NEW YORK_The teen who saved her 12 siblings from a California house of horrors reportedly jumped out a window and called 911 with just days to spare before a cross-country move.
Accused abusers David and Louise Turpin appeared on the verge of relocating their large brood to Oklahoma when cops arrived on the doorstep of their tract home in Perris and arrested them Jan. 14, multiple sources told ABC News.
The move looked like it was set to go down "within days."
"There were boxes in the house consistent with moving _ concentrated in hallways, entryway and bedrooms," an unidentified source told ABC News.
David, 57, had received a reported transfer through his employer, the defense contractor Northrop Grumann.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin previously said the 17-year-old daughter who alerted police to her parents' horrific torture had been plotting her escape with her siblings for at least two years.
It wasn't immediately clear if the plan got kicked into high gear by the timing of the impending move.
The family had moved several times in the past. They fled two foreclosures in Texas around 1999 and 2010 and relocated from Murrieta, Calif., to Perris in 2014.
David and Louise, 49, are now facing multiple charges of torture, abuse and false imprisonment that could land them in prison for up to 94 years to life.
When investigators first confronted them Sunday at their home about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the couple allegedly rushed to unshackle two of their kids before allowing entry.
A third sibling was found chained to a bed in the foul-smelling dungeon where the parents routinely starved, shackled and beat their kids, Hestrin said.
Police said the 13 siblings all appeared to be minors at first. They later learned seven were adults ranging in age from 18 to 29.
Years of malnourishment had stunted the kids' growth and even caused cognitive impairment and nerve damage, authorities said.
The 29-year-old daughter weighed just 82 pounds when she was rescued, Hestrin said.
One of the children at age 12 was the weight of an average 7 year old, he said.
The couple have pleaded not guilty and is being held on $12 million bail each.
David was also charged with one count of a lewd act on a child 14 or younger.
"We are alleging David Turpin touched one of the victims in a lewd way by using force or fear," Hestrin said.
