20/20 - True Crime Vault: Escape from a House of Horror

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Diane Sawyer's exclusive with the Turpin children who escaped parents' house of horror. (OAD 11/18/21) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that Staples Professional can tailor a custom program to make running your business easy? With a Staples Professional account, you get one vendor, one delivery, and one invoice for all your must-haves, from tech to cleaning supplies, and dedicated support from Staples experts who guide you on everything from product selection and ordering to payment. Join today at staplesprofessional.ca and get expert solutions tailored to your business. That was easy. Hi there, it's Debra Roberts. And before we jump into this week's true crime vault, I want to let you know about a special new program airing on ABC about a story that we're going to revisit. My colleague Diane Sawyer is bringing us a fascinating update on the Turpin family.

Now, you may remember the Turpins first shocked the world in 2018 when 13 children were saved from a house of horror, where they had suffered a lifetime of abuse and imprisonment. Well, Diane was the first to bring viewers inside the kids. their experience when she interviewed two of the Turpin daughters and now three more siblings who've never spoken out before are coming forward to tell their side of the story. Don't miss The Turpins, a new house of horror, a Diane Sawyer special event airing Tuesday, February 3rd on ABC, and streaming next day on Disney Plus and Hulu. And now here's our True Crime Vault episode on the Turpin family. A security camera is rolling in a quiet suburban California neighborhood. At the house across the street, in the shadows, someone quietly opens a window and slips out.

Watch, there. A blurry figure stepping forward, a small, uncertain girl, heading one way. Then she turns, hesitates, and starts to run. Clutching an old cell phone. That was my only chance. At least if something happened to me, at least I died trying. Nine one emergency, what are you reporting? This is 911. Do you have an emergency?

Um, I just ran away from home. Do you know what street you're on? Um, no. I just ran away from home because I don't have been a family of 15, okay? Can you hear me? And we have abusing parents. Did you hear that? Okay. How did they abuse you? Okay. They hit us. They like throw us across the room. They pull our hair. They, they yank out our hair. I have two, my two little sisters right now are chained up.

Okay. How old are you? I'm 17. What's your name? Jordan Turpin. Okay. I'm going to connect these with the service department so that they can help. One moment, don't hang up. I want.

A second dispatcher picks up. Hello? Oh, yes, I'm here. Nearly four years later, this is Jordan Turpin, remembering that night. My whole body was shaking and... And when I was holding the phone, I remember the phone was, like, I couldn't really dial 911 because, I'm sorry. Shaking to me.

Yeah, I was shaking in, so I was trying to dial 911, but I couldn't even get my thumb to press the buttons because I was shaking so bad. But I was like trying to calm down. Thank you so much. I was trying to, like, calm down so I could, I could, um, to do it. And then I finally, like, pressed it. And then they answered, I literally never talked to somebody on the phone. What's your address? Okay, you got me. Excuse me a minute. It's going to take a wall.

I've never been out. I don't go around much, so I don't know anything about the streets or anything. The dispatcher tracks her location from the GPS on her cell phone and sends out a request for a police officer. A deputy across town volunteers. He's 14 minutes away. And I was freaking out because I was like, wait, are they going to take me back there? Like, I was so scared in that moment.

I was actually on the road because I didn't even know about the sidewalks. You're supposed to be on the sidewalk. But I'd never been out there. The caller tries to find her house address on a piece of envelope she's stuffed in her backpack. My address is 9-2-0-7-4. Did you get it?

Okay, so now you just gave me a whole bunch of numbers. You didn't give me any kind of street name there. Oh, okay, I'm sorry. Thanks, those are the numbers on my house. That's your zip code. The numbers on your house should only be three digits. Finally, she reads the correct address, but is panicking, not knowing whether her parents can look out a window and see her.

Are you in a corner right now? I might be. Are you at, is there a street sign? Is there a pole with two names at the top? I just see, I just see a stop sign. Okay, can you go over and stand right at that stop sign? Yes. And then eventually I saw a stop sign,

and I still by the stop sign, and she told me to stay there. And I was like, I'm scared they're going to come. Like, I wanted to leave. I was so terrified. Because I know the way they were, they wouldn't care if they knew police were coming. They would just kill me right there and there. If they realized that, especially if they knew I was on the phone with the police. But she tries to remain brave because of her siblings.

She is their hope. The reason I ran away from home was because chains were making places and they will wake up at night and they would start crying. And they wanted me to call somebody and tell them. And so I wanted to call. I want to call y'all so y'all can help my sister. Do you think anybody in the house will need to go to the hospital? Sometimes we live in still, and sometimes I wake up and I can't breathe because how dirty the house is. We never take bath.

When was the last time you had a bath? When was the last time you had a bath? Almost a year ago. I had to make sure that if I left, we wouldn't go back because And we will get the help we needed because if we went back, there's no way I would be sitting here right now. I don't know how you had the courage, never having spoken to anyone like that. I think it was like us coming so close to death so many times. And like I was worried about my siblings.

And when I saw them crying and worried, I just felt like I had to do it. Like, I just wanted to do it. I wanted to help everyone. Do you know if your parents keep any kind of weapons in the house? I think that my father has a gun. Have you seen the guns? No, but they've talked about it. The dispatcher knows if this girl with the strange cadences and vocabulary hangs up or the call drops,

there's no way to get her back. Her old phone has been disabled. It can only call out to 911. So the dispatcher tries to keep her talking. Do you know what your dad's name is? I don't know much about my mother. He doesn't spend time with us ever. Does anybody at the house take any kind of medication?

Oh, I don't know what medication is. Any medicine? We have a cold. Sometimes we take revocation. At incredible speed, the girl rattles off the names and ages of each sibling. Their names have been redacted. It's two. It's 11.

12, 14, 16, I'm 17. I'm 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 20, I think 5, 29. The deputy is now just seven minutes away. I just want to stay on the phone with you. How did you get this phone that you have? It was a phone that my brother had, that he was going to throw away. And I had to have a way to contact somebody like you. So I got it so I could call number one.

And you guys don't have any friends? Is there anybody who comes over to the house? Okay. Is that the deputy? Okay. Um, yes. Go talk to him, okay? Yeah.

All right. Bye-bye. Hi, Jordan. You are looking at the body camera footage from the deputy as he arrives. Hi, what's going on? Moving into frame, the skittish girl, who has to convince this stranger her story is real. I was so nervous because it was, I've never had like a conversation with a stranger before. And so I was, I've never had like a conversation with a stranger before.

