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Reunited, Jaycee and her mother begin to bond
Felix Allen21.10.09
The first pictures of Jaycee Lee Dugard reunited with her mother have been published, 18 years after she was kidnapped in the US as an 11-year-old.
Snapshots published by Hello! magazine show a smiling Ms Dugard, now 29, on horseback accompanied by Terry Probyn, who last saw her daughter in 1991, shortly before she was snatched.
An accompanying article reveals that the pair are working on recapturing the bond between them through talking, reading and cooking together.
Ms Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop near her Californian home. In the 18 years during which she was hidden from the world, she was kept in a back garden compound owned by Phillip Garrido, 58.
In that time she gave birth to two children. She has since been living in an undisclosed location with her mother and half-sister Shayna, 19.
Garrido and his wife Nancy, 55, have pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges including kidnap, rape and false imprisonment. People close to the family told Hello! that the family are bonding well and that Ms Dugard is responding well to her new life of freedom.
A friend said: "Meeting her, if you didn't know what happened, you would never guess in a million years.
"She's friendly, she jokes, she's a sweet girl and very kind. She also has a real innocence in her eyes."
A source told Hello!: "Because of the unconditional, protective love she showed them when they thought she was their big sister, it's more a case of switching titles - the love is still there."
* The full feature appears in Hello!
Reader views (2)
Two peas in a pod, these two ladies. How sweet life must be as Jaycee Lee Dugard drinks it all in right now. The novelty will wear off soon enough though and the hauntings may then come along to cause her a wobble. May she be spared that and have a wonderful future full of normality and continuing close family support. This miracle story is incredibly uplifting.
- Tallulah, Hove, UK
I feel sorry for her (step?) father. He was the only suspect in the case and was pursued by the police for years.
- Mark, South-East London
