Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Death on Instagram, cruise ship murder mystery & adopted kids abuse

Episode Date: August 1, 2017

A California teen who livestreamed her sister's car crash death tearfully pleaded to a judge to lower her bond so she could go free while awaiting trial on six felony counts including vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving. DailyMail.com's Sean Walsh and New York psychologist Caryn Stark join Nancy Grace in this episode to talk about this case, a cruise ship murder mystery and allegations against adoptive parents of disabled children. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Sirius XM Triumph, Channel 132. A teenager accused of live streaming a deadly crash in the aftermath showing her sister's lifeless body will remain in jail for now. Abdulla Sanchez stood in front of a Merced County judge asking to either be released or have her bail reduced from $560,000. The defense says the bail is too much for an 18-year-old in foster care. This bail is excessive for her.

The judge did not reduce the bail. Sanchez is accused of killing her 14-year-old sister. Court documents say Sanchez cursed out the officer, spit at them, kicked an EMT in the face. The public defender said his client was calling for help when the camera wasn't rolling. She's on the phone with 911 when she's trying to flag down people on the road who are not stopping for her. I killed my sister, but I don't care. I killed my sister, but I don't effing care. Those are the words of a young woman now suspected of live streaming. Repeat, live streaming as it happened. The horrific moment she crashes her car, leaving her 14-year-old little sister dead.

The sister flies through the back window, lands out in a field. I killed my sister, and I don't effing care. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'll go on. My sister is effing dying. Look, I effing love my sister to death, but I don't give an eff, man. If I go to effing jail for life, you already know why. And then adjusting the camera so it shows her motionless sister bleeding from the head.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Oh yes, don't you know it, then she was in court crying because her bail was not reduced. With me, special guest from DailyMail.com, Sean Walsh, and renowned psychologist out of New York, Karen Stark. First to you, Sean Walsh, and renowned psychologist out of New York, Karen Stark. First to you, Sean Walsh. She live-streamed it to what, Instagram? That's right, Nancy, to Instagram.

Now, as you know, no one should be live-streaming or using their phones while they're driving. But in this case, Abdulia Sanchez had her phone up, was dancing around, her hands were off the steering wheel she was drunk drunk she was drunk drunk when suddenly she over corrects loses control the car flips and her sister and her sister's girlfriend are thrown from the car with her

sister being killed instantly horrible horrible visuals have emerged from the scene and they show 14 year old jacklyn's body strewn there on the floor the other girl in the car waving her hand for help while abdulia closes in for her close-up on camera. The sister's dying. The other little girl is waving. Her friend girl is waving for help. And instead of calling 911, instead of doing any CPR, anything, she turns to her camera and starts live streaming on Instagram. What does that mean to live stream on Instagram, Sean Walsh?

Films it. On your social media account, especially Instagram or Snapchat, you can go live. And when you go live, you are broadcasting to all of your followers. Now, Delia Sanchez had over 7,000 followers. So if you got the alert saying she was live, you would have watched this tragic accident unfold. Now, I've been like hundreds of thousands of other people who've now watched this video

online. And what you saw on there was horrific and chilling because as she's out of the car, she's looking at her sister. She's zooming in on her sister. She's trying to wake her sister. And she's saying she's died. She said, she's died. I don't care. Come on, wake up, wake up, wake up. She's not waking up. And everyone who was watching her social media account will have seen this. And it's horrific. California Highway and Patrol says the dually you drive in the car, it veers onto the right shoulder of the road doing 120, about 120 miles southeast of San Francisco. Speeding, speeding. Now, she was wearing a seatbelt, so she wasn't hurt.

Not true for the others. She was absolutely DUI, driving under the influence. I've taken a look at her. I've taken a look at the same thing her 7,400 followers on Facebook and Instagram have. I see the shot of her pulling a Kardashian with the pursed lips, holding what looks to be a semi-automatic weapon in her hand, in her manicured hands. And then I see a picture of her still posting from the hospital bed in a neck brace and a breathing apparatus on, looking in the camera, clearly taking a selfie. Karen Stark with me.

