WAKING FROM THE NIGHTMARE: The year Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn transformed trauma into reform

Описание: It was a crime no one believed. Police falsely dubbed Denise Huskins the "gone girl," accusing her of faking her own kidnapping. Meanwhile, her attacker continued to prey on innocent families.

Even after Huskins and her then-boyfriend, Aaron, were vindicated, law enforcement ignored their warnings that there were other victims. That silence sent these survivors on a decade-long mission to bring closure to the victims the system had abandoned.

This reporting documents the year their persistence paid off.

Through exclusive interrogation footage, never-before-released confessions, and survivor-centered reporting, CBS News California Investigates goes beyond the sensational true-crime story to examine what went wrong and what finally worked, using clear, accessible storytelling to break down complex investigative failures, while documenting the year the two survivors transformed a decade of trauma into statewide reform and justice for long-forgotten victims.

This solutions-focused reporting is now being shown at law enforcement conferences to demonstrate how evidence-based practices can prevent future investigative failures.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 THE NIGHTMARE
01:08 FACING THE FIRING SQUAD
01:38 NOT THE GONE GIRL
03:38 SOMEONE FINALLY LISTENED
05:26 THE RECKONING
05:57 COLD CASE CONFESSIONS
06:23 SACRAMENTO COUNTY - THE TEENAGE RAPE
07:05 SANTA CLARA COUNTY - UNTESTED DNA
07:53 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY - LIVING IN FEAR
08:52 RETRAINING LAW ENFORCEMENT
09:38 AARON INTERROGATIONS - A CASE STUDY
11:02 SCIENCE-BASED INTERVIEWS - MULLER'S CONFESSIONS
12:20 FULL CIRCLE

(AIR DATE NOTE: This reporting aired in a series of stories throughout 2025. This final piece first aired on Dec 31, 2025.)