And so, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was. I saw him and he was so serious. He was tall and I've never talked to a stranger. I was so scared. I didn't know what he was thinking because he had just one straight face. You didn't know if he believed you or not? Right.

He was like, do you have any proof of any of this? And I was like, yes. He knew they were real. Yeah, they were all of the years. They were real. When we come back, those photos, the body cam footage, and what the deputy saw that changed You're watching footage from a body camera, a deputy walking up to an anxious girl with a disjointed story.

Hi, what's going on? Okay. I just ran away from home. Okay. And I live in a family of 15. Okay. My two little sisters right now are chained up. They're chained up?

Yes. Where are they chained up at? On the bed. Now, mother didn't change their lot just to be mean. Okay. Okay. They're chained up because they stole Mother's food. Uh-huh. But I'm sorry if I talk too much.

Okay. I've never talked to anybody out there, so I don't, I've never been alone with the person, so this is very hard for me to talk. Okay. How did you, do your parents know you left your house? No, they don't. Do you take any medication? What's medication? Medication?

Yeah, with medication. Do you take pills? Do you take pills? I don't think I've ever taken it before. Okay. Right, I haven't. But... The girl with the strange vocabulary

nervously puts on a little hat, a reminder of one of her sisters who's depending on her. Our parents are abusing. They abuse us. But the reason I called and the reason I managed to get out here, this is one of the most scariest things I've ever done.

I'm terrified. But I called because my two little sisters, they're chained up right now. The deputy, a nine-year veteran of the force, is not sure what to make of this 17-year-old girl who looks so much younger. He is ending a graveyard shift, and it's been a hard night. Robbery calls, assault calls, deputies were shot at. He responded to the runaway call because he knows how they usually end. You take the kids back home to reconcile with their parents.

I decided to take it thinking, hey, this might be a good way to just end my shift. And then, on instinct, he asks a question. Do you have pictures of that? Yes, I can show you. I actually didn't have it. And then one of my sisters told me, I need to get pictures. You have pictures of your sisters chained up? Yes, but they're in here.

I don't have proof of everything, but I have proof that my sisters are chained up. So see? She doesn't seem to know the word bruised. See, those are the places that make in them. And see how dirty she is? We're so filthy. We don't take baps. How did your sisters get like this?

Okay. Your parents chained them up? Yes, because they stole food. Okay. But they stole it because they were hungry. Who took this picture? I did. I took those pictures.

Okay. You make sure to save these, okay? Okay, I will. Don't get rid of those. I will. I won't. They look very, very, very, sad and malnourished. They were very pale.

This is that deputy, Anthony Kalachi. Once I saw that photo, it really sealed the deal for me. Kalachi knows this girl is not your usual runaway. She has identified a possible crime in progress, and her parents could be trying to find her. Can you give your favor, take a seat in the back of my car? Okay. Do you have any injuries?

Which injuries? Are you hurt? Oh, no. Not right now. Kalachi radios in for backup. One pair is 32. Can I have 1110? With his body, Cam running, he gathers more facts trying to piece this story together. What are your parents going to do when they find out you left? Uh, the girl wants to live to kill me.

What's the worst thing they've done to you? Uh, they have choked me against the bed and... Did you call the police? I know, I didn't have a way to get home yet. Suddenly, she remembers another detail, a horror recounted as part of her everyday life. Oh, my brother's chained up too. They're chained up? One of my brothers is chained up.

So three people are chained up right now. What does your mom do? Nothing. She just stayed at home. But she's always gone. Well, why don't you guys just leave the house? Because we're terrified, we don't really have a way. Everyone's always looking.

There's always somebody. Deputy Kalachi is stunned by the girl in the back seat with limited words and so much courage. I asked her what her middle name was. She said it was Elizabeth. I asked her to spell it. She couldn't spell it. I wanted her to know people on the outside

are loving and caring. He notices a video on her cell phone. She's singing. He asks to watch it. I don't understand. This is a great video and you're a beautiful singer. Daylight arches over a pleasant suburban neighborhood. It's Sunday. Most residents are still asleep.

Quietly, Riverside County Sheriff's deputies pull up to a house. On the outside, a house just like the others. It has been an hour and a half since Jordan Turpin climbed out the window. So they was like, if we walk in, will they still be chained? And I was like, if they didn't notice me missing yet, yes. But if they noticed me missing, they're going to try to cover that all up. And they asked me if I wanted to come up and I was freaking out. I was like, no, no, no, no.

Like, honestly, I thought, like, knowing them, what if they killed me right there and there, even if the police were there? Just saying, doing a welfare chance? Yeah. Since a child may be in danger, the deputies do not need a warrant to enter the house. They knock for two minutes and ten seconds. You're obviously not open. Then suddenly the door cracks open.

Hi. A mother and father appear. We got to do it. We got a call. We're going to check the buffer here at your house. They are breathing heavily. You know, I'm not a good. You guys have kids in my house?

Yes. Okay. What kind of clock did you get? How you doing, sir? I'm doing it. Okay. We were just in bed, I mean, like... David and Louise Turpin, who have concealed a chamber of horrors for almost 30 years.

Now watch as deputies start to make their way through the door. We're going to come in and check, okay? And in one of the rooms inside the house, someone is waiting in her bed, eyes wide open, Pray that the knock on the door means her sister made it to freedom. Knock, knock, knock. And then they said it was the police. I'm like, this is it. In the next hour, we will show you the video as it happens what law enforcement sees when they walk into the house,

their first encounter with emaciated children. Some of them chained to their beds. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sometimes it can feel like everybody's got it together, but you. Well, the truth is, no one's perfect. So if you're struggling with feelings of inadequacy or like you're always comparing yourself to your friends and neighbors, therapy can help you find your way. BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms.

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using disposable wipes. I knew my routine had to change. So I switched to Garnier-Misler water. It gently cleanses, perfectly removes makeup, and provides 24-hour hydration. Clear away the evidence with the number one Missler Water worldwide by Garnier. I can't believe the two young women walking toward our cameras. Travelers from a dark world who invented their own light. It's been four years since the day in January 2018 when they were rescued, treated at a hospital, and given new life. Jordan Turpin, now 21 years old, her sister who helped plan the escape, the oldest Turpin child, Jennifer, now 33. How are you?

Awesome. Doing really good. January 14th, 2018. Yeah. Big day. What's the first thing you did that you look back on and think that was my first moment of real freedom? Actually, being in the hospital, when music was playing, I got up. And I made sure there was a little bit of a floor cleared out, and I danced.