Karen Stark, a renowned psychologist out of New York. In the hospital bed, she's taking selfies and posting it on Instagram, Karen. Help me. It's totally narcissistic, Nancy. She has no feeling about her sister or anyone else but herself. And she believes that it's important for the world to see her, to know who she is. She doesn't care that she takes her hands off the steering wheel

while she's driving. It's all about, you know, look what I'm doing now. See me, I'm singing, I look great. And when her sister is actually dead, as you can tell, there's no emotion whatsoever. She's saying, sweetie, wake up, but there's no feeling. And she's already defending, well, I killed her. And, you know, I guess we'll all go, you know, I'll die. I'll be in jail. No caring. She's saying, I'm not sorry. I effing killed my sister and I'm not sorry. That's what she said. And as her sister's dying, she's videoing it like some ghoul,

just sucking the life out of her little sister who's just 14 years old and live streaming it. People were so shocked, Sean Walsh. They couldn't believe it. They recorded it because they couldn't believe it was real. Is that true, Sean? Nancy, that is 100% true. People thought this was some sort of skit, joke. They couldn't believe that what they were seeing live on their social media account was actually happening.

Now, since it was initially broadcast live, it's now been watched over 700,000 times by people right around the world who can't believe this actually happened. You know, what's amazing to me is that it was so shocking that people actually recorded it. They couldn't believe it was real. Because you just don't see someone like that. You don't see somebody who has absolutely no empathy. That's part of why they had this disbelief that this could actually happen. What were you saying, Sean? It's just chilling, Nancy. When you look at this video, you're shocked by the lack of emotion that this girl has.

You would expect if you killed your sibling, you'd be beyond distraught. But it's so emotionless. It looks like something out of the Blair Witch Project. What do you mean by that? Well, if you... The movie Blair Witch Project, these kids get lost in a forest,

and they're, like, concerned and freaked out, and the camera's shaky and rocking around. And the first thing I thought when I saw this was, it looks like a movie. It looks like a chilling, calculating character that's in a movie that's killed someone and shows no emotion. And that's what I thought of as soon as I saw this video. I'm looking at the picture that she sent from the hospital. I mean, that's crazy that she's in the hospital. Did she know at the time of that photo, Sean Walsh, that her sister was dead while she's taking selfies of herself in the hospital bed strapped up to oxygen?

I believe she did. I mean, because she says on that video, I killed my sister, but I don't care. And I think the uploading of those selfies shows that, look, she really didn't care. California Highway Patrol races to the scene, and I'm looking at it right now. The car rolled over a barbed wire fence and onto a field. It's about 120 miles, as I told you, southeast of San Francisco. And the car is crushed and mangled. The car, you can tell it was in a rollover. Where were the different people sitting um this i believe just

correct me that they were both sitting in the back seat because they both flew out the back window they flew out the back window but now wait a minute wait a minute i thought now the little girl that died the 14 year old little sister did she die in the car i I mean, what I'm trying to get at is, did the defendant actually get out of the car and walk over to where her sister was lying? Yes, so the sister was flown through the back window of the car as the car was rolling. She then got out of the car,

and she was down by her sister's body filming this video. That's what makes it so chilling. Yeah, you're right. The little girl was thrown through the back window of the car. And she gets out. Bedulia gets out and walks to where her little sister is and starts videoing. Okay, this is what I know. All of that goes down.

She goes to the hospital she knew her sister was dead and continues posting to Instagram Karen Stark what what is that desire what like is it goes back to the old adage of a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it does it really happen is it like if you're not on Instagram or Facebook or Snapchat, it really didn't happen? Is that the mentality? I think she knows it happened, but it's more a mentality, Nancy, of wanting everyone to know what's going on in her life. For her, it's a story. And it has, it's not set in reality. It's a story that she's living for the rest of the world,

so they can see these things that are happening to her. There's no real empathy or feelings attached to what she's doing. It could be a movie. And the footage has received nearly a million views. Nearly a million views. Nearly a million views. What I'm trying to figure out, you're saying there was no empathy whatsoever. But when she was in court, she was crying and sobbing because the judge refused to lower her bond. What do we know about that, Sean Walsh?

