A new bodycam video shows how a girl aged 17 warned police about the abuses her parents had inflicted on her, her siblings and their 12 children living in poverty. This was the first time that she spoke to anyone outside of her family.
Jordan Turpin, now 21, escaped her home and called the cops on her abusive parents on January 14, 2018. The footage of Jordan Turpin, now 21, escaped her home and called the cops on her abusive parents.
Jordan was 17 when she managed to get out of her apartment via a window. With a phone that had evidence of abuse she was walking along the streets, not knowing what she was doing, and shaking to dial 911.
Jordan, choked back tears while describing the moment when she finally left the House of Horrors to make the 911 call. It was during an episode of 20/20 that Jordan said, “My entire body was shaking. I couldn’t really dial.”
David Turpin and Louise Turpin, their parents, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of torture and abuse. They were sentenced in 2019 to 25 years and life imprisonment.
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The moment Jordan Turpin (bottom left) escapes from her abusive house and speaks with a cop about the abuse she suffered throughout her life.
Jordan was just 17 years old when she called the police in California to inform them of her California house. This was her first conversation on the phone with anyone outside of her immediate family.
Police eventually entered the house to confront the parents, David and Louise Turpin, when they discovered the children, two of whom were shackled to their beds. All thirteen siblings were found safe and their parents arrested.
After the 911 dispatcher reached out to Jordan, he continued talking with her until the officer arrived. Jordan appears to be frantic and takes a few moments to calm down before she starts speaking with the officer.
‘Okay. “I just ran away.” Und ich wohne in einer Familie von 15. She says, “My two little sisters are now chained up,” as she shakes her head sounding much younger that 17.
When the officer asks where the siblings are chained up she replies: ‘On the bed now mother didn’t chain them up just to be mean. Okay. They’re chained up because they stole mother’s food.’
As she talks to someone outside of her home, she tries to keep her cool. ‘But…I’m sorry if I talk too much. Okay. I’ve never talked to anybody out there so I don’t- I’ve never been alone with a person so this is very hard for me to talk,’ she tells the officer.
The officer questions the teen, who is unable to communicate clearly.
‘Medication? What’s medication?’ The officer asks her back. Jordan is able to understand the officer’s question about taking pills.
‘Oh. I don’t think I’ve ever tooken a pill before. Right, I haven’t,’ she confirms in her broken vocabulary.
After a while, you can see her putting on a baseball hat. ABC’s Diane Sawyer explained that the cap was meant to be a symbol of one her sisters. After fixing her cap, she returns to the real reason behind her call.
“Our parents abuse. They abuse us. But the reason I called and the reason I managed to get out here this is one of the most scariest things I’ve ever done. I’m terrified. But I called because my two little sisters they’re chained up right now.’
Officer asks Jordan if she has photos of the girls tied up. She excitedly replies that she did so after her sister had told her.
‘I don’t have proof of everything but I have proof that my sisters are chained up.’
The officer asks her if she knows the definition of bruise. These are the areas that get in on them. Look at how filthy she looks! We’re so filthy. We don’t take baths.’
Another question is asked by the officer: Have your parents tied them up?
Yes, they stole food. Jordan confirms, “But they stole it because were hungry.”
Jordan, now 21, recounted the terrifying moment she escaped and dialed 911 believing her parents would kill her when they found out
Jennifer Turpin (33), confirmed that children were often chained up and referred to their house as “hell” for many months.
Diane Sawyer interviewed Jennifer Turpin (second row, left) about their rescue. Full interview to be aired on Friday
Audio from the bodycam recorded the deputy asking Jordan: ‘What are your parents going to do when they find out you left?’
She replies, “They’re going to want me to literally die.”
Jordan’s 20-minute call to police took place because Jordan struggled with her address, as she hadn’t been out alone in the past.
Sawyer said that she was concerned about her safety and the availability of help if she went.
Jordan said to Sawyer that she believed her escape was due to them coming so close to death too many times.
“It was literally now or never.” If anything happened to me it was at least that I tried.
Jordan’s 33-year-old sister Jennifer added the following in trailer for 20/20 Special, which will air on Friday.
She said, “My parents stole my entire life, but now, I’m taking it back.”
