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A police officer enters the building where the four were discovered. WPVI
Philadelphia
Four adults found locked in a filthy basement in Philadelphia
The four were living in a boiler room. It’s thought that they were victims of social security fraud.
FOUR ADULTS HAVE been found locked in a basement in Philadelphia.
The three men and one woman were found in a room housing a boiler in an apartment building in Tacony in the north-east of the city. Local news station WPVI reports that the each of the four have an intellectual disability. It’s also reported that they were malnourished and living in ‘deplorable conditions’.
Philadelphia deputy police commissioner Richard Ross has has said the accommodation resembled a dungeon. According to CNN the four were found after a janitor happened upon them while doing checks in the building. It’s thought they were there for up to a week, but that they have been moved around for more than a year.
A woman and two men have reportedly been arrested, and are suspected of stealing social security cheques from the four prisoners.
The victims have now received medical attention and have been placed in temporary housing.
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