So she appears in court and rather than mimicking how she appeared on video, she shows extreme empathy. She's crying. She's begging for the judge to reduce her bond from $560,000. She pleads not guilty to multiple charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI. And this is a girl now that appears sad as she faces the reality of up to 13 years and eight months in state prison if convicted for what she has done. Crying, sobbing, you name it. Now she's crying, but at the time, all she wanted to do was appear on Instagram. So what is she charged with right now, Sean Walsh?

So she's charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. Her blood alcohol was at 0.1%. Now, for those under 21, anything over 0.01% is illegal in California. And remember, it's 0.08% for adults. Now, we also have to remember that she has a previous conviction for reckless driving at the age of 14. Let's go to the lines first to Lou. Hi, Lou. What's your question?

Hi, Nancy. First of all, I want to thank you for your show and all that you do for the victims. I do have a question. This has been very interesting to listen to. And my question is, how did the police find out about this video? Lou, stay with me just one moment. Sean Walsh joining us, along with Karen Stark. Sean Walsh from DailyMail.com. So all these people, the video's now been viewed 700,000 times and counting.

But how did police find out about it, Sean? People told them. I mean, they saw this on their Instagram and they let people know. They let the authorities know. And I think that's very important for people when you're on these social media accounts and people will do anything to be noticed these days. If you see something that looks to be not normal or illegal, film it with a phone, take the evidence down and notify the authorities.

That way they can step in and do something and they were able to get to the settlement. People thought it was so bizarre, Lou, that they actually contact police. Now, let me ask you a question, Lou, calling in. Lou, are you on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, any of that? Yes, I am, Nancy. I'm on Facebook and also Instagram. So if you're like me, I see crazy photos. I see crazy stories. And I always take them with a box of salt.

I don't know if it's real or not, but these people see this girl, Abdulla, videoing as her little sister, just 14, dies. Instead of calling 911, instead of giving CPR, Lou, she videos it, live streaming it to Instagram. Now, can I ask you, if you were on that jury and you learned that, what would you think? The little girl had flown through the back window and was lying. It's not like she was even in the car. The driver had to get out of the car, make her way over to her sister and start videoing it live. Well, to me, it's like she doesn't even have a heart. Anybody that would

do that to their own sister instead of trying to take appropriate emergency means, I just can't even imagine. I can't either. And I wonder how that's going to affect a jury. Well, you'll be happy to know, Lou, she tried to get her bond reduced and she's still sitting behind bars. And even though she smiled for the camera, including taking selfies of herself in the hospital bed and posting it, she was boohooing in court, really turned on the waterworks to get a lower bond. The judge didn't buy it. Lou, thank you for calling. I'm going to go straight out now to our next caller, Joe in Florida. Joe, hello. What's your question? Doesn't, under the law, of course, the emotional aspects here are not taken into enough

consideration, in my opinion. In other words, for her to do what she did is despicable, is beneath belief that someone could be so awful. Here's the thing. She's never going to get the death penalty because, Sean, isn't she charged with vehicular manslaughter? That's not a death penalty charge. No. She unfortunately only faces up to 13 years and 8 months in state prison if she's convicted. And I wouldn't be surprised in this case with the overwhelming evidence against her that her attorneys will instruct her to take a deal and will in fact probably work with the DA's office to see if a deal is available. Two counts of vehicular manslaughter and four charges related to DUI driving under the influence.

But Joe in Florida, go online. manslaughter and four charges related to DUI driving under the influence. But Joe in Florida, go online. Go online to DailyMail.com or our site CrimeOnline.com. Check out the picture of her, not just the video of her sister dying, but then in the hospital she's taking video of herself and posting it on Instagram. She thinks she's a hero. She thinks that everyone will love her because she's not afraid to post these things on the social media aspect. Well, sadly, I'm afraid you may be right because a lot of people are just tuning in or logging on just to see the sister die, which is some type of an odd mental fixation, Karen Stark, when you want to watch people die.

What is that, Karen? People are fascinated by, if you ever notice any kind of accident or death, there's something inside a lot of people that draws them to a scene like that, and they get transfixed by watching this happen. There's also an aspect of not believing that this could possibly be real. Just the shock of it. I want to get to our calls. Ernest in Alabama. Hi, Ernest.

