ratWarning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
when am 911 oprteratot for riverside county ceceiveds a strnge call from what souds like very conufed child .she has no dea of the horrors aboute to talke revealed to herihe very early mornig hours of january 14th ,208 , a home secrity camera in Perrsi ,californai,captures what lools lole a young child feeing gtom what seems to be a typcical surburban home.run the child runs shakily down the driveway before picking up speed once hitting the sidwealk and desipering from view
This is 17 year jordan turipin and though she’s been planning for this moment for almost 2 years, she still has no idea what she about to do will change the couse of her family’s lives forever .
the operator speeak for a minute before realizing this is a matter for the sheriffs departement and ask jordan to hold hold on one second while she transfers her ,jordans agrees and stands panting in the darkness fuill of adrenaline fair any moment her perants will appear out of the shadows.
the operator ask jordan to spell her last name snf jordan tries although she misspells it both times the operators asks. here jordan pause , taking a couple braths before doing her best to providie an anwser.
It’s later revealed that jordan has never been to schhol or received any kind of formal education whatsoever so the fact she’s able to offer anything at all is actually rather impressive , the operator asked jordan a couple of more questions about he location before getting to the yheart of the matter .
operator: why did you live your house?
Jordan : my two little sisters right now are chained.
operator:where are they chained up at?
Jordan : on their bed
operto:then there are 15 kids
jordan: there’s 13 kids and then mother and father .
shortly thereafter depbuty anthony colace at the end of a graveyard shift pulls up to the curb getting out to gtreet the small disheveled figure standing alone in the darkness.
the oldest sister is 29 the youngest is two, and they all live in the house the 29 kind scared to ask to move out because because their mother some of them have asked for job before and she act lile that’s crazy and it would never happen
but the two little sister right now chained up and are 11 and 14 .
Jordan they chained up because they stole mother’s fodd.
officer:uh .uh.
Jordan: but okay, yeas and do you wanna knwo , do you know they stole mothers’food?
officer: why?
Jordan , okay , all we ever eat for like,probably two straight years or three or more but sometimes we do eat ,
Despite jordan’s marked level of rewpidaltion she comtinues to divulges as much information as possible.thought she clearly struggles to put it all int o words., she picks upwhere she left off with the dispatcher during the her 911 ,omregards to turpins family life and how little the childrem were fed.
Jordan : i don’t know much of about my mother . she doesn’t like us. she doesn’t spend time with us ever . i take care of myself and mother does buy food for us so she feed us.
jordan ,having been sheltered from the outside word is painfully apparent when she concedes that she isn’t familiar with the most basic of healt-relateded terminology
police officer: does anybody at the house take any kinda medicin
jordan : oh i dont knwo what medication is.
opertor: any mecicines?
jordan: well ,when we have a cold , sometimes we take robitussin and so ,so…
Police officer: so you don’t go to s chool?
Jordan: right i don’t fo to school.
police officer: do your parents ,they let you go outside?
jordan : i’ve , never , we dont even go in the backyard. but the reason i called i managed to get out here, this is one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.
Police officer : uh-huh.
jordan: i’m terriffied.but i called because my two sisters, they chained up right now and they…
police officer : do you have pictures of that ?
jordan :yes, i can show you.i acctually didn’t have it , and then one of my sisters tld me i need to get pictures.
jordan : we are so filthy , we , we ,we don’t take baths. we don’t.
-have you lived in other states?
jordan :yeah ,Texas
-did they act like this when you lived in Texas?
-they acted , yeah , they acted different, they actually had all of theit kids in a house.
jordan: they acted ,yeah , they acted different, they actually had all of their kids in a house and they left us there for like for years and then later they came back and picked us up.but they’re living with us right now.
As the Texas neighbors of the family would later report , the family who’d moved to Tezas in the late 90’s kept entirely to themselves until a decade later when they apprently fled in the middle of the night without a word of explenation
When neighbors went over to the mobile home to check on the dogs that had been abandoned there, they were shocked and horrified by what they saw.
The dogs had apparently been foubd surviving off the used diapers left amid the other trash and feces left in the home and the doors and refrigerator all bore padlocks.
and frayed ropes tied to the multiple bare bunk beds. it would later come out that this was where the Turpins had abandoned all but two of their children for at least three years.
while themselves lived in an apartment nearby,only coming by once a week to drop off a small amount of food.
jordan sometimes we live in filth , and sometimes i wake up and i can’t breathe because how dirty the house is. we never baths i dont know if we need to go to the doctor,but sometimes we think stuff might be wrong with us and we tell mother and she just says ” go on.”
-when was the last time you had a bath?
jordan: eh…eh… i don’t know, almost a year ago
police officer: how did your sister get like this? your parents chained them up?
jordan: yeas ,because they stole food.
police officer : okay .
jordan:but they stole ” cause they were hungry’
by this point the devuty’s heard enough, he radios for backup and escorts jordan to the police car to be driven to the family home. he reassures her she doesn’t have to see her parents.
on the way over to the house,deputy colace ask jordan a few more questions.
police officer : do you have any injuries?
jordan: what’s injuries?
police officer : are you hurt ?
jordan:oh , no, not right now.
police officer: okay.
police officer : how long have you mom and dad been married?
jordan: i dont know probably 20 , i dont know. she got married when she was 16.
jordan is referring to her mother 49- old louise turpin according to both of louise’s sister, louise essentially ran away from home with the 23 -year -old david , when she was 16.
David was from a highly respected and influential family in their hometown and it was for this reason that louise’s parents gave their blessing for the two to get officially married.
police officer : so all kids have the save mom and dad?
jordan: yeas
According to David’s parents ,the reason he and louise had so many children wad down to them both being deepley religious in pentecostal faith, though the couple didn’t attend a church or even have one near their home .
Jordan Turpin
police officer: have the police ever got involved with this?
jordan: no.
police officer: well , why don’t you guys just leave the house?
jordan:because wer’re terrified,we don’t really have a way, everyone’s always looking , there’s always somebody
police officer : well you said your mom ‘s always gone , right?
jordan: right ,but…
police : why don’t you just leave?
jordan: either , she leaves on of the older ones there and our house , it goes , it makes the beeping noise.
This peebing noise was actaully just the low battery sound from the smoke detectors in the Turpin’s home.It’s seems Jordan is under the impression that this was a signal from some sort of security systyem.
at this point , the other officers pull up to the scene and deputy colace steps out of the car to direct them.
It´s now 7: 00 a.m and the sun has started to rise on this cool January morning. when they approach the fron door and knock loudly for a couple of minutes,
police officer#1: we got a call for a check the welfare here at your house , so just basically check on everybody and make sure everybody ‘s okay?
louise: yeah ,why?
police officer #2 : do you guys have kids in the house?
louise: yes.
police officer #2 : okay do you mind if we come in and just take a look?make sure everybody’s safe and everything’s okay?
louise: okay, what kind of call did you get ?
police officer#1: there was a young female walking around saying that she came from a house over here and we were able to find out that this was the house.
louise: they , she came from here?
police officer #2 that was she said.
louise: from inside this house?
police officer #1 : we think so ,otherwise we wouldn’t be knocking on your door on a sunday.
louise: did she say her name?
police officer #1: i don’t know , did she say her name?
police officer #2 : i dont know offhand ,but we need to check welfare.
police officer#1 we just need to check and make sure everybody’s okay.
Notice the officers are careful not to mention jordan by name, to not implicate her to her parent’s faces
police officer #2 :once we get in , make sure everything’s okay, well get outta ..
louise: we have a lot where we’re packing ready to move.
police officer #2 :okay
louise: it’s a mess in here so all…
police officer #1 we don’t mind messes, we’ve been in worse
louis : but i mean…
police officer #2 hoew are you doing sir?
david :okay.
louise: we were just in bed i mean like…
police office #1: so most people are right now . so we expect you guys to be in bed.
police office’#2 no weapons in the house or anything?
david : i do have a gun , it’s locked up.
police officer #1 locked up is good,we like that .
david: well do you have a search warrant or anything or..
police officer#2 : no ,we don’t need one , sir.
As the officers prepare to carry out a warrantless search of the premises, they have determined there are exigent circumstances surrounding the current situation.
courts will typically look at the time when officers make the warrantless search or seizure to evaluate whether at that point in time a reasonable officer at the scene would believed it was urgent to act and impractical to secure a warrant .
courts may also consider whether the facts suggested that the suspect was armed and planning to escape, whether a reasonable police officer would believe their safety or other’s safety was threatened, and whether there was a serious crime involved.
police in hot pursuit of a fleeing criminal may also make use of the exigent circumstances exception
as officers push their way past the corpulent door jam that is david , and ease their way int o the large open home.
They’re shocked and horrified by what greets them.every inch of the 2,388- square foot house’s floor is covered in mounds of rotting food and moldering trash, while the powerful stench of human waste hangs in the humid air.
strangley , there also seems to be several dozen unopened boxes and packages of children’s toys.
and brand new children´s clothing complete with tags seen peeking out of the monstrous piles of garbages
officers head to the back of the house to the childrens bedrooms,two tiny back rooms, the first crammed with narrow bunk beds, but otherwise empty.
and the second, which is crammed with both bunk beds and filthy mattress ,which is sitting on the floor with two little girls sitting listelessly on top
The officers believe they found the room featured in jordans phone pictures, but there’s only one thing missing. the actual chains.
the children obviously frightened and wary of the strangers ,give no answers , though eventually one does point them surreptitiously to a sliding closet door.
meanwhile , officer ogden is still by the door with david and louise ,distracting them with questions ans small talk.
finally, as his eyes have adjusted to the gloom,officer ogden notices something to his left and suddenly realizes david turpin may have had a reason to be awkwardly standing in that particular spot in the entryway
officers enter the previously unnoticed third bedroom where they find a boy ,who was chained by his wrists and ankes to the top bunk bed
back in the girl´s room, officer rordriguez slides open the closet door and looks inside. and found a bounch of chains
While the parents are being detained , officers still inside the house begin a desperate search to find the key to free the chained child.
and finally , they young boy is freed. all 13 of the Turpin children were immediately taken to the hospital to receive treatment for their severe malnutrition and other injuries.
