A California couple held their 13 children captive and shackled them to beds with chains - see inside the family's horrifying life

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A California couple held their 13 children captive and shackled them to beds with chains - see inside the family's horrifying life

california couple arrested

Reuters

David Allen Turpin and Louise Ann Turpin after being arrested on charges of torture and child endangerment.

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  • Police in California arrested David and Louise Turpin after their 17-year-old daughter called 911.
  • The couple's 13 children were being held captive in their home, local police said.
  • Some of the children were malnourished and bound to their beds by chains.


Police arrested a couple at their home in Perris, California, on Sunday after their 17-year-old daughter escaped and called 911, informing authorities that she and her 12 siblings were being held captive by their parents, according to an incident report released by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Police found some of the children extremely malnourished and shackled to their beds by chains and padlocks. The 17-year-old reportedly escaped through a window and used a cell phone taken from inside the house to call police. She was so emaciated that she looked like she was 10, police said.

The parents, David and Louise Turpin, were "unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner," police said.

This story is still developing, but here's what we know so far: