tonight breaking developments on "20/20." >> two parents accused of abu abusing their children. >> the most complete picture yet of california's so-called house of horrors. >> they would buy pie, leave it on the counter and have the kids look at it but you can't eat it. >> 13 children allegedly held captive, terrorized by their own parents for years. >> my whole career i've never seen this. people are reduced to tears. how does this happen. >> and now the question everyone has, how did no one notice any red flags. >> you never saw anything strange? >> no. no yelling, no movement at all. where were these kids. >> how witnesses say the family appeared in the neighborhood only after dark. >> these individuals sleep all day and are up all night.

>> doing yard work at 11:00 at night. >> from their earlier years in texas -- >> that mother's own sister speaking out tonight. >> don't bring friends to my house, don't talk to friends. if you do, you're kicked out. >> multiple trips to las vegas, renewing their vows three separate times. and the most important question, how are the children tonight. you will hear from their doctors at the hospital. >> can they hope to live a normal life afterwards? >> and lessons from new york's wolfpack, held captive in a two-bedroom apartment -- >> you can relate to parts of their story in a way that nobody else can. >> how did they escape into the sunlight? and can these children hope to do the same? i'm elizabeth vargas. >> i'm david muir, and this is "20/20." >> here's matt gutman who has been following the story since it broke. >> reporter: perris, california, a sleepy little town of 68,000 souls nestled in

riverside county, about halfway between l.a. and san diego. >> how are you feeling? >> feeling good. ready to do this? >> reporter: its biggest claim to fame is the sky diving center at the city airport that's become a mecca for sky divers across the country. >> most of the time we go to perris for skydiving stories. it's world famous. >> reporter: but this week, perris hit the national news for a much different reason. >> what some are calling a house of horrors discovered in a california suburb. >> reporter: it all started on sunday in muir wood road in this neighborhood of tidy stuy stucc houses and manicured lawns. here at this unassuming four bedroom home, just before 6:00 in the morning, police say two siblings slip out of a window. one gets scared and bolts back inside. but the other child, a 17-year-old girl, makes her way down the sidewalk away from the house and then pulls out a

deactivated cell phone and dials 911. >> and she explained that her and her siblings were being held against their will. and some of them were chained. also showed some photos that led the deputies to believe that the information she was providing was accurate. >> reporter: deputies swarm the neighborhood and the house, and behind that neat exterior, they find an interior world that they describe as surreal and sadistic. >> deputies, when they arrived inside the house, they noticed that the children were malnourished, it was very dirty and the conditions were horrific. >> inside a family home in southern california. >> tortured by their own parents. >> reporter: as the news breaks, reports of what those walls hid shocked the country. photos from the family facebook page show the 13 siblings who were alleged to be living in dungeon-like conditions, living in squalor. >> my jaw dropped farther to the floor. thirteen children. held captive.

it's just unbelievable. >> reporter: their parents, who were arrested at the scene, were alleged to have even shackled their own children to furniture. >> these defendants eventually began using chains and padlocks to chain up the victims to their beds. the defendants were able to get two of the victims unchained before the police actually entered. >> reporter: the children range in age from two to 29. seven of them are actually adults, but look much younger because of severe malnourishment. >> to give you an example, one of the children at age 12 is the weight of an average 7-year-old. the 29-year-old female victim weighs 82 pounds. >> you've got parents that are torturing their children causing them pain causing them suffering over a prolonged period of time through malnourishment, through physical abuse, through psychological abuse. it's horrific. >> reporter: these are the accused parents.

56-year-old david turpin and his wife, 49-year-old louise turpin. >> we would ask the court to waive reading. >> reporter: in court yesterday the turpins pleaded not guilty to a combined 75 counts including charges of torture, child abuse, neglect and false imprisonment. the couple is being held on $12 million bail each. >> mr. turpin, i've discussed with you that you have a right to a speedy preliminary hearing. >> reporter: for authorities, the biggest mystery, how the turpins got away with the alleged abuse for so many years, hiding in plain sight, taking their kids on what seemed all american vacations. >> i can't explain why these parents did these horrible things. >> reporter: the story of the turpin family begins far from the desert and palm trees of south california, 2,300 miles away to be exact, in the green hills of west virginia. here in the heart of appalachia