Thank you for calling. What is Ernest. Thank you for calling. What is your question? Thank you, Nancy. I was really trying to find out, had there been issues between the sisters before that the parents may or may not have noticed? This seems a bit extreme, and it seems like unusual, something very unusual for this to happen at this level this late in the game.

Let me ask you a question Ernest do you have children yes and do they get along let me guess they love each other 50 percent of the time that's what I always say about the twins people say do they get along and I'm like sure they get along great 50 percent of the time I mean let's throw that to Karen Stark, psychologist. Karen, siblings are going to fight and argue. They're not going to get along part of the time. But still, isn't there always that bond? Most of the time there is that bond. But you're talking about a situation that's not our normal situation.

In this case, whether there was a bond or there was no bond, there's no feeling on the part of the driver. So, you know, the only empathy that she could have is for herself when she's crying in court. Sean, was there some acrimony between them? Did they not get along? They seem to have been very close. That's a surprising thing. I mean, the girl's father has come out and said that the family want her to come home. It just appears to be a close family, but she seems to have had some issues. And I think that this is very, very sad.

She's killed her sister. She showed no remorse. And the only remorse that she's showing now is the fact that she faces a long time in jail. And what did you say her prior was, her prior offense, Sean? She has a prior conviction for reckless driving at the age of 14. As the court system winds through the process of this case, I know one thing. A 14-year-old little girl is dead and her sister hung over her like a death eater, videoing her as the life drained from her. And now on Crime Stories. Federal authorities are charging a Utah man in the murder of his wife

aboard a cruise ship off the coast of southeast Alaska. The couple were apparently celebrating their anniversary. Friends tell us he and Christy were high school sweethearts and had been married for more than 20 years. She was found dead in a bloody cabin on the ship near Juneau, Alaska. Christy died from a wound to her head. Witnesses are painting a grisly scene. I heard terrible screaming. I mean, just, you knew it wasn't normal. When asked what happened, Manzaneras replied, she would not stop laughing at me. You know, I just took my children on a Disney cruise and we had the most

awesome time ever. Ever. We did those little mystery searches where you try to find which cartoon character made off with the balloons you know when you run all over the ship finding clues we ate all kind of fancy food at dinner time after dinner we go get in a pool and watch a disney show on a giant screen would stay out there till 10 o'clock that's living pretty high on the hog for us. I mean, we had so much fun. Not so for a beautiful woman, Christy, just 39 years old. She's pronounced dead, not on a Disney cruise. She was pronounced dead on board the Emerald Princess cruise ship.

The Emerald Princess cruise ship. Now, I've never been on the Emerald Princess cruise ship, but on the outside, it looks beautiful. The cruise ship was diverted to Juneau. This was an Alaskan cruise. I've never been on one, but I've heard they're absolutely incredible. You see, even in the summertime, you go by icebergs, huge icebergs sticking out of the water. You see things you've never seen before. You go on day trips where you can get on a dog sled or you can get on a railroad, a little railroad trip that takes you way into the back country. So this woman goes on this cruise, this fantastic once-in-a-lifetime event. And I'm looking at her photo right now. With me is Karen Stark, psychologist out of New York, and Sean Walsh from DailyMail.com. I'm looking at the photo of her, and she's one of those people that look perfect.

She's got the beautiful, long kind of auburn hair. She's got a smile. Every tooth is perfect. She's stunning. And it seemed like she had the perfect life. She had children. She had what looked to be a storybook marriage. And she goes on this awesome cruise with her husband,

her loving husband. But then she ends up dead. The 39-year-old woman, mom, Christy, found dead on the Emerald Princess cruise ship. Security rushes to the cabin after one of their children, I didn't realize the children were there. One of her own children run out of the cabin screaming for help. And this is just at nine o'clock, just nine o'clock in the evening. The evening was young. This family from Utah was part of a larger group celebrating an anniversary on a week long cruise. As a matter of fact, that Tuesday night, the ship had a murder mystery theme for guests where you, you know, try to figure out at dinner who's the killer. And

staff on the ship actually thought the murder scene of this young mom, Christy, was part of the murder theme evening. They thought the room, the Manzanera's room, had been staged to go along with the murder mystery night theme. Like on our ship, and this is not a good comparison, but Sean, on our Disney cruise, one night was, there's the new Doctor Strange. One day, Doctor Strange came. The children went and saw, and I went, of course. I loved it more than they did. Doctor Strange did his thing, okay, and it was Doctor Strange. Then one one night it was character night and the characters were walking all over the ship.

