Jaycee Dugard has a reason to smile for the first time in 18 years.
The tragic victim of a pervert who kidnapped her and held her as his sex slave for nearly two decades, Dugard is revealed in the new People magazine as a strikingly beautiful 29-year-old who finally is living the life that was stolen from her.
Reunited with her mother and her half-sister, Dugard is spending her time doing what other people take for granted — she’s going on outings, riding horses, learning to cook, and raising her two daughters in a joyful, normal home.
“I’m so happy to be back with my family,” the beautiful, bright-eyed brunette told the magazine in a remarkable glimpse into her miraculous recovery. “Nothing is more important than the unconditional love and support I have.”
Just two months ago, she and her children had been confined in a squalid shack hidden behind the home of Phillip Garrido, the sex fiend and religious zealot who tried to brainwash them into believing that theirs was a normal existence.
Jaycee and her girls, Angel, 15 and Starlit, 11 — who were fathered by Garrido — finally live in a real home, sleeping in their own beds, surrounded by people who truly love them.
They’re all staying with Dugard’s mom, Terry Probyn, in a secret location in Northern California, away from the prying eyes of the public, according to the magazine which is on newsstands tomorrow.
Angel and Starlit, who had never seen the inside of a classroom, are being taught at home by a private tutor. And Jaycee is reading constantly, trying to catch up with her own education, which never went beyond the fifth grade.
“There’s a lot of laughing,” said family spokeswoman, Erika Price Schulte. “They’re focused on being a family.”
Schulte said that Dugard came forward “to lift the veil and acknowledge that she is doing well.”
“It’s a very secluded existence right now by design,” Schulte added in the magazine. “They’re not hiding; they’re enjoying their privacy.”
The People article includes the first photos of Dugard since she was freed from her alleged kidnapper, Phillip Garrido, in August.
The shots show her smiling alone and posing with Probyn and half-sister Shayna during a riding trip that is part of her recovery program.
“Horse therapy is part of the reunification therapy they’re going through,” Schulte said. “Jaycee and the girls really love riding horses.”
Dugard is also enjoying her time with her half-sister.
“Those two in particular are really enjoying getting to know each other and feeling like sisters,” Schulte said.
People spokeswoman Claudia DiRomualdo said Dugard approached the magazine with the pictures, which were taken by an independent photographer. DiRomualdo declined to say if Dugard, who has made no public appearances, was compensated.
The article, quoting a relative, said that one of the prime things Dugard must face is “the fact she was sexually abused, and daughters Angel and Starlit must deal with how they were conceived.”
Probyn’s stepmom, Joan Curry, told People: “She knows this is not going to be the easiest road that she’s ever traveled, but she is just very upbeat, giddy that she’s with her family.”
The family spends a lot of time “catching up, reading and cooking” according to People. One of their favorite meals is rice and beans.
As far as the children are concerned, Curry said, “the girls are very bright.
Family lawyer McGregor Scott added, “They’re really pretty much at grade level on everything. They are learning math, English — a very typical curriculum for children their age.”
Meanwhile, sources said that Dugard’s mother has reached a book deal with publisher Random House.
The book, which will be written by Probyn and include a foreword by Dugard. It will apparently chronicle the abduction, Probyn’s nearly two-decade search for her daughter, and the family’s emotional reunion.
Scott also said that Jaycee is not trying to protect her captors — and is working with detectives to build the case against Garrido and his wife, Nancy.
“She is fully cooperating with law enforcement and is fully prepared to testify if necessary,” Scott told People.
The Garridos are being held in a California jail on charges of kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment.
The pair are getting a taste of their own medicine. They’re both locked up in separate small cells with a single window — and are being let out for exercise for only three hours a week, according to People.
The family’s spokespeople went on the “Today” show yesterday and declared that Probyn wanted to release the photos to “share her joy with the world” about how well she is doing.
But not everyone is convinced that Dugard is doing OK.
“She definitely is not making astonishing progress,” said psychologist Estyne Del Rio-Diaz, who has not interviewed Dugard and her daughters but has treated other kidnap victims in the past. “She might have gotten dressed up pretty for the photo shoot, but that’s not the way she feels. She’s living a nightmare.”