After one teenage girl was able to escape, multiple children were discovered bound, shackled and malnourished inside a California home. David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Ann Turpin, 49, were being held on $9 million bail each on Monday after the dozen people were allegedly found to be held captive inside their home. They were booked on charges of torture and child endangerment. Early Sunday, a teenage girl broke free and used a cellphone she found inside the home, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, The girl, 17, told police that she and her 12 brothers and sisters were being held by her parents and that some of her siblings were chained. When officials met with the teenager, they initially thought she was only 10-years-old because she was “slightly emaciated.” After a brief interview, officers said, they contacted her parents at their home in Perris. When officers arrived at the home, they discovered 12 people, ages 2 to 29, being held captive in “dark and foul-smelling surroundings.” Some of the children were padlocked or shackled to beds and bound. Neighbors told NBC News that they knew the family had a lot of children but were unsure how many because they “kids didn’t come out very often.” All 13 people were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment.
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