Missing Vallejo woman found in Huntington Beach

A 30-year-old woman believed abducted early Monday from a Mare Island home she was sharing with a co-worker has been reported alive and safe in Huntington Beach, a police officer from that city announced Wednesday.

Hunting Beach Police officer Jennifer Marlett issued a department statement saying detectives were at a Huntington Beach home where the missing woman, Denise Huskins, was confirmed safe. She issued no other details other than the home belonged to Huskins’s relatives and that Huskins “is in good condition.”

Family members reported they had been contacted by Huskins as well, who told them she had been dropped off unharmed.

Lt. Kenny Park of Vallejo Police confirmed his department was told at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday that the woman was alive and in Huntington Beach. He said Vallejo officers will go to Southern California to interview Huskins.

“Currently, we are in the midst of organizing travel arrangements, so that our detectives may meet with Ms. Huskins to further piece together the details of the kidnap for ransom,” Park said.

“From an investigative standpoint, nothing has changed. We are still tenaciously moving forward while evaluating and verifying all information flow and investigative leads,” Park said. “We will continue to remain guarded with specific information until which time, we conclude that we are able to release such information in a responsible manner.”

The incident initially was reported about 2 p.m. Monday by a man identified as Aaron Quinn, 30, who said Huskins had been forcibly abducted from his Mare Island residence in the 500 block of Kirkland Avenue, Vallejo, several hours earlier.

A 2000 Toyota Camry, originally described as belonging to Huskins but later identified as registered to Quinn, was taken during the abduction, but was found later in Vallejo in a location police officers haven’t disclosed.

Vallejo Police have stated Quinn, who has been working with Huskins at Kaiser Permanente after she moved to Vallejo last June, has cooperated with officers.

They have said Quinn isn’t considered a suspect or person of interest. But officers have offered no explanation about the delay in reporting the abduction.

Park said Wednesday Vallejo detectives are continuing to treat the incident as an abduction for ransom, even after learning Huskins is save in Southern California.

At a news conference Tuesday, he said, “We are treating this matter as a kidnap for ransom… All I can tell you is that there was a ransom demand.”

A recording of a woman’s voice was released by the San Francisco Chronicle, which said it received the recording Tuesday in an anonymously-emailed audio file. Her father, Mike Huskins, told the newspaper the voice was that of his daughter.

In the recording, a woman claims to be Huskins. She says she has been kidnapped, but otherwise is all right. The newspaper said the email promised Huskins would be returned safely Wednesday unless “advances” were made against “us or our associates….”

Huskins has been the subject of an intense search by 75 to 100 people, and the incident caught national attention.
Late Tuesday, teams found a human-sized mass off the Mare Island waterfront. But dive teams making an underwater search found nothing of significance, Captain James O’Connell said Wednesday morning.

Those with any information about the situation may call Vallejo Police Department Detective Division at 707-648-4524, Park and O’Connell said.

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