The twisted kidnapping case of a woman held captive for 18 years in a secluded backyard compound took another disturbing turn Friday as authorities searched the home of her alleged captor for evidence in the murders of several prostitutes and new evidence surfaced of missed opportunities to arrest him years ago.
Authorities searched for a connection between Phillip Garrado and the killing of 10 prostitutes in the 1990s. The bodies werewere dumped near an industrial park where Garrido, a sex offender, worked during the 1990s.
Garrido and his wife, Nancy, were charged Friday with kidnapping 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991.
Pittsburgh police were issued a warrant to search the home on Friday, Contra Costa County sheriff's Capt. Dan Terry told the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Pittsburgh police, for whatever reason, decided he was a person of interest," in the slaying, Terry said.
On Thursday Garrido told a television station he did kidnap the girl. Authorities said they held her and two children she had with Garrido as prisoners in a backyard encampment.
Phillip Garrido, 58, was arrested Wednesday and is also facing sexual assault charges, Authorities said his 54-year-old wife, Nancy Garrido, was with him during the kidnapping in South Lake Tahoe.
Garrido's father, Manuel Garrido, also told The Associated Press Friday that his son is "absolutely out of his mind." He said Garrido fell into a bad crowd when he was younger and started taking LSD.
The elder Garrido said the drugs changed him from a good boy, whom everybody loved, to a crazy person.
Speaking by phone from his house in Brentwood, Manuel Garrido said he hasn't seen his son in years and has never been to the house where the encampment allegedly was set up.
He said his ex-wife, Phillip Garrido's mother, has dementia and is not well. She also lived in the Antioch house.