And then one night it was a pirate night and we all dressed up like pirates. I just had on a t-shirt that had a pirate on the front because, you know, mommy is not going to get in some sexy pirate outfit. That is not happening. Okay. And yeah, but I had the children decked out. You know, that's right. going to get in some sexy pirate outfit. That is not happening, okay? And, yeah. But I had the children decked out. You know that's right. And it was all pirate night.

So, one night on this Alaskan cruise, they have murder mystery night. And it was the theme. And everybody was into it, trying to figure out the mystery, looking all over the ship for clues on the Emerald Princess. And they actually come on christy's body and they

think it's part of murder mystery night did you know that part sean or do i nancy grace who knows nothing tell you the crap reporter for dailymail.com that people actually thought it was staged nancy can you remember that television show, Murder, She Wrote? Don't even start with me. Don't you talk about Jessica Fletcher. Uh-uh. Don't do it. Jessica Fletcher is, I have, Sean, I can't believe you don't remember this,

on my wall in my home, a picture with me and Jessica Fletcher, as I like to refer to Angela Lansbury. Because it's a prized possession, I have practically no pictures out except for the twins, except of me and Jessica Fletcher, who inspired me to start the Haley Dean Murder Mysteries on Hallmark. Yes, I know Jessica Fletcher. What does she? Don't tell me Jessica Fletcher was on the cruise. But no, this sounds like something ripped straight from murder, she wrote.

Here these guests are having a wonderful time on the murder mystery night. And then all of a sudden, there's commotion from this room. The staff on board the boat race in. They see a woman lying on the floor. She's suffering from major head laceration. And 20 minutes later, she's pronounced dead. It's horrendous. You know, can you imagine also, you know, it does sound straight out of a murder she wrote.

Can you imagine Karen Stark, the children having to run out in the hall and call for help because mommy is bleeding in the floor? And realizing that this is the real thing. And for children, it's very confusing because they're not really developed enough to understand what's happening. How could this be that they were having a staged murder mystery and all of a sudden their mother is actually bleeding and dying, obviously. At 9 o'clock that evening, the captain comes over a loudspeaker. And I heard that too. Every evening throughout the day, you'd hear them give messages about what's happening that night. Rarely did the captain come on and speak.

But that evening at 9 p.m., everyone was alerted. The captain issues a message over the ship's intercom urging security to go to the ninth floor. Repeat, go to the ninth floor where Christy and her family were staying. And once there, security finds a bloody scene and Christy Manzanera's body lying there. According to police, the family is distraught, including the husband, repeatedly saying, my life is over, my life is over. Others on the cruise ship that were around their cabin recall seeing a child sitting on an older woman's lap, sobbing. A little girl, a little girl sitting in a grandma-looking lady's lap,

wrapped in a blanket, sobbing, according to KTUU. Then up comes a man, his jeans soaked in blood. What do we know happened, Sean Walsh? Well, it's very disturbing, Nancy. Murder mystery night's going on, and there's a commotion inside this cabin. This mother has been struck across the head. She hits the floor, and then the suspect takes the mother and tries to throw her overboard. So there's a giant commotion.

People come running out of the room. The suspect is then restrained. And then everyone is shocked when they find out who the suspect is and what the relationship that person has with the now deceased woman. Where does it stand right now? What do we know? We know that sadly, this was her husband. And he did this because he was very unhappy that she had been laughing at him in front of his children. So allegedly, something went off inside his mind, and he struck her across the head. It's my understanding he said he was angry because she made fun of him. She laughed at him in front of the children.

What about that, Sean? That's correct, Nancy. I mean, goodness knows why this resulted in what it resulted in, but that's what happened. And then there are witnesses who say that he attempted to throw her body overboard. Wait a minute. He tried to throw her body overboard? What?

That's correct. DailyMod.com is reporting that according to cruise ship staff, the father of three had attempted to throw her body overboard. Now, this looked like your wholesome American family, two happy parents, three children from St. George, Utah, enjoying the trip of a lifetime, and this happens on murder mystery night. I mean, Nancy, you couldn't script this. Because she laughed at him in front of the children.

