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Denise Huskins is opening up about her abduction with unfiltered details. During her Tuesday, April 2, appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the American Nightmare subject, 38, recalled being “dead asleep” with her now-husband, Aaron Quinn, and thinking she “was dreaming” when she heard abductor Matthew Muller in the room.
“I could hear a strange man’s voice, and it’s like my subconscious was conflicted. It was almost as if it were saying, ‘Don’t wake up, don’t wake up,’” Huskins explained to podcast host Alex Cooper. In that moment, she and Quinn were woken up by what they thought were multiple men, and one of them instructed Denise to tie up her then-boyfriend.
“There were so many little pieces of it that was just so hard to even process,” Huskins explained to Alex. “It isn’t what you’d normally think — you watch true crime or horror movies, and you see this crazy, passionate violence and realizing that criminals can be patient and in control, and planned out was even more horrifying to process.”
After being forced to take sedatives and put headphones on that played “pre-recorded messages,” Huskins recalled thinking to herself, “Maybe this is just a robbery.” However, it ended up being her abduction.
“The night progressively got worse, and they separated me from Aaron and brought me downstairs, and then he came in — there was just one man who was speaking, and it was the man who held me captive,” Huskins continued. “And he said ‘This wasn’t meant for you, this was meant for—’ and he named Aaron’s ex by her first and last name. We need to figure out what we’re going to do.’”
Huskins was abducted in March 2015. She was held captive by Muller for 40 hours. Amid her abduction, he raped Huskins before eventually returning her back to her hometown.
“You have to almost detach because you can’t be present in the horror of the situation,” Huskins said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “You have to think of all the possibilities that anything can go wrong.”
To their shock, Huskins and Quinn faced accusations from police. Authorities and the public speculated that the couple had staged the abduction similarly to Ben Affleck‘s movie Gone Girl.
Following the horrifying ordeal, Huskins and Quinn got married and welcomed two daughters together. Earlier this year, Huskins and Quinn appeared in the docuseries American Nightmare to tell their story.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