The first place we went, we went to a park with... with two of my sisters and I was so excited because I could smell the air, I could smell the grass. I was like, how could heaven be better than this? Oh my gosh, this is so free. Like, this is life. They are speaking for the first time, ready to talk about their lives, but respecting the privacy of the siblings they love, and the stories written on all their bodies when they arrived at the hospital, where doctors and nurses wept at what they saw.

Children so emaciated they had difficulty walking, stunted growth, heart damage from a lack of nutrients, a pre-teen whose arm was the size of a four-month-old baby, their speech, their language limited by the isolation and neglect. All of us went through a lot and all of us went through our own things. And to be honest, not even all of us know every single thing each one of us went through. Exactly. And nothing's ever going to be that bad.

And nothing's going to be as bad as 29 years in what the only word I know to call it is hell. A hell created by her own parents, who started out, two kids growing up in a small town in West Virginia. David Turpin, by all accounts, a nerdy boy with bowl-cut hair and a shy stutter. He graduated from Virginia Tech and was offered a a well-paid job at Lockheed Martin. Louise Robinette, a girl six years younger, a member of the Bible Club, she sang in the choir.

She grew up suffering a family secret, which we'll tell you later. This is their wedding photo, she's just 16. They are a couple both steeped in the Pentecostal Church, with its message about the insidious power of the devil, and the rules, no drinking, no sex before marriage. And that's how the young couple began life in this nice house and a nice neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas. They tell family God has called on them

to have as many children as they can. He is 26, she's 20 when they have their first little girl. There's Jennifer. You can see her smile is so much like the smile of the mother she once loved. My first memory I was about two years old, and it wasn't to me. What was it?

I went downstairs for a glass of water, for a cup of water, and all of the water, And on the stairs, I saw my father yelling very loudly at my mother. My mother was crying. She started to say something. He's like, no, you shut up. And he took his fist and punched it in the wall, made a hole in the wall. I was terrified.

As her father yells in anger, she says her loving mother heads into unpredictable mood swings. It was like I never knew which sight I was going to get of her if I was going to ask her a question. like she's going to call me stupid or something. But anyway, or like, yank me across the floor, or is she going to be nice and answer my question? Neighbors are never invited inside that house, where the bright white walls are now gray with dirt and stains,

carpets with human filth. The shower floor seems black with mold. When Jennifer shows up at grade school, she's a little girl with unwashed hair, unwashed clothes. I remember wanting to make friends. I remember all of them didn't want to be my friend. Didn't really understand why. Like, called me skinny bones and acted like they didn't want to be around me.

I probably smelled. But I didn't realize at the time I smelled. But that stench claims to you. It stays with you because we would literally live in houses piled with trash. And I mean, literally piled a trash. Mold and everything. And there's no good way to get rid of a smell like that. So it was all my clothes, it was on me.

And I think that had a lot to do with it. Is it possible that some of her teachers noticed something? Years later, there were no records from the school. But after the third grade, Jennifer's parents take her out and no Turpin child will go to grade school again. The family moves into an isolated house in rural Texas. David Turpin commutes to Lockheed Martin. They post for photographs to send home to family.

As four kids become nine, nine become 12. But when they go back to the house, the children are not allowed outside. All of them taught to honor thy father and mother, and only to call them that. We'll call them, mother and father for the sake of the interview. But I don't like calling them that, because they're not that to me. They literally used the Bible to explain their behavior towards them. their behavior toward us. What parts of the Bible?

They'd love to point out things to doodominy, saying that we have the right to do this to you, that they had the right to even kill us if we didn't listen. Disobey mother, talk back, steal a piece of candy you can be thrown across the room, push down the stairs. Father also used belts and sticks and eventually dog candles with padlocks, with padlocks and homemade cages. Jennifer draws the shape of the cage.

And every day did you wake up in terror? Yeah. Because I was afraid to do one little thing wrong. If I did one little thing wrong, I was going to be beaten and not just beat, like, beat till I bled. You want to take a minute? I want to take a break. Yeah, a little, a little break.

I'm sorry. Let's do. Let's do. We'll just take a break here. Wade Walsvik, lead investigator on the Turpin case, a 33-year veteran of abuse and homicide cases. How long did it take you to figure out that this was unlike anything you'd seen before? Probably within the first couple days. The parents moved their children further off the radar,

a trailer behind the house, and then they abandoned them to seek their own adventures. They drop off weekly groceries never enough. Jordan was six when her parents left. She says at times she ate leaves, grass. There was a lot of starving, so I would have to figure out how to eat. Like I would either eat ketchup or mustard or ice. Ice cubes and ketchup?

Yeah. And Jennifer is forced to discipline the children by putting them in father's cages. cages that they were instructed to put their siblings in or that they would be put in if they didn't that is the nightmare choice you which is why she struggled so hard as a 17 18 19 year old so much it's not a choice if survival is the answer but living in that you kind of feel like you're torn She don't know what to do because I was on the brink of suicide. I wanted to just end it all, all my pain, everything. Three years go by, and no one seems to notice them, no one intervenes.

But after the Turpin story breaks, a little boy remembers. He once had a classmate in Fort Worth named Jennifer Turpin, a frail girl with a brave smile. He has since become a doctor. He wrote this plea on Facebook. Jennifer Turpin was the one girl nobody wanted to be caught talking to. I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame. The person who sat across from you at the lunch table went home to squalor and filth

while you went home to a warm meal and a bedtime story. The resounding lesson, teach your children to be nice. Befriend the Jennifer Turpins of the world. Coming up, the video of David and Louise Turpin's Salpin's celebrating their love story. Mm-hmm, baby. Certainly their abused children will keep their secret. What did they tell these children that paralyzed them?

With fear of the outside world. In a Las Vegas chapel, a middle-aged couple is renewing their vows. The chapel is filming the occasion. I did. I take the o'eeze. To be my wedded wife. Be my wife. My best friend.

My best friend. My soulmate. That's so bad. To have it to hold. To have it to hold. From this day. With this day. And forever.

And forever. Baby. Baby. Wise man. And while their children were starving in that Texas trailer, investigators say the devoted couple had moved into a motel to go out drinking, posting photos of their adventures. And now the children they had abandoned or abandoned.

in the chapel with them dressed in identical outfits to celebrate their parents' love story. You ain't nothing but a house. Say, hound dog. Hanka. Hanka. Hanka. Hanka. Hanka. Burden love. Baby, baby. Mama, mama. Mama. And we put our hands together, ladies and gentlemen. You ain't not a hound dog. There's Jennifer, the oldest. There's Jordan the 8.

