Where is Denise Huskins as of today? Status of American Nightmare subject, explored

A still from American Nightmare (Image via Netflix)

Netflix's true-crime documentary, American Nightmare, covered one of the strangest kidnapping cases of all time, where Denise Huskins was kidnapped by a man claiming to be part of a bigger organization, only to find that the state was also accusing her of faking the crime. The case, which has stark similarities to Gone Girl, saw Husins taken in for ransom and returned within two days of her abduction.

The case took more and more surprising turns after Denise Huskins, a physical therapist working at a local hospital, was dropped off, mildly sedated but assaulted twice in the duration. She and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn were wrongfully accused of staging the kidnapping and wasting state funds when the authorities started their investigation.

It was only after another botched attempted kidnapping took place in a similar manner, that the perpetrator was caught and the issues between the state and Denise Huskins cleared up.

This ultimately led the authorities to apprehend the criminal, Matthew Muller, a former Marine and Harvard Law-educated immigration attorney.

Following this entire ordeal, Quinn and Denise Huskins sued Vallejo for false imprisonment, defamation, false arrest, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The case was settled in 2018 with the state $2.5 million to the couple. Denise Huskins married Aaron Quinn and started a family since then. She has also remained active in helping other wrongfully accused victims.

Where is Denise Huskins after the kidnapping?

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Denise Huskins was kidnapped and spent two days in captivity, where she was allegedly assaulted twice by Muller. She was held for ransom but was dropped back at around 10:30 in the morning in Huntington Beach, California. This was over 400 miles away from the spot where she was kidnapped from.

She narrated the incident to the police and even gave a formal statement. But the department allegedly did not believe her. They accused Denise and Aaron of orchestrating the entire ordeal. This continued till Muller was arrested after a similar attempted kidnapping on June 5, 2024. He was arrested three days later on June 8.

This was months after Denise's kidnapping, which took place on the night of March 24, 2015.

After the perp was arrested, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn sued the city of Vallejo in September 2015 and claimed that their accusations negatively affected their lives to a great extent. Three years later, the state paid them $2.5 million in damages.

Representatives for the City of Vallejo gave a statement at the time to PEOPLE, saying:

"The Huskins Quinn case was not publicly handled with the type of sensitivity a case of this nature should have been handled with, and for that, the City extends an apology to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn."

Following the settlement in 2018, the couple tied the knot in the same year and released a book Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivor. In March 2020, the couple welcomed their baby daughter, starting a family together after the long-drawn drama.

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Right now, the couple are also looking forward to helping other victims who have been wrongly accused. In a 2024 statement to PEOPLE, Huskins said:

"We hope to do more speaking, whether it's with law enforcement, survivors, nurses, doctors, anyone who might come into this situation and work with victims or deal with these kinds of cases and just share what we went through, the bigger themes that a lot of other survivors go through....And hopefully collaborate and try to figure out a better strategy."

So, the couple are still trying to turn the harrowing events into something good.

You can find more details about this case on American Nightmare, which is now streaming on Netflix.