US kidnap victim to be reunited with family after 18 years

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

Police said they are “99% certain” the person who recently walked into Concord police station in California is, as she claims, Jaycee Lee Dugard.

As an 11-year-old girl, Jaycee was snatched by two people in a car from outside her home. Her apparent re-appearance almost two decades later has prompted two arrests.

Both those detained are currently in custody but police would not give details concerning who they are.

Jaycee was abducted outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, California, on June 10, 1991. Her stepfather watched on as those responsible drove up to the girl and bundled her into a car.

Speaking today, Lieutenant Les Lovell of the El Dorado Sheriff’s Department said DNA tests on the woman were being conducted. But he said he was almost 100% sure she was the kidnap victim.

Investigators looking into the case have tentatively identified her as Dugard.

Mr Lovell said: “Her family has been contacted and they are in the process of arranging a meeting”.

He added: “We are very confident at this point in time that it is her.”