Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - What did the Vallejo police do after Denise Huskins was found?

Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, the couple from Vallejo, who survived a harrowing case of abduction in 2015 sued the city of Vallejo over defamation and other charges in September that year. Denise Huskins was kidnapped from Quinn's home in the early hours of March 23, 2015, and taken hostage to a location in South Lake Tahoe where she was sedated and r*ped twice for a ransom of $17,000.

Huskins emerged seemingly unharmed two days later around her family home in Huntington Beach - 400 miles away from her home, per ABC10 News. However, a few hours later, the Vallejo Police Department stated in a press release calling the incident a hoax made up by the couple.

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered Season 12, Episode 7 titled Twisted Tale airs on February 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST and showcases the injustice Huskins and her boyfriend, Quinn suffered at the hands of the police officials. 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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'They could have saved me from the second rape' - Denise Huskins' abduction was called a hoax by the Vallejo Police Department

As the intruder, Matthew Muller took Denise Huskins hostage in her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn's car, he sedated both of them with 1/4 of a bottle of Diazepam and Nyquil, per ABC News. Aaron woke up in the afternoon and reported the kidnapping to the police despite threats from the intruder. However, he was suspected of foul play as the police arrived nine hours after the abduction and held him back for over 18 hours for interrogation.

The investigators asked Quinn if he was drugged and questioned him on the time elapsed since Huskins went missing. One of the detectives in the case, Matthew Mustard, asked Quinn if he had been cheating on Denise - as evident from the footage featured on Netflix's American Monster.

While Aaron Quinn was made to take a polygraph test by an FBI agent and accused of failing it, Denise Huskins made a reappearance at Huntington Beach on March 25, 2015. All the while, the Vallejo Police Department failed to track Muller's calls on Quinn's phone. According to NBC News, Huskins shared,

"If they had actually monitored his phone, they could have saved me from the second r*pe."

The day Huskins was set free by Matthew Muller, the Vallejo Police Department held a press conference where they called the abduction an "orchestrated event and not a kidnapping." The Vallejo P.D. spokesman Lt. Kenny Park shared,

"Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community and taken the focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear among our community members. So, if anything, it is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins that owe this community an apology."

Denise Huskins' abduction came to be known as the Gone Girl Kidnapping case given the release of the film in the year before. Huskins mentioned the use of the term by the police during public statements as well. Both Huskins and Quinn sued the city of Vallejo for false imprisonment, false arrest, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in September 2015.

The couple settled the lawsuit for $2.5 million and went on to get married on September 29, 2018.