sits the small town of princeton, population 6,400. >> we're pretty much a rural mountain area. coal and of course, you know, railroads. >> reporter: louise turpin, born louise robinette, grew up in this modest princeton house, the daughter of an official at the county courthouse. >> we had a pretty normal life inside the home that i lived in. >> reporter: her younger sister elizabeth says that louise was a strong-minded, willful kid. >> it was her way or no way. and if she had to sneak around to do it, she would do it. >> reporter: the younger sister says she and others in the family were sexually abused. she wonders whether the impact on the family might have been a contributing factor. >> there was sexual abuse by a family member, a close family member, and not our parents. we were not allowed to talk about it. and i'm not making excuses for my sister, but i think that that may have been an underlining issue. >> reporter: meanwhile, six miles away on the outskirts of

town, david turpin grew up in this red brick house. david went to school at princeton senior high school, shown here in the yearbook. he's sporting the same bowl cut haircut he has today. among his activities listed, the bible, science and chess clubs. >> he was quiet, nerdy. he was a good student. he tended to dress well. david wasn't known to go out and party with the other kids or anything like that. described as something of a home body. >> reporter: david and louise's families attended the same west virginia church. >> i've known david all my life. my parents and his parents were pretty close. we all attended princeton church of god for years and years and years. >> reporter: the family friendship between david and louise turns to love. they start dating when he's 22-years old and she's just 15. but in the first sign that there might be something off about this couple, just a year into their romance, they decide to run away from their families to fort worth, texas.

>> it took the police three days to find her. and she was only 16. he was almost 23. my mom wanted to press charges, and my dad had mixed emotions about it. because we were taught that you don't have sex outside of marriage. >> reporter: so with louise just 16 years old, the two lovebirds tie the knot in 1985. >> they had a small church wedding. only close family members came. but louise and david were really happy. and i remember them just saying they just wanted to get on with their life. >> reporter: and just a year later they did just that, leaving west virginia in their tracks for good and moving back to fort worth. >> she told me one time that she didn't want to keep up with the family because of her past. it reminded her of it. and she just wanted to leave it all behind and start over. >> reporter: coming up, what alarming signs did neighbors say they witnessed inside the turpin's texas home? >> we were getting concerned at that point that something's going on over there, something's not right.

>> reporter: next, allegations about the daily routine behind doors. >> they were chained. they were treated like a dog. i was literally sick throwing up in my stomach. hispering) with te capital one venture card, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. not just airline purchases. think about all the double miles you could be earning. (yelling) holy moly, that's a lot of miles! shh-h-h-h! ( ♪ ) shh! what's in your wallet? man: shh-h-h! shh! italian generosity begins with everyday, at olive garden., start with our unlimited homemade soup or fresh signature salad and a basket of our famous never ending breadsticks. followed by plentiful portions of your favorite dishes. so many choices you'll love at everyday great prices you won't want to miss.

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>> reporter: newlyweds david and louise turpin leave west virginia for texas. their fresh start hits younger sister elizabeth hard. >> we had a tape player we used to play with, and she left a message on it. and i kept that recording. she was telling me how much she loved me and missed me, before she left. because she knew she was going a long ways. >> reporter: why texas?

it seems david has a job there, and elizabeth says they kept up with occasional visits back to west virginia and things seemed okay. >> they acted the same around me. david was good to me. she was good to me. >> reporter: it's here in texas where the turpins begin having children, and slowly elizabeth says visits back home stop, and contact becomes more sporadic. >> they started having more kids. they became more and more distant and then it got to where by the time they had the fourth one they quit coming in. >> reporter: it was during one of those last visits, elizabeth says, that she asked her sister a question. >> how about i stay with you for the summer instead of mommy or daddy? >> reporter: elizabeth moves in with louise, david, and their four young children in this house in fort worth, texas. soon after, she says, she starts noticing things are a bit off. >> i remember they were really

