The alleged kidnapper in the Jaycee Lee Dugard case drugged and raped a 14-year-old girl in 1972 and there was a "good chance" he could have claimed other victims, police have said.

Antioch police lieutenant Leonard Orman told reporters that Phillip Garrido, who is accused of abducting Dugard in 1991 and holding her prisoner for 18 years, had attacked a schoolgirl in a separate case decades earlier.

The announcement came as close relatives of Dugard spoke out for the first time about how she was adjusting to life after being reunited with her family last week following a near two-decade separation.

Antioch police officer Orman said Garrido (58) first came to the attention of authorities more than 37 years ago and was charged with raping a schoolgirl.

It was not clear why the case against Garrido was halted, he added.

In a brief outline of the case, Orman said Garrido and another man had met the 14-year-old victim and a friend at a public library in Antioch.

"They got into a vehicle with Mr Garrido and were provided barbiturates ... she ended up at a motel with Mr Garrido," Orman said.

After being given more drugs, the victim "awoke, found herself there, and was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted," Orman said.

"The details of that are very slim at this point with respect for records to rely on. But at some point the prosecution was dropped."

Asked if he believed Garrido may have claimed other victims, Orman replied: "Other victims? I think there's a good chance of that, yes."

The 1972 case came only four years before an incident in Nevada where Garrido kidnapped a casino worker in Reno, Nevada, before subjecting her to a terrifying sexual assault at a soundproofed storage unit.

He later served 11 years for the crime but was paroled in August 1988 despite receiving a 50-year jail term.

Three years after his release he allegedly kidnapped 11-year-old Dugard from outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, holding her captive in a secret backyard prison before being captured last week.

Dugard (29) and the two daughters Garrido fathered with her, have spent the past week "reconnecting" with family at a secluded location, her aunt said Thursday, describing the reunion as a "joyful time."

"The smile on my sister's face is as wide as the sea," Tina Dugard said of Jaycee's mother, Terry Probyn.

"Jaycee remembers all of us. She is especially enjoying getting to know her little sister who was just a baby when Jaycee was taken.

"Not only have we laughed and cried together but we've spent time sitting quietly, taking pleasure in each other's company."

Dugard also praised the way Jaycee had educated the two daughters she had with Garrido, who are now aged 15 and 11.

"Jaycee did a truly amazing job with the limited resources and education that she herself had. And we are so proud of her," she said.

In an interview published in the Orange County Register newspaper on Thursday Tina Dugard said Jaycee and her children were "happy."

"There's a sense of comfort and optimism, a sense of happiness. Jaycee and her girls are happy," she told the paper.

"People probably want to think that it's been this horrible, scary thing for all of us," Tina Dugard said.

"(But) the horrible, scary thing happened 18 years ago, and continued to happen for the last 18 years. The darkness and despair (has lifted)."

Tina Dugard said there had been an "instant connection" when the family was reunited last week. "It was almost a genetic connection — an instant sense of family, for all of us," Tina said, adding Jaycee recognized her immediately.

"She absolutely knew who I was," Tina said. "She remembered me right away. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

"I went forward and cried and hugged her and held her as tight as I possibly could. It was surreal, and it was fabulous."

AFP

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