17 January 2024 , 17:11
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Netflix's latest true crime documentary American Nightmare has disturbed viewers, but what happened to Detective Mat Mustard?
The streaming platform have released its new series that examines the gripping story known as the real life ‘Gone Girl’. It explores the abduction of 29-year-old Denise Huskins in 2015. Denise and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn were woken during the night in their Vallejo, California home by an armed intruder, where she was kidnapped. Her captors then demanded a $17,000 ransom for her return.
Denise was released after 48 hours and found 400 miles away in her home town of Huntington Beach. Yet police incorrectly felt the couple’s version of events sounded too far-fetched and was potentially a hoax. The three-part series sees how the story came under intense scrutiny due to its noted similarities to Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl and David Fincher’s film in which a woman fakes her own kidnapping.
Aaron and Denise were accused of making up the kidnap (Netflix)Despite clear evidence of Denise's traumatic experience, both she and Aaron were labelled as hoaxers by the police and accused of wasting government time and resources. Aaron told his story to the Vallejo police but they didn't believe him. He was questioned for 18 hours, where he was asked many questions about his relationship with Andrea and suggesting he might have something to do with Denise's disappearance.
They made him take a lie detector test and told him he had failed. Feeling stressed and under pressure, Aaron decided to get a lawyer who listened to his story and, unlike the police, believed him. Lead Detective Mathew “Mat” Mustard had accused Aaron of being involved.
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Matthew Muller was finally caught for kidnapping and assaulting Denise. Dublin Police Department also helped determine the couple weren’t lying and Muller was their perpetrator. Aaron later found out that his lie detector test results had been inconclusive and he had been misled by the authorities. In 2016, Aaron and Denise took legal action against the City of Vallejo, filing a lawsuit. Despite the police department's refusal to acknowledge the allegations made against them, the case was settled outside of court in 2018.
Detective Mat Mustard was awarded Officer of the Year in 2015 (abc7)The city agreed to compensate Aaron and Denise with $2.5 million. By this point, the couple had been engaged since March 2017, and they tied the knot in September 2018. For Mat Mustard, he received Officer of the Year 2015 award from his local department. Since Denise and Aaron's case was settled outside of court, no officials were disciplined for their role in the distressing experience for the couple.
Mustard was the president of the Vallejo Police Officers Association from 2009 to 2019. In 2018, it is believed Mat was promoted to a sergeant. He is said to be serving as a detective sergeant for the Vallejo Police Department in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.
While Aaron and Denise have since welcomed two daughters and have tried to work though the trauma of the kidnapping. Denise previously told ABC News: "You can go through any kind of trauma to where it leaves you devastated and in a place where you just think, 'This is impossible to move forward from. What do I do next?' I think ours is an example of that. There is hope. It might take time and it might be a lot of hard work, but there is hope."