A REELZ two-hour special, House of Horrors Family: The Friends Speak, will profile the Turpin family tragedy.
From the outside looking in, the Turpin family seemed normal enough, but a phone call in 2018 changed everything for Elizabeth Flores when she learned investigators had entered her sister Louise Turpin’s home.
“When they got there, they found three children shackled by chains to the bed,” Flores explains in the new documentary.
Perris, California, authorities report that in all, 13 children had been held captive for years inside a filthy house that Louise Turpin shared with her husband, David. Then one child’s escape exposed the dark secrets of what had been happening inside this gruesome household for decades. Neighbor Shelli Vinyard never suspected how bad it was and will never forget.
“It was just awful, in the house and outside of the house, the stench,” Vinyard says.
The REELZ special sits down with friends, neighbors and family to learn how blindsided even they were to the horrors and neglect taking place inside a home that blended into its quiet neighborhood. According to Flores, “The kids were so dirty that … you couldn’t tell they were white.”
Were the Turpins mentally ill, or sadistic people? Why didn’t the children seek help sooner? And can you ever really know what’s going on behind closed doors?
To learn more about the Turpin family tragedy, tune in to House of Horrors Family: The Friends Speak on REELZ.