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Author Topic: 4 Disabled Adults Found Shackled in Philadelphia Basement  (Read 18071 times)
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MuffyBee
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« on: October 17, 2011, 11:30:40 PM »

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/disabled-adults-shackled-philadelphia-basement.html
4 disabled adults found shackled in Philadelphia basement
October 17, 2011



Four adults with the mental capacity of 10-year-olds were found chained to a water heater Sunday in a locked basement in northeast Philadelphia, according to news reports.

Philadelphia police have arrested three suspects in connection with what a spokesman described as inhuman treatment of the mentally disabled adults. When police discovered the three men and a woman in the apartment house sub-basement, they were malnourished, dirty and crammed into a 10-by-15 foot room with a makeshift bed and buckets filled with urine and feces that they had used to relieve themselves, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Authorities said they believe that the four had been held -- and fed but once a day -- since around Oct. 3 as part of scheme to steal their Social Security or disability checks.

"What went on was pure evil," Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Among those arrested was Linda Ann Weston, 51, who had served eight years in prison for the starvation death of a man she held in a closet in a North Philadelphia apartment. Also arrested was Weston's boyfriend, Thomas Gregory, 47, of North Philadelphia, and Eddie Wright, 49, a homeless man who neighbors said called himself a reverend. The three were charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and related offenses.
 ::snipping2::
Officials said they were working with the FBI and expected to file more charges in connection with criminal activities that stretch back at least a year and across several states. One of the victims is apparently from Texas and may have been held in captivity for as long as year, police told the Inquirer.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2011, 11:35:19 PM »

http://www.kcentv.com/story/15715353/reports-human-trafficking-ring-tied-to-central-texas
Reports: Mentally Disabled Human Trafficking Ring Tied to Central Texas
October 17, 2011

 ::snipping2::
4 mentally challenged adults were found chained to a boiler in a basement in Philadelphia but reports are circulating about a possible connection to Killeen.

The reports are unconfirmed at this time, but it is believed that at least two of the suspects who have already been arrested previously lived in Killeen and may have started the whole thing in Texas before moving to Philadelphia.

Eddie Wright,49, Linda Weston,51, Thomas Gregory, 47, have been charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, conspiracy, false imprisonment, recklessness endangerment and other charges.

The room they were held in was so small the victims couldn't stand up and had to use the restroom in buckets.

Police say, the suspects locked them up to get their social security or disability checks.
 ::snipping2::
One of the suspects, Linda Weston was, previously arrested for starving a man to death over a family dispute.

 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2011, 11:37:40 PM »

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111017/NEWS90/111019758/-1/NEWS
Woman found in Philadelphia ‘dungeon’ reported missing in 2005
October 17, 2011

PHILADELPHIA -- One of four mentally handicapped people found in a Philadelphia basement over the weekend was reported missing in 2005, but the case was closed by police, myFOXphilly.com reported Monday.

Police found three men and one woman Saturday morning in a sub-basement of an apartment building in the city's Tacony neighborhood. They had no food, or water, and one person was chained up.

Police believe three people were part of an interstate conspiracy to obtain the government support checks of mentally disabled people.

The alleged ringleader, 51-year-old Linda Ann Weston, her 47-year-old boyfriend Thomas Gregory, and 49-year-old Eddie Wright, who is homeless, were arrested Sunday and charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and other related charges.

The woman found in the basement was identified by myFOXphilly.com as 29-year-old Tamara Breeden.

Her family reported her missing in 2005. A Philadelphia detective closed her case last year even though she had not been found.

The other three victims were between the ages of 29 and 41. All four victims were said to have the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, making it difficult for authorities to identify them and notify their families.

Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey said Monday that Weston had social security documents and other personal information for "almost 50 people" in her possession. It was not immediately known what Weston's ties to those other people were.
 ::snipping2::
Ramsey confirmed the FBI is involved in the investigation as well as police in Florida and Texas, where the victims were allegedly taken before being brought to Philadelphia.

Late Sunday night, Gregory and Wright were arraigned and held on $2.5 million bail each, while Weston was still being processed late Sunday, WPVI-TV reported.

