David Turpin’s parents, James and Betty Turpin of West Virginia, told ABC News that they were “surprised and shocked” at the allegations because their son and daughter-in-law were “a good Christian family.” They said they had not seen the family since visiting California four or five years ago.
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The Los Angeles Times, citing public records, reports thatthe couple had moved to California from Texas several years ago and that they had declared bankruptcy twice.
Ivan Trahan, a lawyer who had represented the couple in their most recent bankruptcy filing, in 2011, was quoted by the Times as saying that the Turpins seemed like “very nice people who spoke highly of their children” but who had fallen into financial problems.
Trahan said David Turpin had worked as an engineer for Northrop Grumman. A spokesman for the defense contractor confirmed to the Times that he was employed there until 2010.
However, Kimberly Milligan, 50, who lives across the street, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that when she first moved in she saw a woman outside the house with an infant, but eventually stopped seeing the child. Over the years, Milligan said, she would occasionally see three children who looked like preteens.
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“I thought the kids were home-schooled,” she said. “You know something is off, but you don’t want to think bad of people.”
Considering the proximity of the houses, Milligan questioned aloud: “How did no one see anything?”
Milligan was quoted by Reuters as saying that two years ago around Christmas she saw three of the older Turpin children outside and complimented them on a Nativity scene outside their house. She said they “froze [as] if by doing so they could become invisible.”
“Twenty-year-olds never act like that,” she told the news agency. “They didn’t want to have a social conversation.”
Still, authorities lauded the bravery displayed by the 17-year-old daughter in calling attention to the situation Sunday.
“I appreciate the courage that this juvenile had,” Fellows said Tuesday, “to escape that house and get out there and report this to law enforcement.”
Article Appeared @https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/16/578227666/couple-arrested-after-children-found-shackled-to-their-beds-in-california-home