Report doesn't seem to jive as to how long they were held captive although 2 days would have been too long, never mind 2 years but the neighbours say they didn't even know kids lived there. Of course possibly the neighbours had moved in within the last 2 years.........
Tucson police said three children who were held captive by their parents lived, ate, slept and even went to the bathroom in the confines of their bedrooms, all while under constant video monitoring and the constant torment of blaring music.
The children, ages 12, 13 and 17, lived a filthy, dungeon like existence in their central Tucson home for up to two years.
The girls were imprisoned so long that neighbors said they did not even know children lived in the home.
Villaseñor said their hellish existence came to an end Tuesday morning when the 12- and 13-year-old girls fled their knife-wielding father through a window and ran to a neighbor’s home.
“The children were quite dirty, covered in dirt and grime, and it appeared that they hadn’t been cleaned and bathed in quite some time,” Villaseñor said Wednesday. The girls pounded on a neighbor’s door and windows at about 4 a.m., waking him and his wife up.
The neighbors called 911 and sat with the girls and consoled them until police arrived.
One neighbor, who would only give the name Phillip to protect his privacy, described the girls as “very distraught.”
“They were worried their mother may have been killed by their stepfather because he had a knife,” Phillip said.
The parents were arrested at the home on suspicion of child abuse and kidnapping. The father also faces a charge of sexual abuse of a minor under age 15.
Police said the stepfather has a criminal record but did elaborate.
The Republic is withholding the names of the parents to avoid identifying the children.
Police and neighbors described a fortress like home and a reclusive existence for the family, saying they had security signage around their property and did not interact with others.
The doors to the children’s bedrooms as well as the exterior doors to the home were armed with alarms, which would alert the stepfather and mother if they were opened.
Police said the couple played loud music and sometimes static through speakers that were directed at the children’s beds.
Towels stuffed under the doors and sealed ductwork kept the rooms nearly soundproof from outside, he said.
Cameras placed inside the bedrooms monitored the girls’ activities. The children had to motion to the parents via the cameras to alert them that they needed to use the restroom. At times, permission was denied, and they were forced to go to the bathroom in their closets.
Police said they are investigating whether that video footage was streamed outside the home.
The girls told police they hadn’t bathed in four to six months and were fed one meal a day, which consisted of some sort of noodle dish.
Authorities found the 17-year-old girl in a separate locked bedroom during a search of the home. The younger sisters had not seen their older sibling for long stretches of time.
When they reunited, the younger girls and 17-year-old girl expressed wonder at how much each other had changed.
Villaseñor said the 17-year-old girl kept a detailed journal documenting each day of her life over the past months.
Villaseñor said the children showed signs of psychological trauma. He said detectives are consulting with child-protective workers to determine what, if any, contact they’ve had with the family.
Phillip, the neighbor, said the girls “expressed a desire to live a normal life to go to school and see other relatives” and took a keen interest in all the books in his home. “They said they hadn’t gone to school for two years,” he said.
Villaseñor said that there was no record of the children being enrolled or withdrawn from any Tucson schools and that their mother told police she home-schooled the girls.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizo...n-girls-escape-captive-home-dungeon-abrk.html
Tucson police said three children who were held captive by their parents lived, ate, slept and even went to the bathroom in the confines of their bedrooms, all while under constant video monitoring and the constant torment of blaring music.
The children, ages 12, 13 and 17, lived a filthy, dungeon like existence in their central Tucson home for up to two years.
The girls were imprisoned so long that neighbors said they did not even know children lived in the home.
Villaseñor said their hellish existence came to an end Tuesday morning when the 12- and 13-year-old girls fled their knife-wielding father through a window and ran to a neighbor’s home.
“The children were quite dirty, covered in dirt and grime, and it appeared that they hadn’t been cleaned and bathed in quite some time,” Villaseñor said Wednesday. The girls pounded on a neighbor’s door and windows at about 4 a.m., waking him and his wife up.
The neighbors called 911 and sat with the girls and consoled them until police arrived.
One neighbor, who would only give the name Phillip to protect his privacy, described the girls as “very distraught.”
“They were worried their mother may have been killed by their stepfather because he had a knife,” Phillip said.
The parents were arrested at the home on suspicion of child abuse and kidnapping. The father also faces a charge of sexual abuse of a minor under age 15.
Police said the stepfather has a criminal record but did elaborate.
The Republic is withholding the names of the parents to avoid identifying the children.
Police and neighbors described a fortress like home and a reclusive existence for the family, saying they had security signage around their property and did not interact with others.
The doors to the children’s bedrooms as well as the exterior doors to the home were armed with alarms, which would alert the stepfather and mother if they were opened.
Police said the couple played loud music and sometimes static through speakers that were directed at the children’s beds.
Towels stuffed under the doors and sealed ductwork kept the rooms nearly soundproof from outside, he said.
Cameras placed inside the bedrooms monitored the girls’ activities. The children had to motion to the parents via the cameras to alert them that they needed to use the restroom. At times, permission was denied, and they were forced to go to the bathroom in their closets.
Police said they are investigating whether that video footage was streamed outside the home.
The girls told police they hadn’t bathed in four to six months and were fed one meal a day, which consisted of some sort of noodle dish.
Authorities found the 17-year-old girl in a separate locked bedroom during a search of the home. The younger sisters had not seen their older sibling for long stretches of time.
When they reunited, the younger girls and 17-year-old girl expressed wonder at how much each other had changed.
Villaseñor said the 17-year-old girl kept a detailed journal documenting each day of her life over the past months.
Villaseñor said the children showed signs of psychological trauma. He said detectives are consulting with child-protective workers to determine what, if any, contact they’ve had with the family.
Phillip, the neighbor, said the girls “expressed a desire to live a normal life to go to school and see other relatives” and took a keen interest in all the books in his home. “They said they hadn’t gone to school for two years,” he said.
Villaseñor said that there was no record of the children being enrolled or withdrawn from any Tucson schools and that their mother told police she home-schooled the girls.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizo...n-girls-escape-captive-home-dungeon-abrk.html