Children with real thin arms and awkward dancing. So these are the pictures that we saw. That moment, we, of course, we're happy to be out doing something. At the same time, I know inside I was like, this is all a mask. This is all fake. We're not this big happy family that they always betrayed everyone. And that always bothered me. And it does like a mix of things in that moment that I was feeling personally.

She would get us all dressed. We would get clean and then we would go out and it would be like the best day ever. We were so happy, all of us. But then when we would come back, it was just like puddle the same dirty clothes and sit back to where. And I used to always wonder like, why couldn't we just be a family like that all the time? The family now lives under one roof in Paris, California. Paris, California, a suburb of Spanish-style homes, flowers by the door. David Turpin has a new job as an engineer at Northrop Grumman. He also has a new Mustang on another car, a vanity plate,

David and Louise forever. But behind the closed door of this house in the suburbs, Louise Turpin seems to have a manic pattern of shopping sprees, racking up huge credit card debts, with her childlike obsession with buying children's clothes, toys, games, she hoards. The children are not allowed to touch mother's toys unless she gives permission. This is a video made in the house of one of the children's closets, brand new clothes with price tags on them, while the children remained dressed in filth. They would buy literally so many expensive clothes and toys and stuff that they wasn't ever going to use. About a hundred different collector monopolies. and stuff like that.

At this point, David Turpin files for bankruptcy. They decide the children will have to economize. So every day it was bread and peanut butter? Mostly. Very occasionally, we would get food frozen or maybe fast food place. So what did your mother and father eat? Oh, they always ate fast food, frozen meals. They had the good stuff, and I was the one usually preparing it.

A video of the Turpin refrigerator stocked with items the parents eat. What did they say to you about eating what they wanted? They blamed it on us. They said they couldn't afford it because we were stealing. And by stealing, you're really, you're talking about food? Yeah. We had a weird schedule. Most of the time we were up at night and sleeping in the day.

And the blinds were closed so the neighbors couldn't see. We wasn't allowed to look out or open them. We wasn't even allowed to stand up. We were supposed to be sitting down all the time. Later, police find a video of the hungry, unbathed children hiding from view in a hallway. Their father, in route to his job, smiles. Jordan is filming this. It's a little camera she found on her Barbie doll.

You can see the camera there on the Barbie's neck, the record button on her little belt. So take a look at this scene again. 13 children in their Paris-California home. So many houses just a few feet away. That bothers me because I know some neighbors knew things were going on. So I wish they did something, like just have somebody look into it. And why did the California school system never check up on a home school called the Sandcastle Day School?

These are documents filed by David Turpin who proclaims himself principal. Louise is the teacher. A lot of child abuse gets reported through our schools. Teachers and school administrators are mandated reporters. So if a child comes to school with bruises or emaciated, that is a very common way that it gets reported. Mike Hestron is the Riverside County District Attorney. In this case, the Turpin family claimed that they were homeschooling their kids. They weren't.

They used the homeschooling system as a way to avoid any scrutiny. And when mother and father are out of the house, The little prisoners emerge. When mother was gone, our father was gone, we would like sneak and talk. And like sometimes we would open the window and we would stick our head out. They listen to music.

There's a TV to watch. A few trusted older siblings now have smartphones so that mother and father can always reach them with instructions. They take videos of the food they hide in their beds. And most of all, these children are so much of all These children are so desperate for an education. They try to teach each other language and what it is to be human. You taught each other what you knew.

We just did the best we could with what we did know. I knew the whole alphabet, but I had my sisters help me with that. They taught me that I, it, or a, those. The vowels. Yeah, the vowels. The children are told not to speak to strangers when they're taken out on rare occasions. to get those posed photographs. And again, that video in Las Vegas,

would you have spotted any fear in their faces? They've been told one mistake and something called child protective services could come and separate them forever. I thought that we would all go in different countries, and I thought that we would never see each other again, and I thought that we would be put into cages, and they would starve us,

and then as soon as we'd turn 18, just throw us out on the street. Mother usually spoke for us. We were also instructed on certain questions that may be asked of us, like, if they say what grade you're in, you tell them this. And there'll be times, I'd be like, wait, what grade am I

am I, I, know, me, too. I'd be like, like, go to one of my sisters. I actually, like, memorize, like, six, seven, eight, like, if I'm eight and I'm supposed to be in third grade, nine, you know. So they dance, they pretend, and the parents don't know. that one of their children has borrowed a sibling's phone

and is about to see something that will ignite a plan to escape. In 2015, how does Jordan Turpin start to summon the courage to run? She secretly opens a sibling's smartphone. I don't know where we would be if we didn't watch Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber was the first thing who fascinated you. Oh, well, I never talked to Justin Bieber. No.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, yes. I loved as long as you love me and boyfriend and baby. And I was your boyfriend. Never underestimate the power and reach of a teenage heart throb to enchant a 14-year-old fan, even one trapped in a cruel prison. I started realizing that there is a different world out there. I only knew one world and that was like always being there. I was just blown-minded.

by how different it is out there. And I was always like, I want to be out there. I want to be like that. I want to experience that. I want to do that. In Bieber's videos, the houses are nice. He has friends. And he talks about being sad and searching for God and comfort just like her.

She says she loved learning new words from him for her stunted vocabulary. I like watched all his interviews. And it was actually watching him that made me learning fast, smarter because I started paying attention. If God is based on love, it's I love you first, regardless of what you do, rather than you do this and I'll love you. She started to understand the fragments of hope she'd seen on TV. Happy kids and pretty dresses.

So far away from her life, she had tried to make a pretty dress with old paper she found around the house. But yeah, like high school musical and all those other Disney channels and and stuff, like Hannah Montana. Why don't you tell me what's really on your mind? Those movies been, their daughter would feel like they could talk to their mom. And we'd be like, oh my gosh, like, if I did that, there's no way, like, but it's like, it's just always like, it's that really how it is in her life. Something is changing inside this quiet child.

I wanted to get that phone and like somehow get like social media. and then start talking to other people because I've never talked to strangers before. With her secret phone, she decides to post a little song she is written online. When mother and father would leave, that's when I was sneak in the bathroom and I would make my videos and put them out. And I was hoping, like, if I made those videos, then people might follow me on social media. and some did. A stranger writes, asking why she's always inside and up at night. He kind of just realized that I was always in my room,

and then he started asking questions, and I told him how we eat and how we're not allowed to get out bed. He was like, this isn't right, you should call the cops. Like, I was so happy to hear him say that, because I was like, I was right. I was right that the situation was so bad. And one day, Jordan is caught secretly why. watching a Justin Bieber video.

