tonight, 13 children held captive by their parents. >> my two little sisters right now are chained up. >> diane sawyer's interview with the operative sister that risked it all to save her siblings. >> i don't know how you had the courage. >> i just felt like i had to do it. >> the moment when officers first found the children. >> we're here to help you, okay? >> and what the siblings want you to know today. >> i want the last name turpin to be remembered as a name of strength. >> this special edition of "nightline," "escape from a house of horror," will be right back. press start and consider the job finished. finish quantum's three-chamber detergent

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. it was a shocking story of abuse. 13 children held captive in their own home, deprived of food by their parents. but free thanks to the bravery of one sister. diane sawyer with her story. here's a preview of diane's exclusive report.

>> reporter: a security camera is rolling in a quiet suburban california neighborhood. at the house across the street, in the shadows, someone quietly opens a window and slips out. watch. there. a blurry figure stepping forward. a small, uncertain girl heading one way. then she turns, hesitates, and starts to run. clutching an old cell phone. >> that was my only chance. at least if something happened to me, at least i died trying. >> 911 emergency, what are you reporting? >> um -- help. >> this is 911, do you have an emergency? >> um -- i just ran away from home. >> do you know what street you're on? >> um -- no. but -- i just ran away from home because -- i live in a family of

15, okay? can you hear me? and we have abusing parents. did you hear that? >> okay, how did they abuse you? >> okay. they throw us across the room. they pull our hair. they yank out our hair. i have two -- my two little sisters right now are chained up. >> okay. how old are you? >> i'm 17. >> what's your name? >> jordan turpin. >> reporter: jordan turpin, now 21 years old. her sister who helped plan the escape, the oldest turpin child, jennifer, now 33. >> all of us went through a lot, and all of us went through our own things. and to be honest, not even all of us know every single thing each one of us went through. >> exactly.

and nothing's ever going to be that bad. nothing's going to be as bad as 29 years in what, the only word i know who call it, is hell. >> reporter: for more than a decade the 12 turpin children suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of their parents, david and louise turpin. they are speaking for the first time, ready to talk about their lives, but respecting the privacy of the siblings they love and the stories written on all their bodies when they arrived at the hospital. where doctors and nurses wept at what they saw. children so emaciated, they had difficulty walking. stunted growth. heart damage from a lack of nutrients. a preteen whose arm was the size of a 4-month-old baby. their speech, their language, limited by the isolation and neglect. jordan turpin remembering the night in january 2018 when she escaped, and despite her terror, managed to free her brothers and sisters.

>> when i was holding the phone, i remember the phone was -- like -- i couldn't even really dial 911. because -- i'm sorry. >> you're shaking. >> yeah, i'm shaking. i was shaking then. i was trying to dial 911. but i couldn't even get my thumb to press the buttons. because i was shaking so bad. but i was, like, trying to, like, calm down. thank you so much. i was trying to, like, calm down so i could -- i could -- to do it. and then i finally, like, pressed it. and then they answered. i literally never talked to somebody on the phone. >> reporter: the dispatcher tracks her location from the gps on her cell phone and sends out a request for a police officer. a deputy across town volunteers.

he's 14 minutes away. >> and i was freaking out because i was like, wait, are they going to take me back there? like, i was so scared in that moment. >> reporter: but she tries to remain brave. because of her siblings. she is their hope. >> the reason i ran away from home is because they are chained in place, they will wake up at night and start crying. they wanted me to call somebody and tell them. and so i wanted to call -- i wanted to call y'all so y'all could help my sisters. >> reporter: you're looking at the body camera footage from the deputy as he arrives. >> hi, what's going on? >> okay. i -- i just ran away from home. >> okay. >> and -- i live in a family of 15. >> okay. >> my two little sisters right now are chained up. >> they're chained up? >> yes. >> where are they chained up at? >> on the bed. now mother didn't chain them up

just to be mean. okay. they're chained up because they stole mother's food. >> uh-huh? >> but -- i'm sorry if i talk too much. okay. i've never talked to anybody out there. so i don't -- i've never been alone with a person, so -- >> do your parents know you left your house? >> no, they don't. >> reporter: the girl with the strange vocabulary nervously puts on a little hat, a reminder of one of her sisters who's depending on her. >> our parents are abusing, they abuse us. but the reason i called and the reason i managed to get out here, this is one of the most scary things i've ever done, i'm terrified. but i called because my two little sisters, they're chained up right now. >> reporter: and then on instinct, he asks a question. >> do you have pictures of that? >> yes, i can show you. i actually didn't have it and then one of my sisters told me i need to get pictures.

>> you have pictures of your sisters chained up? >> yes. but -- they're -- yeah, they're in here. i -- i don't have proof of everything, but i have proof that my sisters are chained up. see? >> reporter: she doesn't seem to know the word "bruised." >> see, those are the places that make in on them. see how dirty she is? we're so filthy. we -- we don't take baths. we don't -- >> how did your sisters get like this? >> oh -- >> your parents chained them up? >> yes. because they stole food. >> okay. >> they stole because they were hungry. >> who took this picture? >> i did. i took those pictures. >> okay. you make sure to save these, okay? >> okay. >> don't get rid of those. >> i will -- i won't. >> reporter: quietly, riverside county sheriff's deputies pull up to a house. it has been an hour and a half since jordan turpin climbed out the window. since a child may be in danger, the deputies do not need a

warrant to enter the house. >> i'm doing a welfare check. >> yeah. >> reporter: they knock for two minutes and 10 seconds. >> they're obviously not home. not opening. >> reporter: then suddenly the door cracks open. >> hi. >> hi. >> reporter: a mother and father appear. >> how are you guys doing? >> good. >> we got a call for a welfare check at your house. >> reporter: they are breathing heavily. >> okay. what kind of problem? >> how are you doing, sir? >> i'm doing okay. >> we were just in bed. i mean, like -- >> reporter: david and louise turpin, who have concealed a chamber of horrors for almost 30 years, now watch as deputies start to make their way through the door. and in one of the rooms inside the house, someone is waiting in her bed, eyes wide open, praying that the knock on the door means her sister made it to freedom.

>> knock, knock, knock. and i'm like -- and they said it's the police. i'm like, this is it. >> reporter: when we come back, the video cameras in realtime as police move through that house. and the stunning scene they find inside. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you out of your zone? lowering your a1c with once-weekly ozempic® can help you get back in it. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! my zone... lowering my a1c, cv risk, and losing some weight... now, back to the game! ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it.

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inside there is a cruelty you do not have to imagine. you can see it in the pictures. chains used to tie little arms and legs. one child tied with a rope uses his teeth to escape so they switch to thicker, heavier chains. a child, both hands attached to one rail and can't roll over or itch the lice on his head. chained for up to a month, two months. only released to eat or go to the bathroom, if they can make it in time. and then on january 14th, 2018, the signal that time has run out. jordan hears mother say the family is moving to oklahoma, and everyone is getting chained. >> that was my only chance. at least if something happened to me, at least i died trying. because if we went to oklahoma, there was a big chance that some of us would have died. >> do you have a search warrant or anything? >> reporter: as sheriff's deputies move through a door into a horrifying landscape, the windows are closed.

the room is swelteringly hot. magnifying the stench of excrement, decaying garbage, mounds of mother's molding food food. every sofa, counter, floor covered in layers of trash. and unopened toys. >> hi, kids. hello. it's okay. >> reporter: louise turpin quickly tries to follow the deputies. >> stay there for me for now. >> reporter: an officer distracts david turpin with topic after topic. >> what's your name? >> david. >> where are you headed, planning on moving to? >> oklahoma -- my daughter's moving. >> reporter: louise turpin directed to go back to the front door. >> why don't you stay with my partner, okay? >> reporter: a pale, emaciated child moves through the living room. her clothes dirty, so was her hair. >> what do you do for work? >> engineer. >> engineer? >> reporter: as the parents are talking, deputies head into the center of the house. there's a hallway. they pass the parents' bedroom.