strict on the oldest daughter. she was bound to her room a lot. they would let her come down and eat meals. she would have to get permission to sit down. she was in the early -- maybe kindergarten, first grade. and she knew that she had to look her mom in the eye, and there had to be a smile between them. and she'd tell her, "go ahead." and then she would eat, and it was just that same routine. every day. >> reporter: elizabeth remembers more than just strict rules. she says the kids were kept in their rooms for long stretches of time. her contact with her nieces and nephews was limited. >> it was almost like she didn't want me talkin' to the kids, and they weren't allowed to talk to me without permission. >> reporter: although she feels uneasy about the situation, she also feels unable to speak up. >> maybe i shouldn't question her parenting. i mean, what have i got to offer? i'm 19, 20 years old. i wasn't comfortable with her like i used to be. >> reporter: another startling discovery? she says she finds her sister and brother-in-law drifting away from their strict pentecostal upbringing. >> they didn't want to bring

their kids up in church. they don't trust church people. i do know that she started getting into checking out other religions. they read up on, like, witch doctors and stuff like that. i remember her looking into mormonism, catholics, and mennonites. >> reporter: elizabeth says the turpins adopted a type of hybrid religion -- one she thinks sparks those strict "house rules" -- rules that also apply to elizabeth. >> i was told i couldn't make phone calls. i wasn't allowed to have anybody over. i wasn't allowed to tell anybody where i lived. >> reporter: elizabeth says she's allowed to leave the house only for her job in town. she says this is all dictated by one person -- her sister. but she has also begun to notice a strange dynamic between the couple. >> louise made all the decisions and he just sat back and watched. it was weird. she always seemed to be in

control, but there was always looks between them and he was always sitting back watching. >> reporter: but she says when it came to her, david wasn't just a passive observer. >> as time progressed, he got weird. very flirty right in front of louise, so it really made me uncomfortable. he would talk about my shape and different things. it was supposed to all be laughs, but it didn't make me feel comfortable. >> reporter: elizabeth claims it eventually gets much creepier. >> i hated takin' a shower there. i'd get in the shower and i'd lock the door. and louise would unlock it with a coat hanger. and they would both come in there and they wouldn't leave until i got outta the shower. they made me get out of the shower in front of them. i was naked. but he never touched me. i wanna get that on the record. david never touched me. >> reporter: elizabeth says it becomes too much for her, and by the end of that summer, she's out of the house, and for the most part, out of the turpins' lives. >> but one thing i wanna make very clear, i've never seen them

abuse them in any way sexually, physically. >> reporter: louise and david continue having many, many more children and at some point they choose to homeschool them. >> no one really had a lot of contact with the family or the children. >> reporter: and despite david having a good job at defense contractor, lockheed martin, the family's finances are in the red. the turpins abandon fort worth, leaving behind a squalid scene, as captured in photos by the new homeowner who was so disgusted by what he saw, he kept the photos for nearly 20 years. deplorable conditions. filth. scratches on the backs of doors and walls that the new owners assume were made by animals. the turpins move into this house, set on a sprawling 36 acres in the rural texas town of rio vista. >> it's a town of only a couple of hundred people. it's actually even hard to find on the map. everyone pretty much knows each other. >> reporter: neighbors recall

sporadic sightings and strange behavior. >> we were getting concerned. something going on over there, you know. something's not right. >> reporter: in an interview with the "daily mail," shelly's daughter ashley recounts her interactions with the reclusive family. >> it was just normal kid stuff at first. i remember going over one day and knocking on the door, and their mom answered the door and she told me i couldn't play with the kids anymore. anytime i would go over there after that i would knock and knock and no one would answer, i'd knock and knock and knock and nobody would answer but i could see the baby was in the playpen in the window. she would be there all day, all night unsupervised. >> reporter: ashley recounts that the family kept a double wide trailer on the property. >> one day they moved in that double wide trailer back there, and further back there, and it was like you never saw them again. as i got older the more i realized there are a whole lotta kids over there that are growing

up or have grown up. what are they doing? >> reporter: by 2010 the family's finances forced them out of their home. >> they grew and grew and one day they were gone. they just vanished. >> they moved and that's the last that anyone here in texas heard about this family. >> reporter: the turpins seemingly disappeared overnight but left plenty of clues about the time they spent in that rio vista property. >> we did go up there after they were gone because we were curious. there were bunch bek beds in onm and i think there were six of them stacked all in a row. then in another room they had all these desks all lined up like a school room. there was religious material that was a little off the wall. prepare for the armageddon.

