A young woman who said she was held captive in her locked room for at least a year has escaped, police in North Las Vegas said this week.
Police have arrested Addy Gonzales, the young woman’s mother; Maria Pasarin, the young woman’s grandmother; and Daniel Omezcua, KVVU reported. They all face charges of false imprisonment and child abuse, NBC News reported.
Police did not say what the relationship was between Omezcua and the young woman, who had recently turned 18.
Police said a neighbor had seen a teen girl “trying to use a ladder to climb” back into her home after the young woman had gone to a neighbor’s backyard to get food and water, drinking from the neighbor’s hose, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Police said the victim then tried to go back to her bedroom, KBLR reported.
The young woman had climbed out a window by tying her clothes together.
When police went into the room, they found it locked but there was no doorknob — only a security lock that could only be opened from either side by a key. The young woman did not have a key. She told the authorities that she gets food or water from her mother once a day, the Review-Journal reported.
Police said they found a box spring, a bed frame and a bucket.
The young woman told police that she felt like a prisoner, the Review-Journal reported.
Police spoke to the young woman’s mother via phone and asked her why her daughter was locked in a room. Police said the woman was “evasive” and didn’t want police in the house until she was there, KVVU reported.
The Department of Child Protective Services had contacted the family several times, but each claim of abuse or neglect was found to be unsubstantiated or it was the case that CPSC didn’t have enough cooperation to pursue an investigation, police said, according to KBLR.