Weston previously served eight years in prison for starving Bernardo Ramos, 25, to death after he refused to support her sister's unborn child, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2011, 09:06:44 AM »

Can you believe that there are such evil individuals in the world?  I think I've seen the worst and then something like this comes to light and I realize I'm still shocked by the depth of human depravity.
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« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2011, 07:57:32 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-florida-girl-linked-philadelphia-basement-dungeon/story?id=14761933
Missing Girl Linked to Philly Basement Dungeon
October 18, 2011

Benita Rodriguez, who had gone missing in July, is linked to the basement dungeon in Philadelphia. (ABC News)

A Florida teenager who ran away to be with her boyfriend in Philadelphia was found by police investigating a basement dungeon in which four mentally handicapped adults were being imprisoned, according to police.

Benita Rodriguez, 15, was reported missing in July from her West Palm Beach home. She traveled to Philadelphia to be with her boyfriend, Gregory Thomas Jr., whom she met when they were neighbors in Florida, police said.

Police said they are not certain yet whether Rodriguez knew about the alleged kidnapping and imprisonment operation in the Thomas home, but suspect that she may have just been "hanging out."

The teenager was located by police Monday night and her mother was notified, according to ABC News affiliate WPVI.
 ::snipping2::
The age of her boyfriend was not immediately available.

The boyfriend's father, Gregory Thomas, Sr., 47, is accused of having helped to traffick the imprisoned individuals from Florida to Philadephia with his girlfriend, Linda Weston, 51, the suspected ring-leader in the case.

Police have said that Weston and Thomas, with the help of a third man, Eddie Wright, may have stolen the identities and social security checks of at least 50 people whose documents they found inside the home where Weston and Thomas were living.

Possible victims include individuals from Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Kansas, and Florida, they said.

Police say that Weston, who was previously sentenced to eight years in prison for locking a man in a closet until he died of starvation, may have begun trafficking and stealing identification documents shortly after being released from prison, police said. Authorities expect the investigation to uncover many more victims and a widespread fraud scheme.
 ::snipping2::
Former neighbors of Weston and Thomas in West Palm Beach told ABC affiliate WPBF that the four victims as well as seven children were living in a run-down house on 52nd Street.
 ::snipping2::
Ronald Bass said he heard screams and gunshots coming from the house and saw residents with injuries.

Sadie Polland, who was a friend of some of the victims, said she saw bruised faces and battered hands.
 ::snipping2::
Video at Link
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« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2011, 08:02:58 PM »

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/so.-fla.-dcf-unable-to-find-suspects-in-their-system-from-philly-disabled-kidnapping-case
Suspects in the Philadelphia disabled kidnapping case not found in Florida DCF system
October 18, 2011

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Earlier this year Linda Ann Weston is believed to have taken care of several children and mentally disabled adults at a West Palm Beach house off 52nd Street and Manning Avenue.

After being evicted in June, Weston moved to Philadelphia. Now she and two others face several charges after Philadelphia police have accused them of chaining up and locking four mentally disabled adults in a basement.

"What we found kind of amazing after extensive searching of our databases and other databases that are available to us that there was no sign of them anywhere on the radar," said Mark Riordan of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Riordan said the agency has been working with Philadelphia's Department of Public Welfare trying to track down how and if the suspects had access to the benefits of the mentally handicapped adults. These benefits are ones vulnerable adults have to apply for, he said.

"They clearly did not come through our process," Riordan said. "They may have done that in Pennsylvania. They may have done it in another place. That's one of those things we're going to work backwards on to find out."

Philadelphia authorities say that's difficult because investigators have found 50 other IDs with personal information inside of the Philadelphia residence.

"That you'd have to ask them," Riordan replied when asked why they had that many IDs. "They clearly had something to hide and they had become quite good at hiding it."


But they didn't hide it from neighbors because many neighbors including Ronald Bass said they heard screams nightly, but didn't report it.
 ::snipping2::

Video at Link



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« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2011, 09:18:35 PM »

Why, why, why didn't anyone report that screams and injuries??????????  To me, if you witness that type of thing and don't report it, you're as bad as the perp who administered the abuse.  
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« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2011, 09:18:39 PM »

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Woman-in-basement-case-investigated-in-US-2223813.php
Woman in basement case investigated in US
October 18, 2011

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A lack of accountability and follow-through by police and government agencies may have contributed to the plight of four mentally disabled adults authorities say were locked in a basement while a convicted murderer stole their government pension checks.

