Police may bring in dogs to search for bodies in Turpin house where children ‘tortured’.
Sources familiar with the investigation tell Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen that Riverside County Sheriff’s Homicide Detectives are in serious discussions to send cadaver dogs to the Turpin residence.
Authorities want to know if it’s possible that there may have been other children. Those discussions also include performing DNA tests to determine if all of the children are related. The Sheriff’s Department would not confirm this information to “Crime Watch Daily.”
The children of David and Louise Turpin endured years of severe child abuse, including being tied up with ropes and chains for weeks, denied food and only allowed to shower once per year, the Riverside County district attorney said Thursday.
The dozen oldest children were so severely malnourished they faced muscle-wasting, DA Mike Hestrin said, and have suffered cognitive impairment and nerve damage as a result of “extreme and prolonged physical abuse.”
The children were found in the Turpins’ home Sunday after a 17-year-old sibling escaped through a window, called 911 on a deactivated cellphone and summoned deputies. Authorities have praised her courage and said she was so emaciated she looked like a 10-year-old.
Hestrin said the teen had worked with her siblings on a plan to escape for more than two years. One of the teen’s sisters escaped with the 17-year-old but turned back in fear.
