Watch the moment that couple who held 13 children hostage renewed their wedding vows in front of Elvis
The couple charged with chaining up their 13 children and nearly starving them for a ‘prolonged period of time’ have been married for 32 years – with footage showing the couple renewing their vows in Las Vegas.
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, were held on charges of torture and child endangerment.
The couple’s children, who are believed to be aged between two and 29, reportedly lived in Perris, a town 59 miles south east of Los Angeles.
Authorities were alerted after one of the victims, a 17-year-old girl, succeeded in bravely escaping from the property.
What was discovered inside the house?
Police officers reportedly found ‘several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings’.
They were then later ‘shocked’ to discover that seven of the captives were actually adults aged between 18 and 29. They are now being treated in local hospitals after being ‘malnourished and very dirty’.
Hospital head Mark Uffer said: ‘It’s actually heartbreaking for the staff and it’s unbelievable what you see.’
The Turpins are reportedly being held in jail with their bail set at $9m (£6.5m each).
Did their neighbours have any idea what was happening?
No, it would seem. The family’s home reportedly boasted three cars and a people carrier in the driveway, but there is little else to hint at the horrors that lay within.
What is known about the family?
Public records confirm that they lived in Texas for many years before a move to California in 2010.
Mr Turpin was declared bankrupt on two separate occasions and had a job as an aeronautics engineer at the time of his second bankruptcy.
The grandparents of the children said they have not seen the family for five years, but claimed that they were a ‘good Christian family’.
The Turpins renewed their wedding vows on three separate occasions at the Elvis Chapel in Las Vegas.
What was known about the children’s education?
They were reportedly homeschooled, but it is though that Mr Turpin established a private school operated out of his home for their education.
On the California Department of Education, it states that the Sandcastle Day School opened in March 2011, with six pupils enrolled across different grades.
