Dugard kidnapping rocked South Lake Tahoe

When Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted June 10, 1991, the event shook the South Shore community.

On Thursday, it was announced Dugard was found safe after 18 years when she accompanied her alleged captors on a Wednesday visit to a parole office. Charges are expected to be filed against Phillip and Nancy Garrido today by the El Dorado County District Attorney's office.

"It was the worst day of my 27 years (in the education profession) the morning Jaycee Lee was kidnapped," said Karen Gillis-Tinlin, who was principal at Meyers Elementary School at the time.

Dugard was a fifth-grader at the school.

Now on Thursday morning, Dugard's reappearance has now become one of the most exciting times in Gillis-Tinlin's career.

"I'm still in shock," Dugard's fifth-grade teacher Sue Bush said. "I'm so glad she's OK and happy."

Bush, whose last name was Louis at the time, said Dugard was well-liked in her class.

"She was just a sweetie," Bush said. "It scared the kids, and it scared them badly."

All the students and staff members wore pink ribbons the week Dugard was kidnapped. They tied more to the fence by the kindergarten room, and put them up around the school. Pink was her favorite color, Bush said.

"We tied a pink ribbon to her chair, and kept her desk the way she left it," Bush said.

Bush's class wrote letters to Dugard, made posters and wanted to talk about what happened.

"The kids needed to talk about it," Bush said. "What an incredibly scary thing to have happen in a small town."

Thursday morning Gillis-Tinlin spoke with her son, Dan Tinlin, who was 4 years old when Dugard disaopeared. He told her that he and a friend had come up with a plan to find Dugard when she went missing.

"It affected all the children," Gillis-Tinlin said. "There was an underlying fear because it could happen to anyone."

A little garden was planted by the multipurpose room at the elementary school, Gillis-Tinlin said. A plaque was placed there in honor of Dugard.

Gillis-Tinlin didn't know if the garden was still there.

As the years went by, Gillis-Tinlin said thoughts of Dugard didn't leave the community. Whether it was a small lead, or the forming of the Fighting Chance Program, Dugard was still in conversations.

"She was always there with us," Gillis-Tinlin said.

Bush never fully believed Dugard was dead. She thought Dugard might be living in a remote area, and would be found again.

Even after the trail had gone cold, law enforcement did not give up on the case, Bush said.

Gillis-Tinlin said she would be contacted periodically by new officers taking on Dugard's file.

"It never got dropped," Gillis-Tinlin said. "It wasn't always at the forefront, but it was an ongoing case."