Officer who helped free Jaycee Dugard discusses similar Perris abuse case
PERRIS, Calif. (KGO) -- The parents of 13 children, who were locked up in a filthy home in Riverside County, have not said why they were shut in. The children range in ages from two to 29. They were kept out of public schools and mostly hidden from neighbors -- similar to Jaycee Dugard, who was held prisoner for 18 years.
On the outside, the Perris home looks like others on the street, but officials say inside was a house of horrors.
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"The children were malnourished, it was dirty," said Riverside Police Captain Greg Fellows. "Conditions were horrific."
Authorities say 13 siblings were held captive in the housebound with chains and padlocks by their own parents, David and Louise Turpin, who are both now in jail.
A 17-year-old called 911 after she escaped through a window, leading deputies to the scene.
Neighbors say they rarely saw or heard the kids. All of them were homeschooled.
"It mirrors the case near and dear to hers for sure," said retired UC Berkeley police officer Allie Jacobs, who was speaking about the infamous Jaycee Dugard case.
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The 11-year-old was kidnapped near her Lake Tahoe home in 1991 by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who held her captive for 18 years at a home in Antioch. There, she gave birth to two daughters fathered by Garrido.
In 2009, Garrido came to the Cal campus with his two daughters to get a permit for a religious rally. He met with Jacobs, who sensed something wasn't right.
"Instead of not saying anything, I did something -- called his parole officer, who said Garrido didn't have children," Jacobs told ABC7 News.
That call led police to finding and freeing Dugard from her prison.
The neighborhood where Dugard was held hostage looks pretty much the same as it did while she was held captive, except the house no longer has trees surrounding it. New owners bought the home years ago, tearing down the tall fences in the backyard where Dugard was held.
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Jacobs believes a tip from a neighbor could have ended the nightmare for victims in both Dugard's case and the Perris case.
"If you feel something is off, you need to do something about it," said Jacobs.
Phillip and Nancy Garrido are serving life sentences.
