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Silva said one person has been detained but no charges have been filed. He apparently did not live in the house, she said. Four women were also found living in the house, three of whom appeared to have mental disabilities, Silva said. She described the other woman as a caretaker. Unlike the garage, she described the living conditions inside the home as more normal.

A neighbour called authorities Friday morning expressing concern about men in the house in North Houston. Murdock, the police sergeant, said at least one of the men is a military veteran. He described them as malnourished and “almost invalids,” saying they lived in “deplorable conditions.”

Alberta Ewing, whose brother lives next door, said the men looked “very weak” and were hauled out on stretchers by paramedics. She said that one of them had approached her asking for help just weeks earlier while she was cooking outside, but that she didn’t take him seriously because he wasn’t crying and she couldn’t get him to explain further.

“He said, ’Could you help me?”’ Ewing recalled. “I said, ‘What’s the problem?’”

Neighbors said they occasionally saw the men sitting outside. Virginia Rogers, who lives five houses away, said she greeted them with a wave when she drove by.

“I’m shocked,” Rogers said. “I’m baffled. I didn’t have a clue.”

The men were found in a working-class, residential neighbourhood of one-story, brick homes. Harris County property records show the home was built in 1969 and is about 1,400 square feet.

Police were going in and out of the house’s bright purple door and black gate Friday afternoon, removing evidence as neighbours stood outside watching.

A portion of the block was cordoned off with police tape.