then down the hall, two other bedrooms. the deputy looks at the first door and discovers a crushing scene. those two young girls from their sister's photos, one is on a bed, the other a mattress on the floor. they are limp, frail, eerily quiet, caked in dirt. their arms are bruised. but where are the chains? >> hi, sweetheart. hi, girls. can i see your wrists? >> me? >> yeah. >> which one? >> okay. hi. how old are you? >> reporter: next, the deputy heads to the bedroom next door. two filthy bunk beds but no child is chained. he pleads with the children, can they tell him where are those chains? >> okay, thank you. we're here to help you. okay? just work with my guys, we will help you guys, okay? >> reporter: back at the front doorway, the deputy who has been

talking to the parents notices something. almost obscured by the 6'1" david turpin and the pile of boxes to his right -- >> another bedroom back here? you got another couple of kiddos asleep there? >> yeah. >> sarge? got another room in the front right here with two kiddos in the bed, over here. >> reporter: deputies move the parents to the living room. and when the officers walk inside the bedroom behind those boxes, they see three remaining children. including a boy shackled to his bed. thick chains on his wrist. another set of thick chains on his ankle. he's been this way for weeks. a deputy gently asks his name. and starts looking for the keys to unlock him. back in the bedroom down the hall, where the two girls from jordan's photos sit quietly, the deputy is directed to go to the

closet. and there on the floor he finds the chains. >> okay. i found the missing link. all right. let's just go ahead and detain the parents. >> ma'am, why don't you step over here for a minute. >> okay. >> okay? sir, step over here for a second. >> reporter: after decades of hiding their cruelty -- david and louise turpin are in handcuffs. >> go ahead and come on out this way. mind just walking to my car? >> reporter: and walked out of the house. the last child rescued. the last chain unlocked. outside, a 17-year-old girl sits in a police car. it has been less than two hours since she climbed out of the window. >> i saw them taking father.

and i started freaking out. i didn't know what was going to happen at all. the person in the car was saying, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. like, you don't have to look, watch, or see. he was like -- he was really nice, he was really calming me down. >> reporter: deputies take all 13 children to the hospital. children wasted by starvation, with atrophied muscles, crushed by isolation and emotional abuse. doctors and nurses give them food, clean rooms, clothes, kindness. love. >> we were dehydrated, we were starving. they needed to do a lot of stuff to help us. >> do you remember the first things you ate there? >> yes. it was macaroni and cheese. >> and enough of it? >> yes, it was good. >> reporter: david and louise turpin plead guilty to charges including torture and false imprisonment. they were sentenced to 25 years to life. we have requested statements

from david and louise turpin. we have not heard back. they are currently serving their time in separate prisons in california. can you imagine seeing them? >> definitely not any time soon. i've been up -- i -- i never, never, never -- >> there's nothing you think you want to say to them? >> i want to know why, but i would never get that answer. >> so it's not -- >> it's just like a hundred whys. >> we'll be right back. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪nothing is everything♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save.

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♪ out of a harrowing life, so much hope. no one doubts along the way the mountains will be tall, the challenges great. they'll need a helping hand. but every day the young women who fought their way out are trying to catch up on joy. >> how does it feel? >> awesome! >> reporter: jennifer is now in training to be a manager at a restaurant. >> i'm heading to work. a big dream of mine is to become a christian pop artist. >> reporter: her favorite song right now is kelly clarkson's

"broken and beautiful." ♪ i'm broken and it's beautiful ♪ ♪ i'm prone and it's beautiful i'm broken and it's beautiful ♪ >> reporter: jordan managed to graduate high school in one year and has been taking college classes. what was your favorite subject to study? >> i loved government, and i loved english, and i loved math. >> reporter: and she has a plan of her own. >> me graduating college, being a book writer or a motivation speaker. >> reporter: in the meantime, the sisters say the most important thing in their lives is getting to see their siblings. >> i want the last name turpin to be remembered as a name of strength. i want my name and her name, the turpin name -- like wow. they're strong. they're not weak. they're not broken. they've got this. >> same.

>> our thanks to diane. you can see the full special "escape from a house of horror" streaming on hulu. that's "nightline" for this evening. see you right back here, same time next week. thanks for the company, america. have a good and safe weekend.