A lawyer in the case of a Northern California girl held captive in a backyard compound for 18 years said he expects defendant Phillip Garrido to plead guilty to all charges and his wife to go to trial unless she gets a better plea deal.

A couple charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl and holding her captive for 18 years have made full confessions, a defence lawyer said.

Jaycee Dugard, the girl held prisoner in California for 18 years, will be spared from giving pre-trial evidence against her alleged captors.

Jaycee Dugard, who spent 18 years as a captive in a sex offender's garden, released the first photos of herself as an adult - and her first statement.

THE lawyer for a US woman found alive 18 years after she was kidnapped said his client initially had mixed emotions surrounding the arrest of her alleged captors but now “fully understands that some terrible things were done to her”.

The lawyer for a US woman found alive 18 years after she was kidnapped said his client initially had mixed emotions surrounding the arrest of her alleged captors but now “fully understands that some terrible things were done to her”.

US authorities ended an exhaustive weeklong search on the property where a Northern California girl was allegedly held captive for 18 years.

Police investigating two missing girl cases say cadaver dogs picked up a scent that could indicate buried remains in the backyard of the couple charged with kidnapping Jaycee Dugard.

A JUDGE yesterday set bail at $30 million (€20.5m) for a California man accused of kidnapping a girl and holding her captive for 18 years.

Nancy Garrido watched over kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard for years while she cared for her elderly, bedridden mother-in-law at the home she shared with her husband, it emerged today.

THE lawyer for the wife of accused US kidnapper and rapist Phillip Garrido says his client misses the children her husband allegedly fathered with his victim, and says she saw them all as a family.

The lawyer for the wife of accused kidnapper and rapist Phillip Garrido says his client misses the children her husband allegedly fathered with his victim, and says she saw them all as a family.

Police said today they had found a bone fragment on the property next door to the home of a man charged with kidnapping a little girl and hiding her in his back garden for 18 years.

POLICE investigating Jaycee Lee Dugard’s kidnapping and captivity are turning their attention to the alleged role of Nancy Garrido, who has been described as a “monster”.

THE rape of Jaycee Dugard by convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido began within a month of her abduction at age 11, extended through her childhood and involved not only Phillip Garrido, but also his wife, Nancy, according to charges filed by El Dorado County prosecutors.

A couple accused of snatching an 11-year-old child and keeping her imprisoned for 18 years pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges including kidnap, rape and false imprisonment.

A couple accused of snatching an 11-year-old child and keeping her imprisoned for 18 years today pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges including kidnap, rape and false imprisonment.

Police missed an opportunity to free Jaycee Lee Dugard in 2006 when they were called to the home where she was allegedly held for 18 years but failed to find her, a spokesman said tonight.

A woman walked into a police station 18 years after she was kidnapped, having had two children by the man who snatched her as an 11-year-old girl, police said today.

A WOMAN believed to have been kidnapped as a child in 1991 is to be reunited with her family 18 years later.