‘House of Horrors': Dr. Oz interviews family of Louise Turpin after 13 kids found in captivity
LOS ANGELES - It’s a story that has gripped the nation: 13 children starved and shackled to their beds, beaten, choked and only allowed to shower once a year. And authorities say the perpetrators were the children’s own parents.
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, were arrested on Jan. 14 after officials said the parents held their 13 children captive in their Perris, California home for years.
It wasn’t until their 17-year-old daughter escaped and called police that their “house of horrors” was discovered. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said the teen had planned her escape for two years.
With the years of alleged abuse, many throughout the country questioned how family members and neighbors didn’t notice the warning signs.
In an exclusive interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show," Louise Turpin’s sister, Elizabeth, and their cousin, Patricia, detail the family’s long legacy of abuse.
“A very close family member who we were with daily abused all the cousins and it was just swept under the rug," they detailed. "You’d didn’t talk about. If it came up it was like we were lying or something so we just didn’t talk about it.”
In the video player above, watch a preview of Dr. Oz’s interview with Louise Turpin’s family. You can watch the full interview on Tuesday during Dr. Oz’s True Crime Tuesday segment.