Jaycee Dugard’s new life began with a joyous and tearful reunion with the family she hasn’t seen in 18 years.
After living in a ramshackle outdoor dungeon for so long, 29-year-old Jaycee is enjoying the creature comforts that most people take for granted – a comfortable bed, nutritious hot meals and indoor plumbing, sources say.
"Jaycee is fascinated with the smallest things that we think nothing of. She loves sleeping in a nice, soft bed and taking showers with hot water. To her, they’re luxuries," said an insider close to her family.
Jaycee was just 11 when she was kidnapped by sex monster Phillip Garrido in 1991, and then held prisoner by him and his wife in a crude collection of tents and sheds behind their Antioch, Calif., home. Garrido raped her repeatedly, and she gave birth to two daughters – Starlit, 15, and Angel, 11.
Since they were freed on Aug. 27, the three have spent quality time with Jaycee’s mom Terry Probyn, Jaycee’s younger sister Shayna, who was only 14 months old when Jaycee was abducted, and other family members.
Jaycee and her family are undergoing extensive psychological counseling, and she is cooperating with police in the ongoing investigation of her kidnappers, sources say.
The family has moved from the local motel where they first stayed to a private home where their privacy can be guaranteed, the source said.
"Jaycee and the girls have had time to just relax. They like watching TV on a large flat screen. They’re fascinated with the TV and enjoy watching just about everything that comes on," the source divulged.
Now that she has spent a few weeks away from the squalor of the Garrido compound, Jaycee is starting to realize the extent of her suffering, say sources. They say she is beginning to understand that the lifestyle forced upon her and her daughters was not normal. Jaycee, by all accounts, has been surprisingly strong in the immediate aftermath of her ordeal.
Meanwhile, she and her family are making tentative plans for the future.
"Terry is determined to protect her daughter. She wants to move Jaycee and her family to a quiet country home away from everyone," the source said.
"Terry’s very concerned about Jaycee being exposed to constant questioning and media exposure. It’s going to be a long process, and they are taking it one day at a time."