the house was a mess. >> the trailer was located right over here. >> reporter: billy baldwin bought the turpins' house in a for clo foreclosure and finds that same mess. and also some bizarre photographs. >> polaroid pictures and there's two single beds and on the end of that one bed rail there's a rope hanging off of it but we didn't have no idea of what was going on in there. i really feel bad that something like that was happening. >> reporter: coming up, all american vacations mask hidden lies. mom and dad got a new car... with the extra third row of seats. they think it's theirs. look at them, they have no idea! it's not theirs. it's mine. mine. mine. mine. the new lexus rx 350l with three rows for seven passengers. are you excited about your baby sister coming? experience space for the unexpected with the rx l,

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>> announcer: "20/20" continues. here again, matt gutman. >> reporter: in 2010, the turpin family heads west, ending up in golden, california. its unclear why they moved to california. they don't have family out here. perhaps it was for work. we just don't know. >> reporter: once here, the family lives in two different middle class homes in the los angeles area with the kind of

attractive well maintained exteriors that wouldn't raise suspicions. and for years, there were none. >> they did leave the house at times. its not that they never left the house. >> reporter: and some of the places they traveled to were where any normal family would go. >> she was obsessed with disneyland her whole marriage they've had season passes and go regularly. they were obsessed with disney and mickey mouse. >> reporter: another spot the family enjoyed, las vegas. they were especially found of one place kind of hidden off the famous strip, a small spot called the elvis chapel. ♪ one for the money, two for the show ♪ here, it's always blue suede shoes. kent ripley plays the king. and the justice of the peace too. >> it is my honor to announce to the world that the two of you are still married, husband and wife. david, it's time to kiss your beautiful wife.

>> reporter: obviously feeling very love me tender. ♪ oh my darling, he loves you >> reporter: david and louise came here three times to renew their vows. twice they brought all their kids along. >> i remembered them of course immediately. the kids remembered me. i would say it was a loving family. >> reporter: according to ripley, there was nothing obvious that would make the turpins appear any different from all the others who come here to share a beautiful moment of family togetherness. >> david and louise. >> it was a fun wedding because i got to see smiles on the kids' faces. >> reporter: like here. the smallest boy acts as the ring bearer. louise danced with her daughters to "suspicous minds". ♪ because i love you too much baby ♪

david and the boys took a turn to "a little less conversation". >> yeah! ♪ a little less conversation, a little more action ♪ >> at the end, the big finale had everybody up on stage. ♪ viva las vegas >> reporter: it was viva las vegas all right. but back in california, david registered with the state as the sand castle day school so the kids could be home schooled. and whatever was going on in the family stayed in the family. it turns out one of the oldest victims actually attended some outside classes. >> did you ever see the kids outside? >> not outside. >> reporter: the neighbor who works the graveyard shift says he did see something odd at night. >> i'd come home anywhere from

12:30 to 3:00 in the morning and the kids were marching in those two rooms. that's when i would see them. >> how long would they march back and forth in single file? >> hours. >> reporter: clifford says he figured the adults were doing some kind of therapy. >> she explained that she escaped out of a window. >> reporter: so he was as shocked as everyone else, and for the first time investigators got some idea of what appears to have been happening. >> this morning the riverside district attorney's office filed criminal charges against david and louise turpin. >> when you first heard about the case, could you wrap your head around how monstrous it was? >> no. because all i heard was there were some kids being held captive in a house. >> reporter: he tells us he's only begun to learn the scope of the investigation. >> we're at the beginning, not the end. >> what were the conditions they encountered in that house?