Police in Philadelphia and Florida missed opportunities to help one or more of the victims while the woman charged with orchestrating the scheme was legally disqualified from cashing the victims' government disability checks because of her criminal past.

Linda Ann Weston, 51, was charged Monday with kidnapping, false imprisonment and other offenses after her landlord stumbled on the four adults, all weak and malnourished, in a dank, foul-smelling boiler room on Saturday. Her bail was set at $2.5 million.

Also charged were Eddie "the Rev. Ed" Wright, 50, whom Weston described as her boyfriend, and Gregory Thomas, 47.
 ::snipping2::
Detectives found dozens of identification cards, power-of-attorney forms and other documents. Philadelphia police formed a task force to investigate the case as authorities try to find as many as 50 more possible fraud victims, Officer Jillian Russell said.

Landlord Turgut Gozleveli discovered the victims Saturday morning after he heard dogs barking in the area. The door to the basement room was chained shut, but Gozleveli got inside and lifted a pile of blankets to find several sets of eyes staring back at him. One man was chained to the boiler.

Police identified the victims as Derwin McLemire, 41, of North Carolina; Herbert Knowles, 40 of Virginia; and Tamara Breeden, 29, and Edwin Sanabria, 31, both of Philadelphia.

Knowles was reported missing in Norfolk in December 2008. According to an investigatory report by Norfolk police, Knowles' mental health case worker reported him missing when she couldn't reach him and family members failed to hear from him.

The case worker, who did not return a call from The Associated Press, reported that Knowles' Social Security checks were going to a Philadelphia address. The report said Philadelphia police went by the address and were told no one there had ever heard of Knowles.

A Philadelphia police report shows that officers knocked on the door on Dec. 5, 2008, and the woman who answered said that no one by the name of Herbert Knowles lived there, said Russell, the department spokeswoman. The report showed no sign of a follow-up or any indication that the responding officers had any reason to disbelieve the woman who answered the door, Russell said.

Knowles was found last weekend in the basement of a different house, chained to the boiler.

Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos said authorities did not continue looking for Knowles because, as an adult, he was under no obligation to report to the case worker.

Douglas Thomassen, the Norfolk police officer who filed the missing-persons report, told the AP on Tuesday that police lacked evidence that any crime had been committed at the Philadelphia address to which the federal Social Security checks were rerouted.
 ::snipping2::Police in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Weston lived earlier this year with the four mentally disabled adults, also missed a chance to crack the case.

Chase Scott, a spokesman for the West Palm Beach police, said officers were dispatched to the house several times for complaints about trash and code violations.

Investigators said they're trying to piece together details of Weston's scheme, including how long it went on, how much money it brought in and how many people in all were victimized. The FBI has joined the investigation.

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« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2011, 09:22:34 PM »

I have a terrible feeling that LE will eventually realize that these monsters have had other victims that were allowed to die and then disposed of like trash.  It is so scary that they were so good at this.
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« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2011, 09:26:39 PM »

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/132026438.html?cmpid=15585797
Woman who held four in Philadelphia cellar may have victimized dozens, police say
October 18, 2011

Four mentally challenged adults were being held captive in the cellar of a Tacony apartment house in an alleged scheme to steal their Social Security checks, police say. A view of their living conditions is seen on Monday October 17, 2011. (Ron Cortes/Staff)
(Slide show with 12 slides at link)

The woman charged with keeping four adults with mental disabilities locked in a squalid Tacony basement while collecting their Social Security checks may have victimized dozens of others, police said Monday.

When Linda Ann Weston was arrested Sunday, she had identification records for as many as 50 people in her possession, including power of attorney paperwork, forms of identification, and Social Security numbers, according to Philadelphia Police Lt. Ray Evers. The documents suggest that Weston has been running a wide-ranging fraud operation, he said.

"She might have been doing this for years, probably since she got out of prison," Evers said.

Weston, 51, served eight years in prison for killing a 25-year-old man who starved to death in her North Philadelphia apartment in 1981. She was sentenced in 1985.

Also arrested Sunday were Weston's boyfriend,  Gregory Thomas, 47, of North Philadelphia, and Eddie Wright, 49, who police said is homeless. They are charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and related offenses.

Investigators said they expect more charges will be filed as they piece together a timeline of the operation, which took place over at least a year and in several states. Police also face the daunting task of locating the owners of the identification documents in Weston's possession.
 ::snipping2::
The investigation began Saturday with the discovery of the adults trapped in a fetid subbasement police likened to a "dungeon" in a building at 4724 Longshore Ave., where Weston's son and daughter live. They have been cooperating with police and have not been charged.

Turgut Gozleveli, the building's landlord, told police tenants had started complaining of suspicious people coming and going in the building.

When Gozleveli searched the basement, he found a door leading to a 10-by-15-foot space with a dirt floor. Inside were makeshift beds with blankets, as well as two small dogs. When Gozleveli shone a flashlight over the blankets, he said Sunday, "People's faces just started coming up."

The men and woman were thin and had bedsores. The room was empty except for the beds, a container of orange juice, and bathroom buckets. At least one of the men was chained to a water heater, police said.
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« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2011, 09:31:03 PM »

If a person is missing, wouldn't someone notify social security  sothat the checks  would not be paid out ? did they never check to see who cashed those checks? this is all sloppy work..and not to mention these 4 people who have been put through hell! I agree that there were probably other victims..they may have disposed of those folks but are continuing to collect their checks! shameful!!!! 
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« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2011, 09:31:51 PM »

http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-17/news/30289552_1_apartment-building-urine-basement
Four people locked away in dungeon
October 17, 2011

THE SOUND OF a dog yapping on Saturday morning led landlord Turgut Gozleveli down into the lower basement of the Northeast Philadelphia apartment building he owned, down to an abandoned boiler room that was bizarrely locked shut with a chain wrapped around the door handle.

Gozleveli, 71, unwrapped the chain and opened the door, smelling urine and the earthiness of the dirt floor mixed into something he could only describe as a "horrible smell, like unexpected, like undesirable smell - the urine smell."

In the dark, with the light from his flashlight, he saw two little dogs, like Chihuahuas, blankets, pillows and makeshift mattresses. He pulled one blanket up and was stunned to see two faces - a man's and a woman's.
I said, 'What the hell you guys doing there?' " Gozleveli, originally from Turkey, recalled yesterday in a heavily accented voice during a phone interview. "There was no answer. Then I closed the door and called police."

Gozleveli, who doesn't live in the tan stucco apartment building on Longshore Avenue near Vandike Street in Tacony, called 9-1-1 about 10:30 a.m. Saturday. He said that at first he thought the people were in the basement sheltering from the cold and the rain, but that he didn't know how they got there.

After police arrived, he led them back down to the sub-basement, where police found four people being held captive - one chained by his ankle to the old, metal boiler.

All four victims - a woman, 29, and three men, 31, 35 and 41 - were discovered to have mental disabilities, said police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers. The oldest man was the one shackled.

"They had bedsores, were very, very thin," he said. "Physically, they did not look in good condition. They were definitely malnourished."

"The responding officers knew right away" that they were "dealing with special-needs people," Evers said, adding that the captives were locked in what looked like "a dungeon" with a bucket of urine and feces inside.

Gozleveli said it was after police came that he found another dog - a large, quiet one that didn't bark - in the upper basement, above where the captives and two small dogs were found. That room was dark, the lightbulbs missing from the ceiling.
 ::snipping2::
2 more pages... 

 
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« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2011, 09:32:31 PM »

another thing..you kill a person and you only serve 8 years??? what the hell is wrong with our court systems???
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« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2011, 09:35:52 PM »

You know what is really striking?  The guy comments that she'd probably been doing this since she got out of prison.  1.  She should NEVER have been allowed out of prison for starving someone to death in her closet.  2.  She apparently spent her 8 years in prison learning how to perfect her modus operandi.
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« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2011, 09:54:35 PM »

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/us/four-mentally-disabled-people-found-held-in-basement.html
4 People Are Found Held Captive in Basement
October 18, 2011

 ::snipping2::
It is a far-reaching case that involves jurisdictions in several states — from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Norfolk, Va., Ms. Weston, 51, and two men, Gregory Thomas, 47, and Eddie Wright, 49, have been charged with crimes including kidnapping, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy in the theft of Social Security disability checks from vulnerable people.

Turgut Gozleveli, the owner of the building, on Longshore Avenue in the Tacony neighborhood, found the victims, together with several dogs, on Saturday morning. One of the men was chained to a pipe on the boiler, he said, and Mr. Gozleveli used a hacksaw to cut him loose. He said he noticed suspicious activity around the basement area last week, including bowls of water that appeared to be set out for an animal.

“They were tired, beat-up looking, thirsty and hungry,” said Mr. Gozleveli, a retired naval officer from Turkey. “They didn’t know what world they were living in.”

How the victims — identified by the police as Herbert Knowles, Derwin McLemire, Tamara Breeden and Edwin Sanabria — came to be there is still not clear. Charles H. Ramsey, the Philadelphia police commissioner, said it appeared they had been moved from place to place each time suspicions had been raised.

All four captives were taken to a hospital for treatment and appeared to be malnourished.

Some were being sought by their families. Tamara Breeden was from Philadelphia and had been reported missing by her family in 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Another victim had been missing for some time from North Carolina, the paper reported.

Ms. Weston had come to Philadelphia from Florida recently, according to a resident of the building who asked not to be identified. She was staying with one of her children, who was the tenant there.

Ms. Weston met one of the victims, Mr. McLemire, on an online dating service, Officer Russell said.

Chase Scott, a spokesman for the West Palm Beach police, said Ms. Weston had been living with Mr. Thomas, Mr. Thomas’s son “and some other juveniles and residents” at a property there.

Eddie Wright was charged with burglary in West Palm Beach this summer.

Mr. Gozleveli said Mr. Wright identified himself as “reverend” when Mr. Gozleveli confronted people in the apartment where Ms. Weston was staying on Saturday morning. He said there were as many as 12 people in the apartment at the time; the residents said they were having a party.

When he asked Mr. Wright about the people in the basement, Mr. Wright became angry, Mr. Gozleveli said, and shouted, “They are my people.”

Ms. Weston was convicted of murder in Pennsylvania in 1984, at age 24, for beating a man who was the father of her sister’s unborn child and locking him in a closet, where he later died of starvation. Ms. Weston served about eight years in prison, the Philadelphia police said.
 ::snipping2::
Mr. Gozleveli said that when he first encountered the people in the basement, said, the only words uttered were from Ms. Breeden: “She said, ‘Linda brought us here.’ ”
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« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2011, 06:46:19 PM »

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/justice/pennsylvania-disabled-chained/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Fourth arrest made in Philly basement captives case
From Sarah Hoye and Susan Candiotti, CNN

Philadelphia (CNN) -- A fourth person was arrested in the case of four mentally disabled people who were found locked in the boiler room of a Philadelphia apartment building over the weekend, police said Wednesday.

Jean McIntosh, 32, is charged with offenses including kidnapping, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary and trespass, the Philadelphia district attorney's office said in a statement.

McIntosh is the daughter of Linda Ann Weston, 51, one of three people previously arrested, the statement said. McIntosh is "accused as a co-conspirator in the kidnapping and imprisonment of the four individuals."

 ::snipping2::

On Tuesday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said a woman rescued from the boiler room claims she had two children while being held against her will, and authorities have located 10 other potential victims.

::snipping2::

Six of the 10 new alleged victims are children, Ramsey said. Two of them, ages 2 and 5, are believed to be the children born to Breeden, police said. Authorities did not divulge how Breeden became pregnant.

Another is a 19-year-old niece of Weston, Ramsey said.
"The 19-year-old has visible injuries, she may have been beaten, and she has scars all over her body," Ramsey said.

::snipping2::

Weston had identification documents for about 50 people with her when she was arrested, Ramsey said. They included Social Security cards and court documents giving power of attorney, among others.