Mother, she choked me, and I thought I was going to die that day. And after that whole day happened, I kept having nightmares that we were going to, that she was killing me. What Jordan Turpin knows is that the moment has arrived, you either crack or you decide to fight. I kept having nightmares that I was dying, and when I woke up, I was crying so hard. And that day was when I was like,

I told my two sisters, I'm going to leave. Coming up, she starts to plan her escape, but the clock is ticking, one chance to get out and not pay with her life. And the video cameras. In real time, as police move through that house. The NBA is happening now on ABC and the ESPN app. And right now, this season is unpredictable. We know this rookie class is special.

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State Farm. All season long on ESPN and ABC. Discover why critics have made send help the best reviewed movie of the year with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Getting us out of here. It should be your focus. You work for me.

Not in the office anymore. Critics are calling it a Diabolical, demented, deranged, delight, with witty twists and turns. Don't you wonder why you're the only ones who made it? And don't spoil the ending. You have to see to believe. Why didn't you tell me? Send hell, rated RITED R.

No one under 17 in mid without parent. Now playing. The time for escape is now. Hello. This is 911. You have a number just thing? It was literally a now or never. A desperate plan for freedom.

If something happened to me, at least I died trying. Thirteen siblings held captive by their parents. Locked inside for decades. For the first time, we're taking you inside that house of horrors. As the police saw it in real time, the sights, the secrets. I found the missing link. What do you know about why these two people did this to their children? 13 times over.

And what's happened since then? Where many of the promises made to them? Promises broken? Who is accountable? We're looking for answers. Can I ask you, sir? And looking at joy. I want my name and her name, the turpin name, like wow,

they're strong. Behind the closed drawer of a suburban house in a nice neighborhood where a Christmas ornament hangs in the window. Inside, there is a cruelty you do not have to imagine. You can see it in the pictures. Chains used to tie little arms and legs. One child tied with a rope uses his teeth to escape so they switch to thicker, heavier chains. A child, both hands attached to one railing, can't roll over or itch the lice on his head.

Chained for up to a month, two months. Only released to eat or go to the bathroom, if they can make it in time. Jordan Turpin looks at what is happening to her siblings and wrestles an agonizing choice. I knew I would die if I got caught, but at the end when I saw all my younger siblings and everyone, everyone was scared, I knew that's what I had to do. She decides to go to her sister secretly to ask for help. She's like, we need to get out of here. I gave her all the advice I knew, all the advice I could. Jennifer had tried to escape herself long ago.

but came back. She wrote a song, a kind of prayer for God to help them. Lord, I hate my life. Help me see the light. I am losing faith. Help me see the day. Lord, help me see the day. She draws a primitive little map for her sister Jordan, trying to recreate what she knows about the world outside their house. She thinks the road out may be there or there. It's hard to be sure. In a dark room, Jordan films a phone call with another sister who asks the taxi company how much it would cost to take someone out of California to Nevada. The very beginning of Nevada. Yeah.

How much would it cost? A couple hundred? Um, I'm not going. I'll take a bus. Did your parents know you had the phones? No. No. They did.

Since a taxi cost too much, Jordan was going to be. too much Jordan remembers something she's seen on a TV show called cops. 911. I got those photos because I knew that I would need proof of that. Get pictures, anything to prove, so they can't think you're just a teenager looking for attention. Two of Jordan's little sisters have now been chained to their beds in the room they all share. They were caught stealing mother's candy. She cannot bear their cries at night.

of them would be proof. I asked them permission before taking it, and they said yes. So they knew why I was taking the picture, and they knew what it was for. And they let me. And then on January 14, 2018, the signal that time has run out. Jordan hears mother say the family is moving to Oklahoma, and everyone is getting chained. The very next day we were moving. It was literally an hour never.

Everyone's getting chained. I knew I had to leave that night. That was my only chance. At least if something happened to me, at least I died trying. Because if we went to Oklahoma, there was a big chance that some of us would have died. I honestly don't know that at least one, maybe two of them would have survived the trip. They were in such a horrible decline and on the edge of starvation. So I started grabbing my bags and I put on like some clothes, clean clothes.

So I wouldn't like smell or anything. She puts pillows under a blanket to look like her in case her parents peek into the bedroom. She climbs up on the windowsill and drops down. There she is again in that security camera footage starting to run. I could barely walk. My legs were shaking. everywhere was shaking. I was so scared. And something she didn't know at the time.

There, in the shadows, someone else is slipping out the window and running in the opposite direction. It's her sister who can't find Jordan, and then slowly makes her way back. You can see that too on the security camera footage. While somewhere in the darkness, Jordan is making the life-saving call. 911, what's your name? Jordan Turquette.

I was trying to die on 911. but I couldn't even get my thumb to press the buttons because I was shaking so bad. My two little sisters right now are chained up. They will wake up at night and they will start crying and they wanted me to call somebody and tell them. Hi Jordan. Hi, what's going on? The deputy who arrives is so intuitive. He asked that critical question, and she is ready.

You have pictures of your sisters chained up? Yes. I don't have proof of everything, but I have proof that my sisters are chained up. Who took this picture? 13. I did. I took those pictures. Okay. You make sure to save these, okay? Okay, I will.

Don't get rid of those. I will. I won. And take a seat back here, okay? Okay. The sun is up. Reinforcements arrive. Riverside County deputies walk up to the door,

the door, no idea what they'll find on the other side. This is body camera footage of the police officers knocking on and off for two minutes and ten seconds. You're obviously not opening. Suddenly the door cracks open. Hi. Hi, sorry, bug, yeah? How are you doing?

Good. We got a call for a check the welfare here at your house. So check the welfare, so just basically checking everybody, make sure everybody's okay. Yeah, why? Do you guys have kids in the house? Yes. We now know they had been scrambling to have someone unlock the chains. Okay, do you mind if we come in and just take a look, make sure everybody's safe and everything's okay?

Okay, what kind of call did you get? Well, we got to call that there was a young female walking around saying that she came from a house over here. We were able to find out that this was a house, and we just wanted to check and make sure everybody was okay. Think she came from here? That's what she said? From inside this house? We think so. Otherwise we wouldn't be knocking on your door at Sunday.

