Lavonia family held captive, police say

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Lavonia family held captive, police say

Raymond Daniel is accused of keeping his wife and children imprisoned for three years without the knowledge of neighbors. The roach-infested mobile home in Lavonia, Ga. was discovered by authorities earlier this month. Thurmond was arrested on charges of rape, child abuse and false imprisonment, said Bruce Carlisle, Lavonia's police chief.

Mobile homes line a street in the Beaver Creek mobile home community in Lavonia, Ga., where Raymond Daniel Thurmond allegedly kept his wife and four children imprisoned for three years.

A metal hasp on the back door of a Beaver Creek mobile home in Lavonia, Ga. Police say Raymond Daniel Thurmond was able to attach a padlock when he left the home and keep his wife and four children, ages 14, 13, 12 and 9, locked inside.

The mobile home (after it was cleaned) where Raymond Daniel Thurmond is accused of keeping his wife and four children imprisoned for three years without the knowledge of neighbors.

The cabinet under the kitchen sink is still filled with small roaches ( which are difficult to see) as well as roach droppings.

Roaches are still plentiful, as shown here on a closet door frame.

Kent Carey, 18, and his cousin Sonya Savage,29, were neighbors of Raymond Daniel Thurmond. Thurmond apparently guarded his privacy, said Savage. She only saw her neighbor occasionally, she recalled, and they didn't talk. "Just think: that went on right there," she said, pointing at the tan trailer where Thurmond lived for nearly three years. "And I lived next to it."

Alma Medina, property manager at the Beaver Creek mobile home community, shown with her son Esteban, said Raymond Daniel Thurmond was always polite in her dealing wtih him, but he had gotten behind on his rent.

Police searched for evidence in the trailer Wednesday after arresting Raymond Daniel Thurmond a day earlier on charges of rape, child abuse and false imprisonment, said Bruce Carlisle, Lavonia's police chief.

Bruce Carlisle, Lavonia's police chief, said investigators found no food in the home, and the children were undernourished and underweight. The woman and children had been allowed to leave just once since moving to the mobile home park in 2005, he said.

One bedroom contained evidence that children had slept there - discarded action figures, scribbled notes and pencils lay about.

The bathroom toilets were foul, brown.

Wednesday morning, police entered the trailer and emptied evidence into an overflowing dumpster -- the second they'd filled. Officers donned face masks as they waded into the trashed home. They'd made sure to leave its windows open to air out the trailer, a three-bedroom, two-bath singlewide.

The mobile home was in a filthy condition, with roaches crawling around (the little brown things).

Children's bed frames and some other furniture was stacked in the living room area.

A look down the trash-strewn hallway toward two bedrooms and a bathroom.

When he rented the house in late August 2005, Thurmond listed his wife and four children on the lease.

Bruce Carlisle, Police Chief for the City of Lavonia, says he's never encountered anything like the case against Thurmond.

Raymond Daniel Thurmond, 36, of Lavonia, Ga. was charged Tuesday with holding his wife and four children captive in squalor for three years inside their mobile home. Thurmond was arrested when he showed up for work at a poultry processing plant in Stephens County. He was charged with rape, child abuse and false imprisonment.

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Mobile homes line a street in the Beaver Creek mobile home community in Lavonia, Ga., where Raymond Daniel Thurmond allegedly kept his wife and four children imprisoned for three years.

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