Houston Police Investigate Claims of Eight People Held Captive in ‘Dungeon’ For Up to Ten Years – UPDATED

Photo Credit: YouTubeBy Tom Dart. Police in Houston are investigating claims that four men have been held as long-term captives in dire conditions at a house in the city.

Officers received a call at about 8.25am local time Friday morning alleging that several men were being held against their will in a converted garage at a single-story home on Whitecastle Lane, 10 miles north of downtown.

Police arrived and found four men aged roughly from 50 to 80 living there. Three appeared to be malnourished and were taken to a local hospital. They had been at the house for varying lengths of time, with one claiming he had been kept there for about a decade. Officials are investigating whether the men are homeless invalids or military veterans who were forced to hand over their welfare money.

“All four said they had been enticed to that location with the promise of beer and cigarettes and not been allowed to leave,” a police department spokesman told the Guardian. Several women with apparent mental disabilities were also found to be living there, he added.

One man who does not live at the property was detained for questioning and has not been charged, pending further investigation, the spokesman said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Houston Police DepartmentGrandson, 31 of woman who owned Houston house where three starved and abused men were kept in ‘prison room’ for a DECADE is charged

By Jessica Jerreat. The grandson of the owner of a Houston house, where three malnourished men were discovered living in ‘deplorable’ conditions on Friday, has been charged.

Walter Jones has been charged with injury to the elderly by act, and injury to the elderly by omission.

Jones is suspected of keeping the men, including a military veteran, in a filthy garage while he claimed their disability welfare and veterans’ checks.

The alleged victims, who had to be taken from the house on stretchers because they were so malnourished, told police they had been lured to the house with the promise of cigarettes and food, according to CNN.

Once inside the house they were not allowed to leave, police spokesman Jodi Silva said. She added: ‘They were apparently given scraps to eat. Very little food was being provided to them.’ Read more from this story HERE.