Um, I don't know, did she say her name? I don't know. We just need to check and make sure everybody's okay. Once we get in, make sure everybody's okay, we'll get out of your head. We have a lot where we're packing, but we're getting ready to move. No worries. So it's a mess in here, so. All right. That's right.

We don't mind messes. How you doing, sir? No weapons in the house or anything like that? No, I do have, uh, I do, I do have a good on this lock. Good, it's locked up. Okay, locked up is good, we like that. Okay, well, we're gonna come in and check, okay? We just wanna make sure everybody's okay.

Do you have a search warrant or anything? No. The deputies move through the door. Coming up next, the body cameras and the stunning scene inside. Search for one or anything? No. As sheriff's deputies move through a door

into a horrifying landscape, the windows are closed. The room is swelting. alteringly hot, magnifying the stench of excrement, decaying garbage, mounds of mothers molding food, every sofa counter floor covered in layers of trash, and unopened toys. Hi, kids. Oh, it's okay. Louise Turpin quickly tries to follow the deputies. All right, stay there for me for now.

An officer distracts David Turpin with topic after topic. Okay. Well, what's your name, sir? David. Where are you guys planning on moving to? No, my job is not. My job is moving. Oh, okay.

Louise Turpin is directed to go back to the front door. Why don't you stay over here with my partner, okay? A pale, emaciated child moves through the living room. Her clothes, dirty, so was her hair. Oh, okay. What do you do for work? I'm an engineer. Oh, engineer.

35 goes an hour and 10. Louise Turpin nervously probes again. You got a call? Yeah, we got a call from, I'm not sure if it was the young girl that left, or if it was a neighbor that saw her walking around the street. So, we'll get to the bus. bottom of it. As soon as we make sure everybody's okay, then we'll figure out if maybe she was one of your kids that wandered away. How many kids do you have? 13. 13 total? You guys are busy.

As the parents are talking, deputies head into the center of the house. There's a hallway. They pass the parents' bedroom, then down the hall two other bedrooms. The deputy looks in the first door and discovers a crushing scene. Those two young girls from their sister's phone, photos. One is on a bed, the other a mattress on the floor. They are limp, frail, eerily quiet, caked in dirt. Their arms are bruised. But where are the chains? Hi, sweetheart. Hi girls. Can I see your wrist? Yeah. Which one? Look.

Okay. Hi. How old are you? Next, the deputy heads to the bedroom next door. Two feet. filthy bunk beds, but no child is chained. He pleads with the children, can they tell him where are those chains? Okay, thank you. We're here to help you. Okay? Just work with my guys. We will help you guys, okay? Back at the front doorway, the deputy who has been talking to the parents notices something, almost obscured by the six-foot one-inch David Turpin and the pile of boxes to his right. Another bedroom back here? You got another couple kiddos of sleep there?

Sarge. You got another room in the front right here with two kiddos in the bed. Over here. Deputies moved the parents to the living room. And when the officers walk inside the bedroom behind those boxes, they see three remaining children, including a boy shackled to his bed. Thick chains on his wrist.

Another set of thick chains on his ankle. He has been this way for weeks. A deputy gently asks his name and starts looking for the keys to unlock him. Back in the bedroom down the hall where the two girls from Jordan's photos sit quietly, the deputy is directed to go to the closet and there on the floor he finds the chains.

Okay. I found the missing link. All right, let's just go ahead and detain the... Yeah. Parents. Ma'am, why don't you step over here for a minute? Okay, with you. And sir, step over here for a second. After decades of hiding their cruelty, David and Louise Turpin are in handcuffs.

Go ahead and come on out this way. You want to just walk into my car? Yeah. And walked out of the house. Put her in a different car, please. As the parents head toward police cars, inside a problem, deputies can't find the key to unlock the boy still chained to his bed.

Now, let me ask. ask you. Yes. Quickly. Are there keys to the little locks? Yes. Okay. Where are they? Um, my son and daughter can get them. Okay. So the ones that are in the house, they know where they are? Yes. Okay. Is that what this is about? Well, that's part of it. Yeah, definitely. Back in the house, the deputies asked the kids for help. It's in the door that I was in. They are directed to go back into the parents' bedroom, A chaotic mountain of trash. But as you look at this photo,

is this a portrait of chaos or derangement? By the way, there's a child in a crib who smiles and waves at the strangers. The missing key is found in mother and father's dresser drawer. The last child rescued. The last chain unlocked. Outside, a 17-year-old girl sits in a police car. It has been less than two hours since she climbed out of the window.

I saw them taking father, and I started freaking out. I didn't know what was going to happen at all. The person in the car was like saying, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Like, you don't have to like watch or see, like, he was like, he was really nice. He was really calming me down. Deputies take all 13 children to the hospital. Children wasted by starvation with atrophied muscles. atrophied muscles crushed by isolation and emotional abuse.

Doctors and nurses give them food, clean rooms, clothes, kindness, love. We were dehydrated, we were starving. They needed to do a lot of stuff to help us get healthy. Do you remember the first things you ate there? Yes, it was raccooni and cheese. And enough of it? Yes, it was good. Coming up next, inside a courtroom, the parents respond to the charges.

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Carguroos.com. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against David and Louise Turpin. Twelve counts torture. Seven counts, abuse of a dependent adult. Six counts, child abuse. Twelve counts of false imprisonment. The Turpins sit in a courtroom, chains around their waists and feet. It is four days after their children have been.

been freed. Louise Turpin's attorney is trying to get the case against her dismissed, arguing she's now been diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder, a kind of unstable, extreme narcissism. She even writes that when she gets the family together again, she promises no chains this time. And her sisters say Louise may have been cracked

by a truly horrible secret in their family. The trauma of ongoing sexual abuse since she was a child. A very, very close family member that we should have, sorry, it's okay. We should have loved and trusted. He abused my mother and sexually abused my mother. And then me and Louise Elizabeth. But the judge rejects the mental illness plea saying Louise Turpin poses a risk.

to the public. To this day, David Turpin has refused to talk to investigators. When you have parents abusing their kids to this level and they're their own flesh and blood, it begs the question, how could any sane person do this, right? And the truth of the matter is, is that sane people commit evil acts all the time. Sometimes there is no why in my work. There's no reasoning, there's no logic to explain that type of behavior or why. or why someone would actually do that. Not only to anybody, but your own offspring. I don't have a why.

I really don't. The DA amasses a mountain of evidence. The Terpins make a deal, no trial. They're ready to submit their plea. Count one, which is a violation of torture. How do you plead to that charge, sir? Guilty. And Mrs. Turpins.