their ages were officially determined , and though all had the overal appearance of children under 18, more than half of them in fact ,were actually adults between the ages 18 and 29.
the 28 -year old wighed only 82 pounds at the time of rescue, and all of the children suffered cognitive impairment and nerv damage from the consistent lack of food.
investigators would learn that food was something the children were psychologically tormented with, as the parents would buy large food items,
such as whole pies, then leave them out for the children to look at ,but not eat.
as it turns out , the unopened toys investigators saw around the house on the day of the rescue were bought for the very same reason.investigators would also discover that none of the children were educated and indeed none would claim to have knowledge beyond that of an average third grader.
david turpin had filed documents with the county claiming he was running a school out of his home for children bu this was later proved to be completely false
the most they did was inform the children as to what grade they were supposed to be in o n the off chance a stranger asked them during one of their few ventures ouside.
‘
with the oldest daughter , jenifer,explaining they love to point out things in deuteronomy, sayin that ,” we have the right to do this to you” i was afraid to do one little thing wrong.
when interrogated by authorities, both parents were completely unwilling or unable to come up with a single viable reason for why they treated their children this way.
Turpins backyard
and louise even seemed confused by the questioning. she later wrtote letter to her children from her jail cell.
David had something different to say.
” you honor , i thank god for all of my children. each one of them is a blessing from god. my homeschooling and discipline had good intentions. I never intended tfor any harm to com to my children . i´m sorry if i’ve done anything to cause them harm i’m glad that we were able to resolve this case without my children being forced to testify , i love my children and i believe my children love me. i hope and pray that my children can stay close to each other and look out for each other since their mother and father cannot be there for them and with them . i hope very best for my children in their future”
In April ,2019 , david and louise Turpin were both sentenced to 25 years to life in prison where they remain to this day.
as for the Turpin children,once their parents were arrested, they were split into two groups with the adults being placed in supportive care ,and the underage children being place into foster homes .
this should have been where their story ended, as the children were now free and should have been safely on the road to recovery.
but unfortunately , in 2022, the six younger Turpin children filed a lawsuit against both Riverside county and childNet, a private foster care agency , alleging that they were knowingly placed in inhumane foster homes.
at the time of this video a resulotion to this lawsui thas not been made, the adult Turpin children didn’t entirely escape hardship at the hands of the county either.
Tons of support flowed in from all over the country after their 2018 rescue, with money gtom donations alone totaling 600,000 dollar.
however ,the money was placed in a trust and the children were allegedly unable to obstain funds from the court – appointed guardian of the trust upon request.
Jordan Turpin is seen here during an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer
it wasn’t until ABC” 20/20 ” investigated and aired a spcecial on the case that ,according to Jordan , people started listening and doing their jobs and the money was distributed to the Turpin children.
Pictures reveal the conditions inside the Turpin’s house of horrors
Exterior photographs of the Turpin family home in Perris, California. Picture: Stewart Cook/The Sun
The family who moved into the Turpin’s Fort Worth, Texas, home found scratch marks on the doors. Picture: CBS11
The Fort Worth home was caked in filth when the family left. Picture: CBS11
The exterior of the Turpin’s former home in Fort Worth, Texas. Picture: CBS11
The family also lived in a property in Rio Vista which was dubbed “The Compound” by a neighbour. Picture: CBS11
Parents of rescued children had history of strange behavior
Horror scene: House where 13 kids were found in chains
Authorities say this house Muir Woods Road in a middle-class suburban neighborhood of Perris was dark and foul-smelling inside, with several children shackled to their beds as their parents allegedly held their 13 children, ages 2 to 29, captive. (Photo by Andrew Foulk for The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Riverside County Sheriff personnel look for evidence in the home of the couple that were arrested earlier this week on suspicion of nine counts of torture and 10 counts of child endangerment at their home on Muir Woods Road Wednesday in Perris, CA. January 17, 2018. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Riverside County Sheriff personnel carry boxes and bags evidence from the home of the couple that were arrested earlier this week on suspicion of nine counts of torture and 10 counts of child endangerment from their home on Muir Woods Road Wednesday in Perris, CA. January 17, 2018. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
photos shows the inside of a home in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Turpin family once lived.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Photos from a home in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Turpin family once lived years ago, show a filthy, decrepit interior.
Parris ,california
In an image from an Inside Edition video, someone wrote a plea for help that was found inside the Perris house where David and Louise Turpin are alleged to have tortured 12 of their 13 children. (Courtesy of Inside Edition)
In an image from a report by Inside Edition, a bedroom is shown cluttered with bedding, toys, clothing and broken furniture in the home in Perris where David and Louise Turpin are alleged to have tortured 12 of their 13 children. (Courtesy of Inside Edition)
“They would buy literally so many expensive clothes and toys and stuff that they wasn’t ever going to use,” Jennifer explained. “About a hundred different collectors’ Monopolies and stuff like that.”
Bodycam video of Turpin children rescue shows squalor inside home
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department comb the Perris, Calif., house owned by David and Louise Turpin for evidence after a raid revealed their 13 sons and daughters aged between 2 and 29 had been held there and malnourished.