It’s been over three years since Jordan Turpin, 21, escaped from her abusive parents David and Louise Turpin at age 17, and made the life-changing 9-1-1 call, which lead to the couple’s arrest, when it was discovered that the pair had kept some of their children chained to beds and that their kids were malnourished. Jordan and her sister Jennifer will speak out about what they endured, and their escape in a 20/20 ABC News special with Diane Sawyer, that will air on Friday November 19.
In a preview for the special, clips of Jennifer and Jordan’s interview was shown, including what was going through Jordan’s head when she called police in 2018. “My whole body was shaking. I couldn’t really dial 9-1-1,” she said. The victim revealed how important she felt like it was to finally help her siblings. “I think it was us coming so close to death so many times,” she emotionally recalled. “It was literally a now or never. If something happened to me, at least I died trying.”
At another point in the trailer, the girls also spoke about the horrors they endured because of their parents. The footage also showed clips from police raiding the home, showing chains on some of the beds. Jordan recalled, “Mother, she choked me, and I thought I was going to die.” While Jennifer had a very strong comparison for their home. “The only word I know to call it is hell,” she said.
Another clip released ahead of the special shared Jordan’s terrifying 9-1-1 call, where she admitted to the operator that she was unfamiliar with the area she lived in, as well as what medication was. “I was actually on the road, because I didn’t even know about the sidewalks,” she said in the interview. “I’d never been out there.
David and Louise were sentenced to life in prison in April 2019, but they will be eligible for parole in 22 years. Many of their 13 children have kept their lives private after making their escape, but Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told People that the children all keep in touch. “Some of them are living independently, living in their own apartment, and have jobs and are going to school. Some volunteer in the community. They go to church,” he said. “They still meet with each other, all 13 of them, so they’ll meet somewhere kind of discreet.”
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