Depended adult abuse. Guilty. The child endangerment. Guilty. Guilty. At the sentencing, the parents weep when a few of the children send notes saying they forgive them. But the two oldest children come to the courtroom to face their parents. The camera turned away to protect their identity.

The eldest son speaks. I cannot describe in words what we went through growing up, but that is the past and the This is now. I'm getting a bachelor's degree in software engineering. In June of last year, I learned how to ride a bike. I also have learned how to advocate for myself, how to swim, how to eat healthy, and prepare a balanced meal.

That young man is still not ready to go on camera, but he sent us a video and wants to send a message you'll hear coming up after the break. And next up in the courtroom, the oldest daughter speaks. It is Jennifer, looking her parents in the the eyes. My parents took my whole life from me, but now I'm taking my life back. They almost changed me.

But I realized what was happening. I immediately did what I could to not become like that. I'm strong, and I'm shooting through life like a rocket. It's the parents turn to speak. David Turpin starts, breaks down. Your Honor. I love my husband I love my children

and I believe my children love me He asks his lawyer to let him try again I miss all of my children And I will be praying for them Along with the opportunities They have contact with him Again I want to say to you, your honor

In court I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt my children I don't want anything to be sad or depressed because of all of him. I want them to know that mom and dad are going to be okay. And in the courtroom when she said she was sorry for hurting her children? I believed it, and would be honest. But then I remember that they both are extremely good at manipulation. Whether that was true or not at the courtroom, yeah, it's too late.

When they cry and stuff, I feel bad, but also it's like, Why? It's just confusing. I don't know. I'm never going to know. I mean, sometimes I think maybe they didn't have a good childhood, but it's still their choice. You always have a choice.

I don't know what it's called, maybe bipolar, but I definitely think it could have been something like that with her. I've just always known him as a monster. That's the only way I can describe it. The sentence would be the same as to both defendants. Both events are sentenced to life. Can you imagine seeing them? Not definitely not anytime soon.

I've been up and... I never, never, never. I guess I get afraid of them manipulating the system and getting out and then somehow trying to find us. There's nothing you think you want to say to them. I want to know why, but I would never get that answer. So it's not... It's just like a hundred whites. Tonight, we have requested statements from David and Louise Turpin.

We have not heard back. They are currently serving their time in separate prisons in California. And three years ago, after their parents were sent to prison, we imagined the Turpin children finally heading out into their new lives with a team of people who would ensure that they could navigate the world. Strangers had even donated money. So where is that money? And where is the team supposed to be helping them?

We've got to shine a light on this. The public deserves to know what their government did and didn't do and how we failed these victims. They need to know that. District Attorney Mike Hestron says there are a number of agencies in California that should be accountable for what happened to the Turpin children after they were freed. There are resources for them that they can't access

Well, they're living in squalor. They're living in crime-ridden neighborhoods. There's money for them for their education. They can't access it. This is impossible. Coming up next, my colleague David Scott and the ABC News Investigative Unit set out to get those answers.

Sir, would you talk to me for a moment? I'm David Scott with the ABC News Investigative Unit. We needed to go to Riverside County to figure out who failed these kids after they escaped their parents and led the district attorney to take the unusual step of speaking out. They have been victimized again by the system, and that is unimaginable to me that we could have the very worst case of child abuse that I've ever seen, maybe one of the worst in California history, and that we would then not be able to get it together to give them

basic needs, basic necessities. It turns out the siblings' post-rescue lives have been marred by the county's missteps and mistakes. And the facts of the case have been hidden behind a court-ordered veil of secrecy. Everything's, you know, behind closed doors. But now, for the first time, an insider peels back the curtain on what she says happened to the Turpin siblings after they entered the county's care. They felt betrayed. Tonight, Melissa Donaldson is breaking ranks to blow the whistle on the multiple agencies. that she says failed to protect the Turpin children from further harm.

Did we see kids having to not have a safe place to live or stay at times? Yes. Did they have enough food at times? They did not. They had to go to churches and eat because they didn't know how to manage money. And some without housing at times. Without housing? At times.

Homeless? Couch surfing. Their housing at some point was located in one of the, worst neighborhoods in this county. I will tell you I would have never placed anybody under my care there. One of the adult children was assaulted in one of those environments. I do know they've been in unsafe crime exposure, absolutely. We really want to try and understand and help the public understand, frankly, the jeopardy.

Sorry. They all lack that sixth sense of fear. They had none of that, and they were cast right into the world in a very unsafe, violent inner city area. We have to fix it. You would think that this is the time to really get it together and do everything we can, and we didn't do it that way. They struggled to eat still.

They'll take that as long as the abuser's gone. I don't really have a way to get food right now. When Jordan met Diane in July, she had just been released. She says, without warning, from extended foster care with no plan for food, health care, life skills training, or even shelter. One of my brothers and me are the ones that don't have a place to really stay in which is being passed around. And the same goes for some of the older children, whose safety and well-being was supposed to be. to be guaranteed by the court-appointed Riverside Public Guardian. Well, where I live is not the best area.

And this, despite more than $600,000 originally raised from generous strangers, most of that money went into an official trust overseen by the court and hidden from public oversight. County officials refused to tell us how much has been spent or on what. But the turpins we spoke to say those funds are hard to access. are hard to access. Well, when I try to have access, I have difficulty. Joshua Turpin, the 29-year-old sibling of Jordan and Jennifer, the one you heard earlier reading a letter to the court.

That is the past and this is now. Sent us a video diary but did not want to appear on camera. He says the public guardian, responsible for managing the siblings' health care, nutrition, housing and education, routinely denied simple requests. When I requested for a mode of transportation, I called the Public Guardian's office and she refused to let me, you know, request for a bike. Melissa Donaldson confirmed that legitimate requests have been turned down. When we asked why officials are restricting the use of private donations, they repeatedly refused to answer,

citing court-ordered confidentiality. I'm just asking really, really basic questions. You can't tell me any of them that. After their rescue, the seven minors were placed into foster homes, while the six adults were assigned to Deputy Public Guardian Vanessa Espinoza, seen here in a selfie when she started the job. While she worked full-time for the county, she also worked in real estate on the side, according to state records. Here, she is promoting her work at one of her previous real estate agencies. If you guys are interested in buying or selling, feel free to contact us. According to the adult Turpin children we spoke to who were under Espinosa's care, she was often unwilling to help them with even their most basic needs,

including teaching them how to use public transportation, how to cross the street safely, or how to access their medical and dental benefits. When I would ask her for help, she would just tell me, you know, just go Google it. Vanessa Espinoza did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Hi Vanessa, it's David Scott calling from ABC News. How are you? We recently tried to meet up with her at her real estate office, but she avoided us and drove home. The next day, the county informed us without explanation that Espinoza's employment had ended.