>> deplorable. absolutely deplorable. it smelled. it was filthy. it's clear that some of the victims when they're chained are not being taken to the bathroom to relieve themselves. they were fed obviously but they weren't fed enough. i think many of them were very hungry. >> reporter: in a blur of cruelty, he a littlleges the pa would leave things like pies on the counter that the kids could see and smell but were forbidden to touch and eat. perhaps more disturbing, there were perhaps two happy and healthy maltese dogs in the home who, it's alleged, were better feld th fed than the children. >> what did they do all day? >> i don't know. >> were they allowed cell phones? >> no. >> television? >> no. >> books? >> i don't know. >> were they allowed to have toys? >> the information i have is they were not allowed to play with toys. there were many toys in the garage that are still in the boxes. >> still in the original

wrapping? >> still in the original wrapping. >> it's alleged it was all to maintain control over the children. >> they would sleep all day when the rest of the world is up. then they would get up and do whatever activities they were going to do throughout the night. >> we met a neighbor who said he would see the kids being marched in circles for hours from midnight to 3:00 a.m. is that something you're aware of? >> no. that's new to me. we're unwrapping this case. we're looking into this case. we're at the beginning. we'll get to the bottom of all of it. >> reporter: part of that will come from interviewing the kids. part of it will come from reading the hundreds of journals he says the children were allowed to keep. >> it's so strange, these parents took away basically every single human freedom from these children but allowed them to express themselves in these journals. >> yes. >> what do you think that's about? >> it looks like punishment that's gone way out of whack.

>> reporter: for example, he believes the children were allowed one shower a year, and if they washed their hands above the wrist, they were punished for supposedly playing in the water. and put in chains. >> the punishments included frequent beatings and even strangulation. we are not robots. this is difficult for everyone who sees these images and hears these stories, but ultimately our job is to go into court and seek justice and we are going to do that. >> is there so much depravity, so much cruelty here that its sort of this bottomless pit that it will take you a long time just to get to the bottom of it? >> it sure feels like that. it feels from our perspective that we are looking into a pit and we don't know where the bottom is. >> reporter: coming up, keeping journals behind closed doors, will they shed light on their secret lives? stay with us. ♪

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>> announcer: "20/20" continues. here again, elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: another time, another place, another captive. cleveland ohio, may 6, 2013. >> help me, i'm amanda berry. i've been kidnapped and been missing for 10 years. i'm here. i'm free now. >> reporter: kidnapped at age 16, amanda berry escapes almost a decade later, rescuing herself and three others from their captor. >> you never know until you're in the situation what you're gonna do, how you're gonna react. >> reporter: she seized the moment and kicked out the door to escape. similar to the allegations against the turpin family, she'd been chained up, deprived of food but given a journal by her captor. we don't yet know what the turpin children wrote in theirs, but amanda berry wrote hopeful

entries to her mother in secret code detailing the sexual abuse inflicted on her by ariel castro. >> i felt like, you know, one day she's gonna read this or maybe authorities will get to read it and he'll be punished for what he did. >> reporter: in new york city's lower east side, suzanne and her seven children suffered in captivity for more than 14 years. >> what was your reaction when you first heard about this story with the turpin family in california? >> i was like oh, no, i just felt, not another one. really. >> reporter: unlike the reports on the turpins, these brothers were not shackled or severely starved. they were trapped in their own home. six brothers and one sister, their father oscar had the only key to the front door. >> this was always locked? >> always.

>> reporter: his father blocked the door with a tall ladder to keep intruders out and his wife and children in. >> and when you lift the ladder, it would make a loud like -- so he would know if anyone was attempting to go out. >> reporter: the documentary "the wolfpack" and our "20/20" special detailed the strange world in which they lived. these home videos showed the father leading the children in bizarre rituals. at night, the boys slept with suzanne piled on top of each other on mattresses. during the day, releasing their pent-up energy, dancing, bouncing. their entire childhood home schooled by their mother. for the six boys, recess was roller skating indoors, back and forth in that tiny hallway. >> he basically didn't want anyone to know we were here. >> reporter: one of the brothers says the restrictions were the most extreme for their mother. >> she had the worst of it from all of us. she had more rules than we did.

