Jaycee Dugard case: Officer Ally Jacobs tells students to listen to their inner voice

Lisa Campbell, manager of the University of California Police Department Special Events, left, and UC Berkeley police officer Ally Jacobs recall their interaction with kidnapping suspect Phillip Garrido at a news conference in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009. They said Garrido raised suspicion when he arrived on campus earlier this week seeking to distribute religious material with two young girls. Garrido and his wife Nancy Garrido, face charges including forcible abduction, rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment. (AP Photo)

The woman who has been hailed as the officer responsible for ending the captivity of Jaycee Dugard, spoke to students this week about her experiences and the importance of listening to inner feelings.

UC Berkeley Police Officer Ally Jacobs told the audience of young people at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, her alma mater “One day I woke up, went to work and did my job… This guy comes in to work, a little off, with two kids, and after interviewing him I just got this weird feeling, and I followed up on it.”

Jacobs was speaking of Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender who was at the Berkeley campus attempting to distribute religious material. With him were his two daughters, Starlet and Angel, who he fathered with his captive, Jaycee.

To read Garrido's 1976 case file, click here.

Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are accused of kidnapping Jaycee from a school bus stop in 1991 and holding her in a backyard compound for almost two decades. She and her daughters have now been safely reunited with her family.

To see photos of the compound, click here.

In her speech Jacobs said “If you take anything away from today… just listen to your voice. It’s always right, it’s there for a reason. So, I listened to that voice, I followed up, went a little extra mile, and three lives were saved because of it.”

To see a slideshow of missing children found alive, click here.

Students were inspired by Jacobs, and after her inspirational message Courtney Stoddard, 17, told the Los Angeles Times “…you might come across obstacles but to kind of push through them.”

Lindsey Mann, 17, noted “What she said about follow your dreams, follow your intuition. It’s interesting because in high school, you’re afraid to do certain things. High school is kind of like its own society, so people will judge you for doing things, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that society is right. So you have to listen to your own heart and follow what you believe.”

To see recent photos of Jaycee, click here, and here.

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