While Jennifer and the other adult turpins struggled in county guardianship, some of their younger siblings were failed again by the California foster care agency contracted by the county, child net. County officials have told us that some of the Turpin children have been re-victimized in their foster care homes. In the instance of the one adult that was a minor and now an adult, she has reported the one foster parent telling her she understands now why her parents chained her up. The comment was egregious. But even that paled in comparison to what is alleged to have happened in another of the Turpin's foster homes. In fact, one foster care family was arrested and charged with abusing multiple children in their care, including

at least one turpin. Several Turpin children remained in that house for three years while the alleged abuse took place. A lawyer for one of the foster family members says his client denies these charges are true. A ChildNet spokesman would not answer our questions about the Turpin case because of confidentiality laws, saying only we take our work very seriously, including the extensive vetting of parents. Experts who know the system are shocked. It horrified. me to think things like this are happening to people who have been abused in a system that was specifically set up to help them. No county official agreed to answer for the alleged mishandling of the Turpins case, including the county's top lawyer Gregory Priyama. Oh, Mr.

Priamas, David Scott from ABC News. Can I ask you, sir, about the dire conditions facing the Turpins' siblings in this county since they've been in the county's care? Some cases, they're walking the streets late at night, sir. So we took our questions to the county's top elected officials. Excuse me, Madam Chair. May I approach? Board of Supervisors Chair Karen Spiegel, who dodged them. We've heard credible reports of unsafe housing, of in some cases the siblings relying on food pantries and soup kitchen.

We are currently looking into this. We have been trying to get these answers, and we have been unable to get anybody to return our calls. So we just figured that we'd come to you as the chairwoman. Well, I am not have the information you're looking for. We're still in investigation stages, so I don't have anything to share with you. In a statement, Espinoza's former boss, the head of the public guardians office, Dr. Matthew Chang, stood by his team's, quote, exceptional work, but said he welcomes an inquiry.

But the county's chief executive admitted in a statement, quote, There have been instances in which those we seek to protect have been harmed, and the county is committed to conducting a thorough and transparent review. And so some of the Turpin siblings continue to face dangers and hardships in the county that promised to keep them safe. Shamefully, the system failed, this family. Tonight, we are not backing off. ABC News has sued to unseal vital documents about the people

making decisions, the donated money, and who should provide the promised support. The four youngest children are now together in a foster home where their siblings say they are happy, while the other nine older children, raised in abuse, valiantly navigate the world. If we can't care for the turpin victims, then how do we have a chance to care for anyone? Coming up, a reunion. I'm ever going to forget him. I always think it would be cool to see him again. Deputy Anthony.

I cannot wait to see Jordan today. I haven't seen him ever since the day he came to save me and my siblings. 21-year-old Jordan, now trying on blonde hair. Oh my gosh, guys, we are here. I just hope she's happy. Jordan turned it. It's so good to see you. It's so good to see you.

How you doing? I'm okay. I always like talk about like you and stuff like I've told all my siblings this story more than once and I'm just so thankful because you saved all of us. So I'm glad you had that photo. You get all the recognition and credit. Oh thank you. You did the hard part and you did the scary part. I'm just so thankful that it was you because you were so gentle and everything. I'm glad it was me too. I think God brought all the right people in my life. Thank you so much. And not just Deputy Kalachi, but here is that dispatcher who answered the 911 call and sends a message tonight. Hi, Jordan.

You're really brave. You're so strong to go out and do what you did. I want to let you know that the world is so wide and so full of bright and wonderful things. I hope you get to spend the rest of your days going out there and exploring and doing fun stuff and really living the life the way you want. What question would you ask? Pretty much tell a good thing to each other. And back in the interview, we're almost done. So I invite the two young women who just finished their first interview ever to give their

take on my technique. So, Miss Jordan. Yes, Jennifer. What do you see in your future? A beautiful house with a handsome husband. Maybe a kid someday. A nice car. Miss Jennifer, where do you see yourself in 10 years?

10 years? Good a big question. But hopefully have a house. Nice. Nice car. Oh, okay. And have a published book. I love it, love it. Traveling. I want to travel the world.

Oh, really nice. And where are you going to travel? What's first stop? Paris. Yes. Paris. I'm going to have little tea. cakes and all that stuff. We're going to a fashion show. Oh, yeah.

I'm going to Paris. Watch out Paris. Here I come. Out of a harrowing life, so much hope. No one doubts along the way. The mountains will be tall. The challenge is great. They'll need a helping hand.

But every day, the young women who fought their way out are trying to catch up on joy. Jennifer is now in training to be a manager at a restaurant. I'm heading to work. A big dream of mine is to become a Christian pop artist. Her favorite song right now is Kelly Clarkson's Broken and Beautiful. The way music has helped me, I want to help people with my music. I really like doing TikToks.

I like Charlie DeMilleo. They're such a cute family. Jordan managed to graduate high school in one year and has been taking college classes. What was your favorite subject to study? I loved government and I loved English and I loved math. I would say, can I have double homework? Can I have, I love to learn. And I was a really fast learner and I got good grades

and I was really happy. She recently got food stamps and housing through school and she has a plan of her own. Me graduate in college, being a book writer or a motivation speaker, when I have kids, I want to make sure I'm in a good place, I have a good job, because I want to give my kids the best life ever.

In the meantime, the sisters say the most important thing in their lives is getting to see their siblings and trying to help them be happy and safe. What is it like to be together? It feels at home, being with all of us. Every time we're together, it's a very special moment, because we always know at the end of the day, we're always going to have each other.

And their brother, who sent the video, has a message too. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you for everything. This is a big help to be able to just get this out and let it be heard. I want the last name Turpin to be remembered as a name of strength.

I don't want Jennifer Turpin. Oh, that poor, poor, you know, 30-year-old woman We went through a tragic, like, no, I want that name to be my name and her name, the turpin name. Like, wow, they're strong. They're not weak. They're not broken. They've got this. Same.

We are so glad you have been with us tonight. And as we said before, we're going to stay on this story and let you know what happens next. You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Friday nights at 9 on ABC, you can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening.