Ethiopian Review

THE daughters of kidnapped sex slave Jaycee Lee Dugard are educated and well-versed on the internet, Jaycee’s aunt has revealed.

In an emotional interview, Tina Dugard said the family still burst into tears of joy over the surreal realisation Jaycee had been found after 18 years.

Ms Dugard, 42, spent five days with Jaycee and her mother Terry Probyn after their dramatic reunion.

She said: ‘We are all so overjoyed. My sister has spontaneous moments of joy. We’ll be talking, and she’ll just suddenly burst into happy tears, with a big smile on her face.”

Jaycee’s aunt has also described the tender moments the mother and daughter have spent together for the first time in nearly two decades.

The sight of Terry combing and braiding Jaycee’s hair – something she last did when her daughter was just 11 – reduced Ms Dugard to tears.

Ms Dugard also shed light on Jaycee’s two daughters, saying the girls – aged 11 and 15 – are bright and educated, despite never having been to school.

In an exclusive interview with The Orange County Register, Ms Dugard, who would not confirm whether the girls are called Starlet and Angel, said: “It’s clear they’ve been on the internet and know a lot of things.”

And remarkably Ms Dugard – herself a teacher – said her niece, who hasn’t been to school since she was 11, educated her daughters.

“It’s clear that Jaycee did a great job with the limited resources she had and her limited education,” she said.

Ms Dugard said she was not sure how her niece was able to teach her daughters how to read and write.

But she said that during her five-day visit she was staring up at the sky on a starry night with one of Jaycee’s daughters, who then pointed out the names of constellations.

Seeing a plant, the other daughter said: “That’s a nasturtium. It’s edible.

“Do you want to eat it?”

Ms Dugard said Jaycee remembered who she was the moment they met, flinging her arms around her saying: “Auntie Tina”.

“I looked at her and I knew right away,” she said.

“She absolutely knew who I was. She remembered me right away. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

“I went forward and cried and hugged her and held her as tight as I possibly could. It was surreal, and it was fabulous.”

The family has not pressed Jaycee and her daughters to discuss life in the cluttered backyard collection of tents and shacks.

Ms Dugard wouldn’t say whether the two girls, as some media outlets have reported, had believed Jaycee was their older sister.

“Right now it’s all about strengthening those bonds that really didn’t weaken, but needed to be brought back together,” she said.

“Jaycee does seem like a 29-year-old woman. She’s fabulous, and she’s beautiful.”

Jaycee was kidnapped in 1991. Phillip Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy, 54, were arrested last week and charged with the kidnapping, rape and imprisonment of Jaycee. They have pleaded not guilty.

(news.com.au)