First photos of Jaycee Lee Dugard

Kidnap survivor Jaycee appears in People magazine smiling and happy despite 18-year abduction ordeal

Jaycee Lee Dugard has been pictured for the first time as an adult, smiling and happy after being released from 18 years of captivity. Her hair has darkened over the years, but the picture shows a young woman who looks healthy and hopeful and much younger than her 29 years. In her first public statement since her rescue, Miss Dugard said: ‘I am so happy to be back with my family. Nothing is more important than the unconditional love and support I have from them.'

Miss Dugard's alleged abductor Phillip Garrido, 58, is accused of snatching her from a bus stop when she was 11 years old and keeping her in his back garden in Antioch, California where he fathered two children by her.

Two months after she was rescued, Miss Dugard has posed for a series of photographs for People magazine because she wanted to show the world that she is adapting to normal life, her spokesman said.

Erika Price Schulte said: ‘She did want to thank everyone and really let everyone see how happy she is and how much she's enjoying this and how happy she is to be home.' Miss Dugard is spending her new found freedom riding horses and cooking her favourite special rice, beans and salsa. She and her two children are also bonding with her mother and sister.

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