>> every night when i would go to sleep, fear was the last thing that i was feeling and dealt with. as soon as i would waken in the morning, fear was the first thing that was greeting me. >> reporter: suzanne says when she looks at the photos of the turpin children out in public, she recognizes the expressions on their faces. >> what i see is a lot of little zombies here. >> what do you mean by that? >> there's no spark of life in their eyes. >> did your kids ever look like that? >> yes, they did. >> reporter: you can see that in these photos of the rare outings oscar allowed. like the turpins, they were pale as ghosts and dressed all alike. and for them, never allowed to cut their hair. >> oscar, your ex-husband, would dictate what everybody wore. >> yes. >> he was -- that kind of

control extends to everything. >> yes. and if they wanted to wear something different, that just was not allowed. >> reporter: year in, year out as the boys became young men, the claustrophobia built. oscar even sealed off the windows of the apartment with bla blankets. >> we couldn't even get sunlight. i started getting like, all right, enough is enough. >> reporter: finally at age 15, mikunda was the first brother to break free. >> the moment i opened the door, my heart pounded so hard. >> reporter: outside without his father for the first time in his life. >> what do i do? i'm out in the open. it's all out there. there's no going back now. >> reporter: he is much like the 17-year-old who police say escaped the turpin family home and called 911. >> it's been ages. nice to see you. >> how's it goes. >> reporter: with so many apparent parallels with the turpin family, we wanted to know what the wolfpack brothers had to say today.

>> it's brought back a lot of memories. >> the very first time you went outside, what did that feel like to you? >> i just remember it feeling surreal. it was new. >> it was strange too p because it also felt liberating. >> the first thing after you break free is how are you going to adjust. >> that's huge, isn't it? >> yeah it's the biggest first step. >> what was the hardest part? >> feeling like an outsider, like a fish out of water. >> i mean, all the things we sort of take for granted like catching a bus, how to work an atm, how to pay for groceries, you knew none of that. >> other people just feel so alien and you like feel very alien. >> how long did it take you before you didn't feel like an alien in your own world? >> i mean in reality we're still adjusting. >> reporter: if anyone wonders why a child wouldn't reach out for help in public places, they have their own story.

one time when our father took us out, there was a policeman who noticed something odd about him. he talked to him for a little bit and then he pulled us aside and talked to us privately. >> and what did he ask you? >> he asked if he if there if there had been any like physical abuse in our family you know we simply said no. >> why did you lie. >> you are conditioned to feel small and powerless and it's hard to overcome that. >> reporter: while a childhood spent in captivity will always be a part of them, they say they focus on the future, enjoying working, traveling and living on their own terms. >> what would you say to the turpin children? you can relate to parts of their story in a way that nobody else can. >> something that we thought for a long time was that we were the only family like us, and so one thing i would say is that you're

not alone. >> i would say don't be afraid to connect, to reach to people. >> how do you learn how to do that? >> there's no manual. you just have to go with your gut and you have to -- >> take a deep breath and try. >> take a deep breath. pick up on as much as you can. you eventually will find yourselves, not just your place in the world but you will find who you are. >> reporter: when we return -- could this happen on the street where you live? red flags and warning signs. stay with us. each year sarah climbs 58,007 steps. that's the height of mount everest. because each day she chooses to take the stairs. at work, at home... even on the escalator. that can be hard on her lower body, so now she does it with dr. scholl's orthotics. clinically proven to relieve and prevent foot, knee or lower back pain, by reducing the shock and stress that travel up her body with every step she takes. so keep on climbing, sarah. you're killing it.

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>> reporter: it seems everyone is wondering how no one seems to have noticed the alleged horrors happening to the turpin children. >> we were in shock. we were astounded. >> i've been crying all these days. i haven't been able to sleep. >> everyone is completely heartbroken, sad, that it's so close to home. it can happen in a beautiful neighborhood like this. >> none of us knew anything. only people we ever saw were the parents and the baby. >> those children were starving right next to us. >> reporter: in the case of the an ngula brothers, suzanne said it would have helped her children if someone had paid attention. >> do you wish one of your neighbors had shocked on the door or gone down the stairs to the security officer and said, you know, i don't know, there's something a little funny going on at that apartment on the 16th

