The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warrant for a South Lake Tahoe man in connection with the March 23 kidnapping of a Vallejo woman, an incident that drew national attention.

In addition, the bureau is seeking information from anyone who may have experienced anything similar, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Gina B. Swankie said from the agency’s Sacramento office.

In its prepared statement, the FBI said Monday that Alameda County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Matthew Muller, 38, at a South Lake Tahoe home June 8 and accused him in connection with a June 5 home invasion and robbery in their county.

Muller remains in custody in the Santa Rita Jail, Dublin, according to representatives of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
As investigators worked on their respective cases, they found leads linking Muller to the kidnapping of Denise Huskins, 29, who had been taken early March 23 from the home of her boyfriend in the 500 block of Kirkland Avenue, Mare Island, Vallejo.

Members of the FBI met with Dublin Police Services investigators June 25, when they examined the similarities between the June 5 case and that of March 23.

The FBI statement called the woman’s case “an active, ongoing investigation” by the bureau, the Vallejo Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

In addition, the statement said, “Information obtained during the course of the ongoing investigation indicates Muller may have committed similar crimes elsewhere. The FBI is issuing this release containing information from the affidavit concerning acts allegedly committed by Muller so that members of the public aware of similar crimes may bring such information to attention of law enforcement.”

The FBI statement released Monday did not mention any victims’ names. However, the reported kidnapping and search as well as the and drugging of the woman’s boyfriend made national news.

Originally, the March 23 case was handled by Vallejo Police, which at one point considered the episode a hoax.

Aaron Quinn, 30, reported the kidnapping several hours after it happened. He told Vallejo police he had been drugged and tied up by two assailants who kidnapped his girlfriend and demanded $8,500 ransom.

The FBI statement provided more details of the reported kidnapping.

Basing its contents on victim statements to Vallejo Police and FBI agents, the statement said the couple was sleeping in the master bedroom early March 23 when the male victim was awakened by a bright light shining in his eyes and the sound of what he described as a “stun gun.” A man’s voice demanded the couple remain face down on the bed.

“The subject ordered the female victim to bind the male victim with zip ties, and told both to enter the bedroom closet,” the statement said. The perpetrator covered the man’s eyes with swim goggles that had the lenses covered with tape to restrict his vision. Then the perpetrator put headphones on the man, playing a recorded message that said the break-in was being performed by a professional group on site to collect financial debts.

The recording threatened both victims with electric shocks and cuts to their face if they didn’t comply with instructions.

“The subject then obtained financial account numbers and passwords from the male victim,” the statement said. The perpetrator also obtained information about the home’s Wi-Fi router, the man’s laptop and certain Internet accounts, the statement said.

The male victim was placed on a couch and was told he was being watched on camera and shouldn’t try to free himself.

“He requested a blanket because he was cold, and the subject replied he was unaware of the temperature because he was wearing a ‘wet suit,’” the FBI statement said. The man slept on the couch for a while, and once he awoke, he freed himself.

At that point, he noticed the woman and his car as well as his laptop were missing. He found his cellphone, which had a voicemail message with a financial demand and instructions to tell those who inquired about his transactions that he was buying a ski boat.

The FBI affidavit said the man called Vallejo Police at 1:53 p.m. March 23, saying his home had been the subject of a break-in early that morning, that he and his girlfriend had been drugged, and that one or more perpetrators had taken his girlfriend, using his car to make the getaway.
Reports of the kidnapping quickly received national attention after a massive manhunt was launched.

During that search, the kidnappers were reported to have sent an email with a telephone message from Huskins to the San Francisco Chronicle. Her father, Mike Huskins, identified the voice as that of his daughter.

Two days after the kidnapping, Huskins said she was dropped off near her father’s home, more than 400 miles away in Huntington Beach.

By then, Vallejo Police officials were questioning the incident, ultimately calling it “a wild goose chase,” especially after the department lost contact with Huskins and her family after it arranged through the FBI to fly her back to Vallejo. Local investigators also said they couldn’t substantiate Quinn’s statements.

Attorneys for Quinn and Huskins denied the incident was a hoax, asserting that their clients were victims of serious crimes and calling for a thorough investigation of the kidnapping.

The search for Huskins, who had been living in Vallejo since June 2014, involved more than 40 detectives and more than 100 other searchers as well as multiple law enforcement agencies at local, state and federal levels, according to Vallejo Police accounts.
At one point, divers were deployed to investigate an object about the size of an adult human seen in the water off the Mare Island shoreline in Vallejo, although nothing suspicious was found.

Once the abduction for $8,500 ransom was announced, Huskins’s family raced to Vallejo, and were there when Huskins left a voicemail saying she had been released in Huntington Beach.

Subsequent anonymous emails to the San Francisco Chronicle from those who identified themselves as Huskins’s abductors, gave lengthy descriptions of the home invasion and kidnapping, and promised harm to Vallejo Police unless the department issued an apology. Instead, department officials stood by their characterization of the incident as “an orchestrated event,” and refused further comment.

The FBI statement said its agents met with Dublin and Alameda County investigators June 25 after similarities to the June 5 and March 23 incidents were noticed.

“This is an active, ongoing investigation,” Swankie said, explaining she couldn’t comment on any search for other suspects or whether Muller was suspected of committing any other kidnappings.

“We have few details to share other than those that have been made public,” she said.

However, because detectives are concerned that Muller may be linked to other kidnappings, the FBI statement said, “Individuals who believe they are a victim of a similar crime and law enforcement agencies aware of similar crimes are urged to contact agents with the Sacramento Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).”