Explainer: How Netflix's 'American Nightmare' is connected to 'Gone Girl'
Netflix is a frontrunner vis-a-vis docuseries based on harrowing true-crime stories. Worst Roommate Ever, House of Secrets, and The Raincoat Killer, among others, have zoomed in on some of humanity's most gut-wrenching crimes. The latest is American Nightmare—released on January 17—which deals with the abduction of a woman named Denise Huskins. Did you know Huskins was once called "the real-life Gone Girl?"
What exactly happened in the case?
As explained in the docuseries, Huskins, who lived with her boyfriend Aaron Quinn in Vallejo, California, was abducted at the crack of dawn from their home. The kidnapper(s) drugged them both, made them wear diving goggles/blindfolds, and explained that she was being abducted for ransom. Two days later, however, she came back, which led the cops to assume she had faked her kidnapping.
The needle of suspicion pointed toward Quinn
The police grilled Quinn, telling him that his story [of the kidnapping] seemed too far-fetched and that maybe he, too, had a role to play in the crime. Since Quinn and Huskins were having relationship problems over Quinn's ex, this further led the cops not to trust either of the two. Eventually, the Vallejo cops were uncooperative, repeatedly bringing up the Gone Girl reference.
Refresher: This is the plot of 'Gone Girl'
Gone Girl (2014)—based on Gillian Flynn's namesake novel—starred Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as a couple with a rapidly deteriorating relationship. To get back at her husband Nick (Affleck), Amy (Pike) fakes her kidnapping, to make Nick pay through legal, public humiliation. After a few days, however, she comes back and it was this "similarity" that led the cops to compare the two cases.
Was Huskins really the 'Gone Girl'?
As the case progressed, a female detective—working on another case—quickly tied her case with that of Huskins and realized that the man nabbed by her team—Matthew Muller—was her kidnapper. After this bombshell revelation, the Vallejo police department's claims—that Quinn and Huskins made everything up—were bulldozed, earning them widespread criticism. Muller, an ex-Marine, is reportedly serving time at FCI Tucson in Tucson, Arizona at present.
Huskins has penned her ordeal in a book
Huskins has shared her experience in the book Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors. She co-wrote it with Quinn and journalist Nicole Weisensee Egan. Per Penguin Random House, "Their story is, in the end, a love story, but one that sheds necessary light on sexual assault and the abuse by law enforcement that all too frequently compounds crime victims' suffering."