I mean, Karen Stark, you're the shrink, but I laugh at my husband in front of the children every day about 100 times, and he does the same thing at me. And it's always warranted on my part when he laughs at me because I've done something completely crazy but because you laugh at the spouse in front of the children he kills her that's hard to believe Karen Stark well it's hard to know what goes on behind closed doors so I'm sure that this marriage was not the perfect marriage that it appears to be. I also heard that he himself tried to jump overboard

after they had to hold him back and restrain him. Isn't that funny? Isn't that funny odd that you so often see killers try to kill themselves, and it never works. They just manage to commit a homicide. According to what we've learned on social media, she was a married mother of three, three little girls, and a real estate agent at Sotheby's in St. George, Utah.

She volunteered heavily at the local schools, and she was a tree designer every year at a big function called Jubilee of Trees. She loves cheering on her daughters at soccer games. She spends time with her whole family and extended family. And she was trying, according to her social profile, to learn to play golf with her husband. And now, we're on the case.

After 68 police reports, repeat, 68 police reports, a couple who adopted nine children have finally been arrested. This couple adopts nine children with disabilities from foster care. And on every child, they were getting a cut.

They were getting state funding for every child. So they kept adopting and adopting and adopting. 68 calls to police before anything happened. Sean Walsh, start at the beginning. What happened? Nancy, well, this has allegedly been going on since 2008. As you said, there have been 68 calls to police, with them filing only 20 police reports that John Bell, 55, and his wife, Joyce Bell of Ann Kenny, Iowa, had been abusing their nine adopted children. Karen Stark, the mentality of adopting children out of foster care, disabled children, physically disabled, mentally disabled, so they could get a paycheck? So they could get a paycheck. And also,

the reason that they would adopt children like that, people who have this kind of mentality, Nancy, they adopt them so that they can take advantage of them. If they're disabled, they're weak and they're prey. One video turned over to police shows the father, John Bell, and his autistic son beating in the video, and he's beating the son in the living room earlier this month. The autistic son is wailing, screaming in a high-pitched scream as the father, John Bell, restrains the boy and repeatedly beats him with not just the back of his hand but with his fist. I will hit you in the effing mouth, dad threatens.

It's just, I'll kill you, the little little boy the autistic boy screams back and then video after video after video had been posted on facebook sean walsh they were posting pictures of them mistreating the children that's correct nancy. One of their daughters, a 21-year-old Crystal, this is an adopted daughter, she had been posting these videos on Facebook showing this shocking abuse. And finally, the authorities stepped in. I mean, finally, I say this after 68 calls to them. They've stepped in and they've arrested John Bell and Joyce Bell for what was going on. But the videos are horrific. But other of their adopted children who've since left the house have come out and said that this was a horrible home to live with

and that they would pray to go to a family that would love them and wouldn't treat them this way. Reports lay out allegations of beatings, physical, sexual abuse, violent outbursts, violent outbursts. And they go all the way back. I'm looking at 10 years, all the way back to August, 2007, father yelling at the children, at least 30 minutes outside the house claim. These are neighbors because he says the children, the disabled children didn't clean the basement so he's got dragged them all out in the yard and is screaming at them

um we have repeated calls in 2008 of children having to be transported to the hospital one of the girls runs away from home and is hiding doesn't want to go back home. They make her go back home. Again, run away from home. And the mom says the child is so awful that the child should go to a shelter. That's how much she cares about the child. They send the child back to the home. The mom keeps calling saying the children are out of control and long story short it's the parents beating them in 2009 protect america notifies the police of an alarm sounding in the home uh there's calls for children in need of assistance there are calls from neighbors saying this little girl is being abused by her parents.

She's here and she doesn't want to go back home. Different ones run away over and over and over and they get sent back to the home. A person calls to say, calls police and says she hears the father screaming, telling the children to get their effing asses downstairs right now. And the children were just staring out the windows like they need help. And the caller tells police it's a home for handicapped kids, and they're being treated horribly, and they need a welfare check. What went wrong? And I'm only in 2010, Sean Walsh. Nancy, the authorities don't even know what went wrong. I mean, there wasn't one person making these allegations. There were numerous people

making these allegations. Some of the children's birth parents even complained to the authorities, but they believed that they were ignored because they'd given up their parental rights years ago, so they feel that they weren't listened to. And they were like, look, we weren't the best of parents when we had these children. But horrific things are happening to our children now. And nothing was done. It wasn't until their 21-year-old daughter had a hidden camera and was filming what was happening and uploading it to her Facebook that authorities had to act because there was proof that they could see

and that they could no longer ignore. Joyce Bell, the so-called mother, then reports one of the girls has been molested. Instead of addressing that, the mom says it's the girl's fault and the girl should be taken to a psych ward. Police find no evidence of suicidal comments or anything that would justify putting the little girl in a straitjacket and taking her to a psych ward. So right there, Karen Stark, it's violating everything I know about how you treat a sex attack victim. It's so hard to understand how the authorities were ignoring it for so many years, Nancy. And I think that that's

why these things can possibly happen and reoccur. Here are the reports. People are calling it in. The children themselves are saying that there's a problem and no one is doing anything at all to help them. And you know, it's bad enough when children are being mistreated, but disabled children, Karen Stark, I mean, all they've known their whole life is being kicked out by their own parents and then going to this place is hell hole. And it goes on for all these years. And people are calling police, but nothing happens, Karen, the effect of this abuse on disabled children, they don't even know what's going on. And when they do, they have no ability to do anything about it to stop it. And what I was saying to you, Nancy, and that's so important to understand,

is that these children are purposely picked because they can't defend themselves, because you can abuse them sexually and physically, and they can't do anything. They're just easy prey. Then we have one of the little girls goes in the basement and tries to commit suicide by cutting herself with glass. That is such a cry for help, Sean Walsh. Nancy, the sad thing about this case is there were so many cries for help and nothing was done. And it's taken this long for these people to be arrested and thrown behind bars, but something should have been done a long time ago. These allegations should have been looked into a long, long time ago.

I mean, Nancy, they were allowed to adopt nine children. Where were the checks and balances when this happened? And Karen Stark, when you have a child trying to commit suicide going off all alone in the basement to commit suicide with cut glass, that is such a cry for help, Karen Stark. And a cry, you know, to say that the way that they are living isn't worth going on, that it's that bad that they see no other alternative but to kill themselves. And I think that some of them lived in the basement, if I'm correct. It was that terrible. In 2014, more domestic assault involving Joyce Bell beating a daughter. Then there are 911 calls that mid-call, they hang up. You know it's the children trying to call 911.

Unknown people just going by in 2015 say they hear male and female screaming, screaming from inside the house. Then Crystal Bell, one of the daughters, calls to say there's blood on her wall and she's being beaten, that her parents have ganged up on her and that there are guns in the home. It just goes on and on and on.

So what finally results in them getting arrested? Sean Waltz from DailyMail.com. Crystal's a hero here, Nancy. She recorded the abuse on her phone and she was uploading it to Facebook and her Facebook friends notified the authorities and told them that this is going on. This has been reported numerous times,

but there are videos and proof of this abuse. And that's when the authorities finally stepped in and did something. After 68 times, Nancy. What charges are they looking at, Sean? They're looking at charges of felony child endangerment causing bodily injury. What police, what law enforcement agency arm was in charge of this? Who was getting all these 911 calls and leaving all these handicapped children in this hellhole? What cop?

Well, fingers are being pointed everywhere. There are many different agencies involved here because the allegations were being reported to different agencies and different groups. And so the community in Iowa are asking for answers and they're saying that this isn't good enough and that when allegations are made by people who are mandatory reporters, they should be thoroughly investigated straight away to prevent this from happening. I mean, nine adopted children, Nancy.

It's extraordinary. I know it's... How do you say the town? A-N-K-E-N-Y. Anne Kenny. And I know that it's Polk say the town? A-N-K-E-N-Y. It's Ann Kenny. And I know that it's Polk County. P-O-L-K. I know this. Some heads should roll and I can only pray the children are in decent homes now. Sean Walsh, Karen Stark, thank you so much. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend.