July 14--After 29-year-old Denise Huskins turned up in Huntington Beach, Vallejo police strongly suggested that her story of being kidnapped for ransom had been part of a hoax.
They angrily called their investigation a "wild goose chase" and a waste of valuable police resources and said Huskins and her boyfriend could face charges once their investigation was complete.
Then Vallejo police went quiet, declining to go into details about a case that drew national attention.
On Monday, after almost four months of mystery, the FBI announced a man was arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a woman that appears to be Huskins. Law enforcement took former Harvard-educated attorney Matthew Muller, 38, of Orangevale into custody on June 8 after they say he was identified as a suspect in another home invasion robbery in Dublin, federal officials said.
Muller, a former U.S. Marine, graduated from Harvard Law School and was an attorney, according to records. He was disbarred in July after failing to perform competent legal services for a client on an immigration case, according to records.
An unsealed federal affidavit outlining their case against Muller does not name Huskins, but the details of the kidnapping described are nearly identical to the account given by Huskins. The arrest comes months after Vallejo police called her abduction an "orchestrated event."
On Monday, Vallejo police referred questions to the FBI.
Huskins said that she had been abducted on March 23, with her kidnappers allegedly demanding $8,500 in ransom. Almost a week after she said she was dragged away, she turned up at a family home in Huntington Beach.
Her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, told police that Huskins had been "forcibly taken against her will" sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. from his home. He didn't report her kidnapping until nearly 2 p.m.; his attorneys said that was because Quinn had been bound and drugged. To prove he was drugged, Quinn provided blood samples, and his attorneys said he provided email passwords to authorities.
The FBI, which unsealed the sworn affidavit Monday, met with local law enforcement and determined there were similarities between the Dublin robbery Muller was suspected of committing and Huskins' kidnapping.
Based on the FBI's descriptions of the kidnapping -- which closely matches the account given by Huskins and Quinn -- a man and woman had fallen asleep in their master bedroom in Vallejo.
The man awoke to a bright light shining in his eyes and heard a noise similar to a stun gun. Then he heard a man demanding that he and the woman lie face down on their bed.
The man ordered the woman to bind her boyfriend with zip ties and both were told to enter a bedroom closet, the FBI said.
The man's eyes were covered with swim goggles, which were covered with tape, and headphones were placed over his ears, according to the FBI.
The headphones played a prerecorded message with instructions, saying the home break-in was conducted by a professional group to collect financial debts. The message threatened the couple with electric shock if they did not comply.
Their kidnapper obtained information from their home Wi-Fi router, the man's laptop and Internet accounts, authorities said. The kidnapper also gathered the man's financial account numbers and passwords.
He was placed on the couch and was told he was being watched on camera, so he shouldn't free himself, the FBI said.
He fell asleep and awoke that morning. He freed himself and noticed that his girlfriend and his belongings and car were missing.
The man found his cellphone, which contained a voicemail message from his girlfriend's kidnapper, according to the FBI.
The message made a financial demand and provided instructions "to tell those who inquired about his transactions to say the funds were for purchase of a ski boat," the FBI said.
Two days after disappearing, Huskins turned up in Huntington Beach, where she said her kidnappers had dropped her off. The ransom, Quinn's attorneys said, was never paid.
That same day, authorities arranged a flight for Huskins to Northern California, so they could interview her. But she never got on the plane.
Her actions drew suspicion from Vallejo police investigators, who during a news conference said the kidnapping was a hoax.
Quinn insisted the kidnapping was real.
In the days after Huskins' disappearance, the San Francisco Chronicle received anonymous emails from her alleged abductors, demanding Vallejo police apologize to her for saying her ordeal was a hoax or "I/we may be the direct agent of harm."
Earlier, the newspaper also received an audio recording of a woman claiming to be Huskins, who at the time was still missing.
The Los Angeles Times also received a 19-page anonymous letter, in which the alleged kidnappers tried to clear Huskins' name by describing details about the reported abduction, as well as a series of auto thefts and burglaries in the area.
The letter described why the group asked for $8,500 in ransom.
"We chose $8,500 because it was below the $10,000 reporting threshold, and far enough below that it likely would not be flagged as part of a structured transaction under that prong of the reporting law," the email read.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Huskins' kidnapping continued, and the FBI became aware of the home invasion robbery in Dublin. In that robbery, the homeowners were asleep and awoke to find a man standing at the foot of their bed as a flashlight was shining in their faces.
The man ordered the husband and wife to lay on their stomachs, while the man tried to restrain them with zip ties, according to the affidavit. The husband fought back and the man struck him in the head, possibly with the flashlight. They continued fighting
The wife fled to a bathroom, locked herself inside and called 911. He fled before police arrived at the couple's home.
But the man left a cellphone, plastic zip ties and a fabric glove behind.
Cellphone records didn't match up to the age and physical description of the man who broke into the couple's home. The records were for a home in Orangevale. Investigators, however, noticed Muller was associated with the Orangevale address.
His mother later confirmed the cellphone belonged to Muller.
Later, authorities were following a tip on a stolen Ford Mustang -- -- similar to one mentioned in the kidnappers' email. Muller's driver's license was found under the front seat, according to the affidavit.
When authorities searched a South Lake Tahoe home on June 8, they found Muller, who has been charged in the Dublin robbery.
Inside the South Lake Tahoe home and the Ford Mustang, investigators found several pieces of evidence that were mentioned in the kidnappers' emails, the affidavit said.
They also found several laptops, including Quinn's computer, a digital key maker, numerous blank car keys and a pair of two-way radios. The radio, the FBI says, was seen in photographs attached to the kidnappers' emails.
Water goggles covered with tape and a water pistol that had been spray-painted black, with a flashlight and laser pointer attached to it. The tape still had a long blond strand of hair attached to it, the affidavit said.
When investigators were searching the Ford Mustang's navigation system, they found a Huntington Beach address, where Huskins was dropped off.
UPDATE
6:15 p.m.: This story has been updated to include more about Matthew Muller.
3:14 p.m. This story has been updated to include more details on the investigation contained in the affidavit.
This story was first published at 1:59 p.m.
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