The sheriff’s office did not say how long the siblings may have been held captive.
Sheriff’s deputies provided food and water to the siblings, who claimed that they were starving. They were later transported to hospitals for treatment. Their conditions were not released.
Credit
Mike Blake/Reuters
California records show that Mr. Turpin had received state approval to run a private school, the Sandcastle Day School, at the family’s home, a one-story stucco house in a subdivision built in recent years. The school enrolled six students this year, in grades sixth through 12th, and Mr. Turpin was listed as the principal.
Perris, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, is one of the largest cities in Riverside County, which became an emblem of bankruptcy and foreclosure during the depths of the recent recession. Known as the Inland Empire, the region has rebounded in recent years.
The couple filed for bankruptcy in California in 2011, stating in court documents that they owed between $100,000 and $500,000 in debt. At that time, Mr. Turpin worked as an engineer at Northrop Grumman, the defense contractor, and earned $140,000 annually, records show. Ms. Turpin’s occupation was listed as a homemaker.
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Their bankruptcy lawyer, Ivan Trahan, said in a phone interview on Monday night that the parents spoke often about their children. They had 12 at the time of their bankruptcy, Mr. Trahan said, adding that the children never visited his law office.
“They spoke about them highly,” Mr. Trahan said.
He said Ms. Turpin told him that the family loved Disneyland in Southern California and visited often.
“We remember them as a very nice couple,” Mr. Trahan said. “This is shocking.”
On Sunday evening, a van and three cars were parked in the driveway at the Turpins’s house, and TV news station trucks lined their streets. Neighbors said they rarely saw the parents or the children, except for when some of the siblings were mowing the yard.
The Turpins moved to California from Texas around 2010, the parents wrote on Facebook, after Mr. Turpin returned to work for Northrop Grumman. On a family photo of the parents and 12 children (the youngest had not yet been born) posted on their Facebook page in 2011, a friend asked if all the children pictured were theirs.
“Yes all 12 are our children and we are very proud of them,” the Turpins replied.
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