Jennifer does not want her siblings to be remembered for being victims. She wants them to be heroes.
“I would like the Turpin name” [to be] “Wow, they’re strong. They aren’t broken. They have this,” she stated.
Jordan was one 13-year-old brother who was abused in Southern California by David and Louise.
Louise Turpin (right), and David Turpin (left) pleaded guilty on 14 counts of abuse and torture in 2019. They were sentenced in 2019 to 25-years to life in prison. In 22 years, they are eligible for parole.
Jordan described life after rescue as “so free.” It’s like “Wow, this is my life.”
Jordan claimed that Jordan and her siblings were ‘close to dying so many times’.
She said, “Mother, she choked and I literally thought my life was over,”
Jordan’s distressing 911 call was filled with clarity but anger. As she left the place she spent most of her time in, she revealed all to the dispatcher.
‘Um hello? “Um hello? I fled my family because they have 15 members of my household. OK? OK? And they are abusing their parents. You heard that, didn’t you? Jordan Turpin tells an dispatcher.
She told the dispatcher that her parents had abused her, her sister, and their children. They throw us all around. They tug out our hair. They pull out hair. They yank out our hair.
The bodycam footage showed officers later entering the house and confronting parents. They discovered the children who were at least two shackled to the beds.
An officer in video says, “Sarge! We’ve got another space in front, right here, with two children in bed,”
They were siblings aged between 2 and 29 years. Their parents had been beating, starving, and strangling them.
It was filthy and suffocating with human waste. Jennifer said that children would be kept chained for many months.
Jordan crawled from a window, called police with a cellphone in January 2018 and called them. Jordan said that she was walking on the streets because she did not know anything about sidewalks
David and Louise ordered fast food from McDonald’s in front their kids. They were limited to one meal per week. If they attempted to steal food, the siblings would tie their children to dirty beds.
Louise’s sister, in 2019, said that Louise (above), cried while they talked about the children but “didn’t want any to confess to anything” and was now living in denial
Deputies stated that the children could only shower one time a year.
Parents’ neglect and abuse were so severe that it was pervasive. [and]They were unable to have children for two years because of the prolonged period.
In January 2018, David and Louise were taken into custody. It was then that horrific details emerged about the child abuse, torture and neglect.
Deputies attested that the children could only shower one time a year.
They were kept mostly in their rooms, with the exception of meals. This was reduced from three to one per person per day and consisted of both lunches and dinners.
The siblings ate two pieces of bread with peanut butter and bologna every day for years. Also, the couple was accused of taunting children with pie and other foods that were not allowed to be eaten.
Turpin’s parents enjoyed fast food and chained their children to dirty beds for stealing food.
“They can’t even look at peanut butter and bologna,” Kevin Beecham, the Deputy District attorney, told People magazine last January.
“I mentioned peanut butter at one of our meet and greets. One of the girls nearly threw up when I did this. When they get to the supermarket, they won’t be able to look at peanut butter. You can’t go to the peanut butter aisle.
Turpin children were not permitted to behave like other children, and they weren’t allowed toys and games.
Sawyer also spoke with Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who was involved with the case. This is a story he won’t forget.
He stated, “It stopped my dead in my tracks.” “There are some cases that stay with you and that haunt you.
David and Louise pleaded guilty to 14 counts of torture and other abuse in 2019 and were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Both are eligible to be paroled in 22 years.
While the case of their parents was in court, the 13 siblings were kept out of the media. They learned how to live a normal life without the horrors.
Beecham, the Turpin prosecution lawyer, said to People magazine, that all the siblings were happy.
He said, “They’re moving on with life,” he continued.
That time, only one of the siblings had completed college and several other had either jobs or were attending school.
“Some are independent, live in their own apartments, have jobs, and go to school. Some volunteers are involved in the community. He shared that they go to church.
He noted also that siblings often see one another.
He said, “They still meet together, all thirteen of them so they’ll find somewhere kind of discrete.”
To get away from the stigmat of being victims in this case, several siblings decided to change their names.
Beecham explained, “It would prove difficult for them, to continue that label, of being victims forever.”
Sawyer asked Jennifer if she wanted to alter the way people perceive Turpin names. “I want the Turpin Name, like wow. They’re strong.