Months Ago, Cops Went to Home Where Girls Were Held

But couldn't hear anything, saw no evidence of children
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2013 8:58 AM CST
Months Ago, Cops Went to Home Where Girls Were Held
This undated photo provided the Tucson Police Department shows Sophia Richter, 32. Richter and her husband Fernando Richter face multiple counts of kidnapping and child abuse.   (AP Photo/Tucson Police Department)

The mother and stepfather arrested and accused of holding their three daughters captive in Tucson soundproofed the girls' bedrooms so well that when police officers went to the house two and a half months ago on a robbery call, they saw no evidence of the girls. Among other things, the girls had to endure loud music being played constantly, but even when officers rescued the girls last week, "it wasn’t until they got right outside the bedroom door of the child’s room that they could hear the music," the police chief tells the Arizona Republic. The air vents and ducts were covered, and towels were shoved underneath the doors.

Detectives are putting together a timeline of the girls' captivity based on a calendar the 17-year-old girl kept in a satchel around her neck, along with a picture of Enrique Iglesias. On the calendar, she kept track of "significant events" and any changes to routine, including new meals, the police chief says. The journal "did contain a lot of information that I feel will be useful in helping us to determine the method and length of the imprisonment," the police chief told the AP last week. The older girl had not seen her sisters, ages 12 and 13, possibly for years; they are all together now at a group home. (More captivity stories.)

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