If you’ve heard about Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn’s harrowing home-invasion-turned-kidnapping experience from 2015, you may be wondering where they are now and how they’re doing. The couple’s story is featured in the new Netflix documentary American Nightmare.
In 2015, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were enjoying a quiet night in at Quinn’s home on Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., when a group of men in scuba diving gear broke into Quinn’s home, drugged them both, and kidnapped Huskins, the couple explain in the documentary.
Two days later, Huskins reappeared at her father’s home in Huntington Beach, 400 miles away from where she was kidnapped.
Vallejo police did not initially believe Huskins and Quinn’s story, accusing them of pulling off an elaborate hoax. They were branded as such in the media, and Huksins was dubbed the “real-life Gone Girl” after comparisons were drawn between her and Rosamund Pike’s character in Gillian Flynn’s novel and 2014 movie adaptation.
But they were ultimately vindicated when one of the men responsible for kidnapping Huskins, former lawyer and Harvard alum Matthew Muller, was caught and convicted of raping Huskins while she was in his captivity. He was sentenced to 31 years in prison in 2022.
Muller’s attorney did not immediately respond to MovieMaker‘s request for comment.
Huskins and Quinn sued the Vallejo Police Department and the city of Vallejo for defamation and ultimately settled for $2.5 million in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Now, Huskins and Quinn are going on camera to share their story. Both appear in first-person interviews featured in American Nightmare directed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris, the team behind another popular Netflix true crime documentary The Tinder Swindler.
Also Read: 9 Captivating Netflix True Crime Docuseries You Might Have Missed
Where are Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn Now?
Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were married in September 2018, according to Huskins’ biography page on the Penguin Random House website, and had a daughter named Olivia in 2020.
They wrote a true-crime biographical memoir called Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors with co-author Nicole Weisensee Egan that was published in 2021.
In 2021, Huskins wrote a heartfelt Facebook post reflecting on she and Aaron’s decision to speak out about their story in their book.
“Our one-year-old daughter loves Brandi Carlile, especially this song with Alicia Keys. It moves me to tears each time I hear it, especially as we prepare to release our book and speak out publicly. In the years we had to stay silent, we were inspired and empowered by other survivors who bravely used their voice,” she wrote, going on to quite the song “A Beautiful Noise“.
“I have a voice; Started out as a whisper, turned into a scream; Made a beautiful noise… and I let it speak for the ones who aren’t yet really free…”
In a Jan. 4 post to Facebook along with a trailer for American Nightmare, Huskins says she looks forward to seeing their story reach a wider audience.
“I can’t believe it’s coming so soon. It’s been a long journey to get here, especially in finding the right team to share our story,” Huskins wrote of the documentary.
“Tune in on Jan 17th, and you’ll see this is not ‘just another True Crime.’ This goes way beyond just us as victims, and this one case. The bigger themes of rushing to judgement, victim blaming, misrepresentation in the media, false accusations filed by tunnel vision and confirmation bias in law enforcement, and the dangerous tactics they use to try to get a false confession, are sadly all too common in our world. But perhaps more importantly, it’s a story of hope when all feels lost. I believe anyone who’s overcome a trauma can connect with different parts of this series and what we went through. We look forward to having you watch.”
American Nightmare premieres Jan. 17 on Netflix.
Main Image: Denise Huskins (L) and Aaron Quinn (R) pictured in American Nightmare courtesy of Netflix
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