have gone missing, said Vallejo police, whose attempts to talk to them have been unsuccessful.

“We have not heard from Ms. Huskins and we are no longer in contact with any of the family members,” said Lt. Kenny Park, spokesman for the Vallejo Police Department.

Huskins was reported kidnapped from her boyfriend’s home early Monday for an $8,500 ransom. But she surfaced Wednesday, 420 miles south in Huntington Beach, police said.

Just hours after Huskins turned up, police said they began having doubts about her kidnapping story.

Huskins’ boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, told police on Tuesday she had been “forcibly taken against her will” from his home, and the ransom demand had been communicated to him, Park said.

But things just didn’t add up, police said.

“The story that Mr. Quinn provided was such an incredible story, we initially had a hard time believing it and upon further investigation we were not able to substantiate any of the things he was saying,” Park said.

Quinn’s claims, however, sparked an intense search for Huskins that involved the FBI. Crews searched nearby neighborhoods and collected evidence in hopes of finding out more about her disappearance.

Then on Wednesday, Huskins’ father told police he received a voicemail from her saying she had been dropped off at her mother’s home, her cousin Amy Mattison said.

The San Francisco Chronicle also received an email with an audio recording of a woman identifying herself as Denise Huskins, who said she had been abducted.

Soon after she was found, Huntington Beach police said Huskins was in “good condition.”

The FBI arranged for a plane to fly Huskins to Northern California for an interview, but she never got on the flight and she has not been heard from since.

Park said the entire episode was an “orchestrated event.” Police don’t know why the hoax was perpetrated, but the FBI is searching financial records for clues.

“This was not a random act and . the members of our community are safe and . have nothing to fear,” Park said.

Investigators spent a lot of time investigating a crime they believed was real, he said.

“The fact that we essentially wasted all of these resources for really nothing is upsetting,” Park said.

Police said Huskins has retained an attorney, and Quinn is no longer talking to police.

The couple could face charges for the hoax.

Calling police claims “absolute crap,” Denise Huskins’ uncle Jeff Kane told KNBC-TV that maybe “she’s seen enough of Vallejo.”

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