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Just over a year ago, the rescue of 13 siblings from a California “house of horrors” made national headlines.


It all began when an unnamed 17-year-old girl escaped via the window of her family’s home in Perris, California, in January 2018. In the early pre-dawn hours, the girl called 911 and told dispatchers her shocking tale: her parents, David and Louise Turpin, were allegedly keeping the girl and her 12 siblings (ranging in age from 2 to 29) held captive and disturbingly malnourished.

“I live in a family of 15 people and my parents are abusive; they abuse us and my two little sisters are chained up,” she told the dispatcher, according to Inside Edition.


“Sometimes I wake up and I can’t breathe because of how dirty the house is.”

The Turpin parents were arrested on dozens of counts of torture, false imprisonment, and child abuse. They’re set to stand trial for their crimes in September.

Recently, around the first anniversary of their rescue, the lawyer who represents the seven adult Turpin kids spoke out about how the siblings are doing today. Remarkably, it sounds as if they’ve managed to remain positive.

“They’re not bitter,” lawyer Jack Osborn said on the Today show. “They really take every day as it is — as a gift.”

Of course, they’re still adjusting to what it’s like being out of their “house of horrors.”

“They came from a situation that seemed normal to them. And now they’re in a new normal,” the attorney told Today. “And so I think they may spend a long time processing the two.”

Watch the video for a look inside the home where the Turpin siblings were held captive.