Escape From A House Of Horrors FULL AUDIO
PERRIS, Calif. -- Jordan Turpin quietly climbed up on a windowsill of her parents' home without them knowing and dropped down into the outside world.
The 17-year-old had only been outside a few times in her entire life and she was terrified. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she held a deactivated cell phone her parents didn't know she had, but thinking of her siblings chained up inside the house, she worked up the courage to dial 911.
"I was always terrified that if I called the cops or tried to escape, I would get caught, and then I knew I would die if I got caught," Jordan, now 21, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview. "But at the end, when I saw all my younger siblings, I knew that's what I had to do."
Jordan's bravery that day in January 2018 freed herself and her siblings from a life of horrific abuse and captivity at the hands of their parents, David and Louise Turpin, who are now in prison for beating, shackling and starving 12 of their 13 children.
"That was my only chance," Jordan said. "I think it was us coming so close to death so many times. If something happened to me, at least I died trying."
Jordan and her eldest sibling, Jennifer Turpin, are telling their story for the first time in an exclusive interview with Sawyer. They are the first of any of the Turpin children to share their stories. In their interview, the Turpin daughters described physical abuse and being deprived of food, hygiene, education and health care for years.
"The only word I know to call it is 'hell,'" said Jennifer Turpin, reflecting on the trauma of her childhood
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