'I'M EMBARRASSED'
THE aunt of the 13 California 'house of horrors' kids found shackled to beds has revealed how they were raised in a bizarre cloak of secrecy.
Mum-of-seven Elizabeth Jane Flores - sister to the mum arrested for child torture - was banned from talking to the children, cut out of her sister's life and admitted: "something didn't seem right".
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David and Louise Turpin were arrested and charged with torture and child endangerment after one of their 13 kids - a 17-year-old girl - escaped through the window and called police.
Elizabeth Jane Flores, sister of arrested mum Louise, broke her silence on their strange home-life.
She told Daily Mail TV: "Something didn't seem right about her parenting but never would I have expected it to be like this.
"We have been so worried about them because it's been so strange but there was nothing we could do.
They wouldn't let anyone visit and we didn't know their address. I haven't seen her in 19 years.
"We would talk on the phone from time to time, but every time I would ask to talk to her kids, she wouldn't let me."
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Inside the former home in North Texas of The Turpin family accused of 'torturing 13 children'
Flores is a Christian motivational speaker who has published books claiming she was sexually abused by a family member.
She added: "She wouldn't even accept my Facebook request. We all wondered what was going on. My parents booked several flights to go see them but when they got there they wouldn't tell them where to go and my parents left crying every time.
"I'm so embarrassed about all of this."
Neighbours have revealed how the kids were forced to march around in circles 'like robots' and spoke like 'monotone clones'.
David and Louise Turpin, arrested after 13 of their children were found shackled to beds, renew their vows at Elvis Chapel in Las Vegas
What we know so far:
- David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, were arrested after cops found their 13 kids chained up in “dark and foul-smelling surrounds”
- The siblings, who cops said were “very dirty”, were so malnourished that officers thought seven adults were CHILDREN
- The starving kids begged police for food when they were found shackled to their beds
- The parents were each charged with nine counts of torture and ten counts of child endangerment
- The alarm was raised when one of their children escaped and called the police
- The 17-year-old girl who alerted cops was so malnourished she was initially thought to be no older than ten
- Neighbours said the “pale” family only came out at night – with one saying they were unaware any kids lived there
- One neighbour said the Turpins reminded her of the family of vampires from the Twilight book and film series
- Another neighbour said “smirking” mum Louise Turpin “spat on the floor twice” in front of cops when they arrived to raid the house
- The parents are due in court on Thursday, with their bail set at £6.5million each
Mike Clifford Jr, 30, told Sun Online he saw the kids marching up and down inside their two-storey house “military style” late at night and thought they were part of “some kind of cult”.
He said: “They were odd there was definitely something not right.
“At night time all the kids would walk back and forth on the second storey - we could see them through the windows.
“The lights would be on and the window blinds would be open and we’d see them marching backwards and forwards military style.
“I’d never see them during the day except I saw two of the sisters go check the mail once.
“I tried to say hi but they just looked straight ahead went to the mail box and went back - like zombies almost, completely monotone, no personality or social skills or anything.
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Neighbours tell of their shock after teen’s escape leads to discovery of 13 malnourished victims being held captive in Californian home
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Video of outside the Turpin family home where Disney-obsessed parents shackled their 13 children
He added: “They never came out except very late at night when they would load all the kids into the minivan - it would be around midnight or even later.
“My dad gets home between midnight and 3 and we’d see them get in the van and go off for a couple of hours - or overnight - then come back.
“I don’t know where they went at that time - who knows.
“I always thought they were some kind of cult or that the parents were psychotic. What kind of parents don’t let their kids play outside?
“The other neighbourhood kids used to go over to their house and ask them to play out but they always said no.”
Today Sun Online revealed an exclusive look at the torture hovel home - where the Disney obsessed pair allegedly kept the kids captive in a home piled up with junk.
Exclusive pictures obtained by Sun Online show Mickey and Minnie Mouse statues in the unkempt back garden while two of their four cars boast personalised Disney number plates and a pink Disney car seat.
Through the dirty windows of the four-bed home in Perris, California, two boxes of nappies can be seen piled up along with a baby jumperoo and a play gym.
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David and Louise were arrested and each charged with nine counts of torture and ten counts of child endangerment
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The outline of a baby’s cot can also be seen through the blinds of another window.
The youngest child is two-years-old but police revealed that all the children appeared much younger because of malnutrition.
Another neighbour, Wendy Martinez, 41, who lives close to the Turpins said: "When you don't hear nothing at all coming out of that home, how are we supposed to know anything? It was silent. A very, very hibernated home."
At a press conference this morning, police said the siblings were aged between two and 29 and were found in dark and foul-smelling conditions - and at least a couple were shackled to their beds.
Riverside County Sheriff's captain Gregg Fellows said the children's mother Louise appeared "perplexed" at why the police had come to her house.
Officials also confirmed that David, 57, and Louise, 49, were religious but were unable to say if that played a role in the case.
Media swarms California home where 13 siblings rescued from parents after being found 'shackled to beds'
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Neighbour Erica Carmona, who lived on the same street for three years, said she had no idea 13 kids lived in the house.
She told Sun Online: "I only ever saw one boy and one girl and they were short and very skinny.
"They looked sad and weird. Their clothes were weird - the girl had like a long skirt and the boy had pyjamas on or something like that - it was strange.
"The kids I saw were the older ones I think maybe 18 or 20 but it was hard to tell because they looked younger. Everyone is very shocked around here."
Press conference from Riverside County Sheriff's Department after releasing 13 siblings held capture by parents David Allen and Louise Anna Turpin
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