[...] all the to-do about Jaycee Lee Dugard and her unfolding tale, I nearly missed the story of another missing person – this one a former third grade teacher who [...]

::on soap box::
If they were so (expletive deleted, fill in your fave) concerned about their rights, they would not have violated a child. The child never got a say in their rights being violated, why should a child molester/rapist? The offender may have served his/her time, but that child is NEVER done “serving” theirs.
I fully believe anyone who harms a child sexually should be branded on the forehead. Their “rights” can kiss my ass.
::off soapbox::

Questions that need to be answered; Were her children born in that chicken coop? Did they ever need medical care? Did Jaycee? What were the neighbors reaction when the babies woke up the hood with their sickness calls. It’s hard to believe that no one heard the sounds that babies and infants and toddlers make as they grow up. It’s hard to believe that in nineteen years, no one knew that little children were continuously present in ‘that predators’ back yard. For nineteen years????? There’s more to come, I’m sure.

Even worse, the kids are 11 and 15, which means Jaycee had them when she was 14 and 18. I kind of feel like death is too good for him….

Interestingly enough, it was thanks to a female cop finally looking into this guy (after being tipped off by another woman) that finally caught him. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=8437707

Apologies for picking on the neighbors – at the time this was written (Friday morning), reports pointed to the neighbors ignoring the situation rather than the other way around.

New news has come out that points to calls having been made on Jaycee’s behalf: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8431843

Also – PlumbLucky, I am in agreement with you, someone who hurts a child should be strung up (and I’m not even pro-death penalty!!). I will say people need to be careful when they read the registry to realize that cases of statutory rape can sometimes (sometimes, not always) be misleading. Big age gaps are awful, but when an 18-year-old had sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend and mom got mad and called the cops . . . he’ll end up on a registry.

The entire situation blows my mind. I have a 7yr old daughter and I can’t imagine dealing with this type of pain. That man and women who did this should be locked up for good, no doubt. The neighbors are not to blame but it does raise the question, “shouldn’t we all be more proactive if we see red flags and not take no for an answer from the police when something just doesn’t seem right?” I’m just as guilty for not wanting to get involved but after reading about this case I personally will be note aware of my surroundings. Also, we all have our own beliefs but I must comment to say this is not “God’s will.” God gave us freedom to make our own decisions, He doesn’t always like what we do but doesn’t stop it either because then we would not truly be free, the book , “the Shack” based on a horrible situation that brings peace and understanding to the victims does a good job of explaining how God’s role plays into tradegy such as what has occurred to Jaycee and her family. I pray for Jaycee and her family to heal, have peace in her heart, and am thankful she had a second chance at life…

Comments I think that it is wondeful, that Jaycee Lee has been found. But this very upsetting to me, that this has happened. The fact, this man, got the chance to do this in the first place. This child lost 18 years of her life. But yet he is the one with all the rights, where were her rights, when she needed them. The law will take your child from your home, if they think it is being abused, but yet, a sex offener can do as they please. Well I ask when are we going back to the old laws if you commit a crime you pay the price. We no longer have rights, because the goverment is seeing that our crimmials get away, with the crimes they commit. But if it were to happen, to they’re family member, you can bet your life, that within 24 hours someone, would be caught and tried with a life or deadth sentence. But its ok for the drug dealers, the rapist, sex offenders, or muders to run lose in our nebiorhoods, if you don’t belive it, let someone in the goverment, who keeps voting in all of the new laws, that proctect the crimmials., let they’re family come into arms way and how fast something is done about it. I promise it won’t take 18 years to solve the crime. Now to Jaycee Lee I say i’ll pray for you and your family and wish you all the best.

Jaycee’s story is unforgettable. What a miracle end to a living nightmare. I try to imagine . . . her first moments in that car when they snatched her. Did they drug her? How did they drive her 174 miles (or whatever) away? She must have been out of her mind terrified. I cannot imagine what she must have thought and how she felt at 11 to be stolen from her parents and her life, to be taken prisoner by an evil wretched snake like Garrido, and at what point did she separate her old life in her mind from the horror that she was forced to live. Because there’s no way she could survive if she kept thinking about her parents and her home. And somehow she survived. To have a baby at 14 by a monster who kidnapped and raped you . . . this poor girl. She has been in hell. It’s because of evil people like Garrido and his freak-wife that we need to keep the death penalty. The fact that those two people are allowed to wait and eat and sleep and have a lawyer is an insult to the lives of anyone anywhere who has suffered abuse. No, the neighbors should have done more. The police . . . unfathomable blundering and stupidity. Jaycee receive $20 million as a settlement from the state. It should have been $100 million. The state got off cheap. God bless Jaycee. I hope she is free of any bad feelings she may have. I hope she and her daughters at least understand the truth, that Garrido and that horrible woman are monsters, and that they owe him nothing.