floor? >> if someone has a sense that there's something a little off they cannot just go once and see what's happening. they have to do that repeatedly again and again and again. and if they're still unsuccessful then they go to other authorities. >> reporter: in fact, the angulos and turpin kids have something else in common. they were all home schooled. >> how many times did somebody from the state or board of education come and check on your home schooling to see that you were in fact home schooling and that these kids weren't being abused? >> there was one time when someone from the board of education came. >> so one time, that year? >> one time in all the 18 years that i home schooled. >> one time in 18 years? >> yes. >> reporter: the angulo children were learning. the riverside county district attorney mike hestrin says that

does not seem to be the case for the turpin children. >> these kids were supposed to be being home schooled, but as far as we can tell, they didn't have much education. their reading and writing abilities are very rudimentary. >> reporter: there are those who believe that in some cases, the decision to home school isn't about education at all but something much darker. rebecca was home schooled beginning at age seven. >> they have specific ways that they talk about school to their children. they call school buses prison buses and call schools institutions. they'll say it's an institution like a prison. they say that we're much happier being home schooled and that we have much more freedom. >> reporter: but rebecca says that freedom for some children comes at a price. >> having your children at home can become overwhelming.

because of that, home school families end up putting a huge amount of emphasis on obedience. >> reporter: rachel coleman is an advocate for responsible home schooling. she says for the estimated 2 million children home schooled in the u.s., it can be as good or as bad as the parents who use it. >> in the hands of well meaning parents, it can be a wonderful thing with innovative child-centered educational programs, but in the hands of parents that aren't well meaning and the parents of parents who are neglectful, things can get bad. >> reporter: but rebecca says that freedom, for some children, comes at a price. where the turpins lived in california, all they were required to do was file

paperwork, calling sand castle a private school, which they did. dr. barbara knox studies child abuse and torture. she says the issue is not home schooling itself but the dangers that arise when it's misused to camouflage abuse. >> the question here is really how do we as a society protect vulnerable children when home schooling is being used to mask the extreme physical and psychological abuse that is occurring. >> reporter: coming up, what police are asking you to do to help them tonight. stay with us. hooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet...

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that cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! why take 4-hour cough medicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this. >> announcer: "20/20" continues. here again, matt gutman. >> reporter: with so many missed signals and unanswered questions about the alleged terrors inside the turpin house, da mike hesstrin is appealing directly to the public. >> it's a little unusual for a district attorney to be doing an interview like this.

part of the reason i'm doing that is because i want the public's help. >> is there one key piece of information you're looking for? >> we want to know anything and everything. we've set up a tip line here at the riverside d.a's office. these alleged crimes were committed in a closed room, in a closed house under a cover of darkness. but someone must have seen something and were asking for the public's help. >> reporter: tonight, the search for answers continues. although elizabeth flores says she hasn't had a close relationship with her sister in over 20 years, she sends a message of hope and renewal for the children. >> you have to reprogram your mind. whether you believe it or not, you have to get up and tell yourself every day, "i'm worthy. i am beautiful. i'm fearfully and wonderfully me." >> reporter: but the path towards healing may be tough for children so damaged by their past. >> the hardest thing for kids to hear is that the world is not the way their parents made them think it is. the world has people that are going to be generous and going to be kind and i think one of the hardest things for them to really do in the end will be to trust people. >> reporter: and outside the house that witnessed such cruelty, messages of love and faith. >> i have two little boys and i

kind of told them a little of what happened. i asked if they would give their big teddy bear to the kids. >> and they were willing to give it up? >> absolutely. >> reporter: tonight, the elder turpin childreeiving 'round-the-clock care by doctors and nurses and something prosecutors say they've missed their whole lives, tenderness. >> reporter: surveying that pile of donations, they say they're on a mission of redemption. >> i can't wait for these children to come back and sometimes invite me for their graduation. when we're done with this, it will come to an end. they will hopefully go on in life and they'll have great lives. it would be nice to see that. a

developments. >> tonight authorities want us to let the public know that you can call in with tips. call vargas. for all of us at abc news and "20/20," have a great night and a great weekend. >> coming up on "action news," the energy level keeps rises

across the city. all things are not green in eagle's country. we'll explain, next. ♪ >> "action news," delaware valley's leading news program, with jim gardner. ♪ ♪ >> lincoln financial field, the eagle's logo at midfield looking fierce, not at all like that underdog