Eight People Held Captive in Houston Home for Up to a Decade
There's another crazy story of captivity and this time it's centered around a house in Houston.
The details are still sketchy as police work to sort out the situation, but here's what we know so far:
There are varying reports about how many people are involved, with one story claiming four men between the ages of 50 and 80, along with three other women, have been held captive in a Houston home, some for up to 10 years. Authorities claim all victims suffer from mental illness.
Emergency personnel took three of the men to a hospital for treatment. A fourth man was also held at the home, but not taken to the hospital. Police say the women also lived at the house, but it's not clear if they lived in the converted garage or in another part of the house.
According to KTRK, police got a call just before 8:30 a.m. about several people held inside a garage. Officers arrived to find the front door nailed shut, but once inside the home they discovered what they described as a 'prison room' with trash everywhere. There were no beds or chairs in the room.
Houston Police Department Sergeant JW McCoy said:
One of them seemed to think he was picked up off the street and brought here. In exchange for beer and cigarettes and a place to stay, he had to turn over his Social Security check.
One man is in custody, but as of right now, no charges have been filed. A neighbor named Monica Brooker told the Houston Chronicle, "a mother, her son, daughter and granddaughter" lived at the home, but that she had also seen elderly men living at the house "for years."
As we learn more about this developing story, we'll fill you in.
[KTRK]