TV & Movies
Denise Huskins & Aaron Quinn’s Kidnapping Case Was Wrongfully Compared To Gone Girl
The horrific ordeal was anything but a hoax.
Netflix’s new three-part docuseries American Nightmare revisits the story of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, who went through a horrific kidnapping ordeal in 2015. At the time, several critics compared their case to the film Gone Girl — which follows a woman who stages her own disappearance to exact revenge on her husband. But as it turns out, Denise and Aaron’s story was anything but a hoax.
Today, Denise and Aaron are new parents who have shared their harrowing journey in the hope that it can help fellow survivors. As Denise wrote on Instagram ahead of the release of American Nightmare, “I believe anyone who’s overcome a trauma can connect with different parts of this series and what we went through.”
Here’s a look back at what the married couple went through in the years following the events of American Nightmare.
Trigger Warning: This article contains accounts of sexual assault.
“A Wild Goose Chase”
In March 2015, California couple Denise and Aaron (then dating) were awakened by a home invasion. Denise was kidnapped, while Aaron — after waking from sedatives — contacted the police for help the next morning.
However, he was immediately met with skepticism. As interrogation footage in American Nightmare shows, officials believed Aaron’s story was an elaborate cover story for harming Denise himself. Meanwhile, Denise was being held in a mysterious location and was raped by her captor, Matthew Muller.
She returned home two days later. However, a spokesperson for the Vallejo Police Department described the efforts to find Denise as a “wild goose chase,” accusing the couple of “plunder[ing] valuable resources” in their alleged hoax.
It wasn’t until a detective in a separate kidnapping case connected Muller to Denise’s story. Muller received federal and state sentences of 40 and 31 years, respectively, to be served concurrently.
“That means he will have no additional time added to his sentence,” Denise wrote on Instagram. “Although this is not the end result we had originally sought out, this is the best decision for all parties involved. We are in a place where it is time to move forward with our lives and leave these court cases behind. I hope all involved can find some level of peace moving forward.”
Sharing Their Story
After filing a defamation suit against the city, Denise and Aaron received a settlement of $2.5 million in 2018. Several years later, they shared their story in a book called Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors, which, according to their website, “sheds necessary light on sexual assault and the abuse by law enforcement that all too frequently compounds crime victims’ suffering.”
Looking Ahead
In addition to telling their story in print — and, now, on Netflix — Denise and Aaron have recently shared several happy updates. They got married in 2018 and welcomed two daughters, Olivia and Naomi.
“More than anything, I just hope that they grow up to be like their mom,” Aaron says in the docuseries. “And if they do that, they’ll be OK.”
According to the couple’s website, they moved to California’s Central Coast, where Denise works in physical therapy with a focus on pilates, and Aaron trains athletes.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.