Ramsey said police must track down all of those individuals and find out what happened to them and whether they were victims. It is possible that Weston has been involved in similar activity dating back to the late 1990s, he said.

"We don't know the extent of this," Ramsey told CNN Tuesday. "We do know it goes beyond the borders of Pennsylvania -- at least Texas, Florida and Virginia, and we suspect other locations as well."

::snipping2::
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« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2011, 06:50:41 PM »

Here's photos of the 4 people that were arrested
From that CNN Article I just snipped from  http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/justice/pennsylvania-disabled-chained/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Jean McIntosh, 32


Linda Ann Weston, 51


Gregory Thomas, 47


Eddie Wright, 49




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« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2011, 07:26:09 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-basement-dungeon-case-held-10-years-burned/story?id=14768875
Girl in Dungeon Basement Case Held 10 Years, Tortured by Captors
October 19, 2011

A 19-year-old girl who has been missing for 10 years has been found with open wounds, burn marks, scars, and broken bones by police investigating the allegedbasement dungeon and kidnapping ring in Philadelphia.

Beatrice Weston, who was taken at the age of 8 by accused dungeon ring-leader Linda Weston, is now in a Philadelphia hospital recovering from the ongoing cruelty and torture by her captors, according to Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers. Linda Weston is the girl's aunt, and police said she took her niece after a family feud with her sister, Vicki Weston.

The girl was found two days after police uncovered a basement dungeon in which four mentally handicapped adults were held against their will. Police have arrested and charged Linda Weston, 51, her daughter Jean McIntosh, 32, Weston's boyfriend Thomas Gregory, 47, and Eddie Wright, 49, with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and other related charges.

Police pleaded with media to let the girl heal in privacy at the hospital.

"This girl was beaten, tortured, absolutely the worst thing you can see one person do to another," said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
 ::snipping2::
The lieutenant said the girl's torture in the "house of horrors" included signs of a spoon being heated and then burned into her skin. She had fractured bones that healed over incorrectly, and bones in her ankles showed the effects of being shot repeatedly with something like a pellet gun, he said. There are open wounds on her head, which she had covered with a hood when police found her. She had scars over her face, arms, and legs, he said.

Police found Beatrice Weston among a group of 10 children and teens who were located Tuesday after Florida police tipped off Philadelphia cops that there may be more victims and that Weston had been living with at least seven children in her last home in West Palm Beach, Fla..
 ::snipping2::
Police also took six children into protective custody, two of whom were the children of a mentally handicapped couple who were held captive by Weston for years, police said. The children, ages 2 and 5, were severely malnourished. Evers noted that the 2-year-old girl looked like a 6-month-old baby when she was found.
Police are trying to identify the rest of the group, including three other young adults and four other children. Weston and Gregory's son, Thomas Gregory, Jr., was not among those taken into custody and has not been arrested in connection with the crimes.

Benita Rodriguez, a 15-year-old girl from Florida who traveled to Philadelphia to be with Thomas Gregory, Jr., was also found by police on Monday. The girl told her mother during a phone call that once she arrived in Philadelphia, Weston would not let her contact anyone back home, according to ABC News affiliate WPBF.
 ::snipping2::
A task force is working around the clock to try and locate as many as 50 possible victims of the alleged fraud and kidnapping ring that is said to have spanned a number of states including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and now Pennsylvania.

Police identified the four Philadelphia victims as Derwin McLemire, 41, of North Carolina; Herbert Knowles, 40 of Virginia; and Tamara Breeden, 29, and Edwin Sanabria, 31, both of Philadelphia.
Detectives also found dozens of identification cards, power-of-attorney forms and other documents. Philadelphia police formed a task force to investigate the case as authorities try to find as many as 50 more possible fraud victims, Officer Jillian Russell said.
 ::snipping2::
Video at Link
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Nut44x4
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« Reply #18 on: October 20, 2011, 05:47:00 PM »

Beyond disgusting and horrific 
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« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2011, 05:53:38 PM »

Beyond disgusting and horrific 

ITA From what I've been able to gather, this is only the tip of the iceberg.    
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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