Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - Where is Denise Huskins' kidnapper Matthew Muller now?

The 2015 abduction of Denise Huskins from the Mare Island area by the Harvard Law graduate and ex-US Marine, Matthew Muller, became a topic of national interest as the case popularly came to be known as the Gone Girl Kidnapping case. Muller broke into Huskins and Quinn's Vallejo home on March 23, 2015. He sedated the couple, bound and blindfolded them before he took Huskins hostage.

While Huskins' boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, got in touch with the Vallejo Police Department, Muller reportedly r*ped Huskins twice, per NBC News. She was set free 400 miles away from her home in Huntington Beach with the ransom of $17,000 being unpaid.

The case which was dismissed by the Vallejo police as a hoax was solved by Misty Carausu of the Dublin Police Department following a similar but failed incident in Dublin. Muller was apprehended and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He is presently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled Twisted Tale airs on February 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST and the synopsis reads,

"When a woman returns two days after being reported abducted, authorities believe it's a hoax until a similar crime forces them to take another look."

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Why was Matthew Muller arrested? Details explored

Matthew Muller, the former US Marine from 1995 to 1999 and 2006 graduate of Harvard Law, was found to be at the center of the crimes that made up the Gone Girl Kidnapping case. Muller allegedly suffered from Gulf War illness, bipolar disorder with extreme paranoia and psychosis, per The SFist.

Muller broke into Aaron Quinn's Mare Island Area home around 3 a.m. on March 23, 2015. He used zip ties and duct tape to bind the couple and put on headsets that gave them instructions about the sedation that followed.

Muller gave Quinn and his girlfriend "1/4 of a bottle of Diazepam and Nyquil" before he took Denise hostage. According to his arrest warrant, the recording on the earphones mentioned that the abduction was being carried out by "a professional group there to collect financial debts."

He retrieved financial account numbers, social security numbers, and passwords, and took off with Quinn's laptop and car. When Quinn woke up in the afternoon and freed himself, he noticed a text on his phone demanding two payments of $8,500 each further adding,

"If asked about the withdrawals, he was to explain that the money was to purchase a ski boat."

Matthew Muller got in touch with the San Francisco Chronicle with proof of life for Denise Huskins - at the same time Vallejo police had held and interrogated Quinn for over 18 hours. He continued communication with the media outlet in another email dated March 28, 2015, and came in with photos of the room where Denise was held. Muller was allegedly furious with the flawed investigation and misreporting by media outlets. The Vallejo police had mentioned the incident to be a hoax in a press statement on March 25, 2015.

Another home invasion in Alameda County, California on June 5 led the Dublin Police Department to Muller as he left behind his cell phone, duct tape, zip ties, and gloves - evidence that led to him with the efforts of Detective Misty Carausu.

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Where is Matthew Muller now?

Matthew Muller of Orangevale, California, was initially held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California. His property in South Lake Tahoe was searched in June 2015 yielding a videotape of his assault on Denise Huskins, per Business Insider. He was arrested on June 8, 2015.

He was charged with kidnapping, r*pe, and false imprisonment of Denise Huskins and was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2017. He was sentenced to 31 years in 2022 after he pled no contest to the charges of r*pe and guilty to other charges. Matthew Muller is presently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, according to the Bureau of Prisons.