“Malnourished” teenage twins who escaped from handcuffs at their Texas residence prompted an Amber Alert for 5 different siblings who have been deemed protected a day later by authorities in Louisiana, officers stated Tuesday. The twins’ mom and her boyfriend have been in custody.
The Harris County Constable Precinct 5 issued an Amber Alert early Tuesday for the 5 youngsters, ages 7 to 14, in line with statements on its Fb web page.
Jeff McShan, a spokesperson for the precinct, stated the incident started when the 16-year-old twins, a boy and a woman, contacted a neighbor Monday and requested to name 911 as a result of they’d escaped from their residence the place they “had been handcuffed and held in opposition to their will by their mother.”
The siblings stated they’d solely not too long ago moved to the house and didn’t know their deal with, McShan stated.
“It was apparent to us and the hearth division that the kids have been in misery. That they had marks on their wrists, fairly deep marks from {the handcuffs}. They have been bruised and malnourished in our eyes,” he stated.
NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston reported the twins have been hospitalized and are within the custody of Youngster Protecting Providers.
McShan stated it took authorities a number of hours Monday to find out the home from which the twins had fled. Once they arrived there, the kids’s mom, Zaikiya Duncan, 40, and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Jova Terrell, had apparently fled with Duncan’s 5 different youngsters, McShan stated.
“The Amber Alert has been lifted or might be lifted shortly. The youngsters have been discovered at a relative’s home and have been deemed protected by the Louisiana State Police. Their mom and mother’s boyfriend are in custody and might be introduced again to Harris County,” in line with the constable’s workplace.
The constable’s workplace stated it’s recommending fees of damage to a toddler, a first-degree felony, for Duncan and Terrell. It additionally stated the kids’s 18-year-old brother might have gone lacking, too. His whereabouts have been unclear Wednesday.
When requested concerning the couple, a consultant with Louisiana State Police stated in an announcement Wednesday: “Louisiana State Police Troopers did take two people into custody associated to an Amber Alert out of Texas.” The consultant declined to supply extra particulars.
McShan stated he expects the couple to return to Texas this week to face fees. It was not clear Wednesday if they’d retained an legal professional.
Duncan was listed on a cost of fugitive on the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail on Wednesday afternoon. Terrell was not listed as an inmate there.
Family for Duncan and Terrell couldn’t be reached Wednesday.
Helen Kwong contributed.
