Raymond Thurmond Imprisoned His Family
Filed under: Child Abuse, Child Endangerment, Child Neglect, Crime, Imprisonment, Rape
Lavonia, GA - Visit any trailer park across the country, and it’ll most likely look a lot like Beaver Dam trailer park: dozens of mobile homes, all parked within a scant few feet of each other. However, until just recently, residents there were sure that a particular single-wide trailer was, most of the time, unoccupied.
When interviewed, Beaver Creek’s property manager said the trailer’s lease was signed by both Raymond Daniel Thurmond and his wife, but she never saw signs of a Mrs. Thurmond nor any little Thurmonds, even though Mr. Thurmond often spoke of his family. When asked, he said his wife and children were in North Carolina with his wife’s seriously ill mother or father.
It turns out that the trailer in question was virtually never unoccupied beginning the day the Thurmonds signed their lease in 2005. With the exception of one brief outing to North Carolina lasting mere hours, Thurmond’s wife and four children had never left the trailer.
Beaver Creek residents are just now learning of their heretofore unknown neighbors, as Mrs. Thurmond managed to leave the trailer and call for help. They’re also learning about the terrible conditions in which the family lived: the home was roach infested and filled with towers of empty pizza boxes, abandoned soda bottles, food cans, dirty clothes, unwashed dishes, and bags and bags of trash. They’re learning about the children’s heartbreaking physical condition: all four are undernourished and underweight (the only food found in the trailer was fast food leftovers in the fridge–YUM, seven cold french fries for breakfast; I’ll be stuffed!), and at least one has a medical condition that has gone untreated. They’re learning about the children’s social isolation: they have left the trailer a grand total of ONE time since 2005, and the oldest child (now age 14) attended school only through the 1st grade. The other three (age 13, 12, and 9) have never been to school.
Tuesday morning, 36-year-old Raymond Thurmond was arrested when he arrived for work at a poultry processing plant. He faces charges related to the abuse of his children, the rape of his wife, and the imprisonment of his family.
Good citizens of The Demon, this story bothered me very much when I first read about it. “Underweight” and “undernourished,” they say, and I flash on images of poor Danieal Kelly. No matter how you slice it and dice it, this is some seriously sad shit. I tried to set it somewhere to the back of my mind, but damned if it didn’t begin to bother me even more. Let’s be honest: either key details are being withheld, or there’s something fishy about this case. If you’ll allow me to elaborate:
1. There’s no mention in any accounts released thus far of locks on the door or other physical barriers. What, then, was the mechanism by which Thurmond kept his family prisoners for years? Don’t flame me, I know, a person can influence others by manipulating their emotions and threatening the things about which they care the most. Such a person might be able to persuade others to comply with seemingly outrageous demands through careful and consistent messages of worthlessness and futility (e.g., “You can’t live without me,” “You can’t care for yourself; how could you care for four children without me?”). I absolutely see that as a possibility. However….
2. Mrs. Thurmond (whose first name is not being released) told authorities that her husband raped her. Repeatedly. In my own mind, Rape #1 would’ve been a good time to gather up the kiddos and get the fuck out (assuming that the condition of my children and the trailer in which I lived–not to mention the imprisonment of my children and me–had not persuaded me before). Again, don’t flame me, I’m well aware of the complex emotional and psychological chains one person can drape over another. So, what was the breaking point? A beating? A perilously ill child? Well, not exactly. According to Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlise, “Mr. Thurmond decided he needed to carry on an extramarital affair. When he did that, his wife escaped….” Um. Okay. Starving children is okay, rape of me is okay, roaches for bedclothes and confidants is okay, but sticking it to another broad is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. WTF?
3. This and one more point, both brief, I promise. As I mentioned, only the oldest child had ever been near one of those crazy things called “schools.” Or is it “skools”? Well, whatever. Mrs. Thurmond told police she was home schooling her children…but there was no evidence in the trailer that anything resembling “homeschooling” (or “homeskooling”) was occurring.
4. And, finally (thanks to anyone still hanging in there with me), regarding the condition of the trailer–Mrs. Thurmond told investigators that she “was not allowed” to clean. I guess I’m supposed to intuit that it was Raymond Thurmond who wasn’t doing the allowing, but it seems more likely that it was the demons in her own head that might put a big kibosh on the notion. C’mon, what advantage could Raymond Thurmond gain by insisting that his wife allow the trash to pile up and the dirty dishes to turn moldy and rancid? Do roaches give off a pheromone that make women mega-super-ultra horny? I don’t get it.
Raymond Thurmond’s wife and children are now in protective custody at an undisclosed location. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one; do me a favor and do the same. Just in case.
As hideous as this sounds, I am suprised to see that none of the news channels around ATL have picked up on it yet. The news around here often uses “shock value” to run teasers that boost ratings.
Hmmm.
I thought that she might be handicapped somehow, either mentally or physically, in addition to the manipulation occurring, but I just can’t see any kids of that age being that quiet, or restrained that they wouldn’t have been even noticed for 4-5 years.
Something does stink…
I will keep my eyes open.
Yeah, something tells me there has to be more to this story. I also suspected some kind of disability with the mother, but then, what’s up with the kids? Maybe a combination of things. Perhaps she is agoraphobic, he’s abusive, and the kids just obeyed for fear of having the shit beat out of them. Who knows? Hopefully the whole truth will come out…and hopefully the kids will somehow manage to go on to normal lives, although frankly, that seems pretty unlikely given the circumstances.
Tasty video of inside of trailer before it was cleaned has been added. Enjoy your lunch!
Lizard, you stole my heart here. So many don’t understand and settle with “why didn’t she just leave the first time”. In this case, I too am confused, granted I would like to say that this man’s evil alone kept her from rescuing herself and her children, yet I too have doubts. Thank you, Lizard, for so eloquently speaking the truth, whether or not it applies in this situation.
WTF? uh, lady…throw something through a window while he is a work maybe?
I call bullshit. She and him both were holding the kids and she turned on him when he found a new hide the salami partner.
Did you hear at the end of the video where there may be other victims based on prior relationships?
What, no myspace? FUCK!
[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w11/s2rider/NSFW/3398844981.jpg[/IMG]
R
The roaches kept getting into the computer and frying it.
WOW!! Lizard that is an excellent write up! I plan to follow this one with ya’ll.
thanks for the ‘diet pill’ Morbid *gag*
I’m not ready to call bullshit yet. Too many bona-fide cases of Battered Wife Syndrome out there. I’ll wait ’til more information comes out. A woman with no self-esteem and low-intelligence can be easily manipulated by multiple beatings and rapes…not to mention threats against the children or any of her extended family (which it seems she has none of).
WTF>>>>> Lizard, your funny about computer being fried by roaches, you know i agree she finally had enough when she found out her husband cheated, not the other MAJOR ISSUES going on Even so, regarding how her house and kids got treated…. There has got to be more more to this story, i will agree to that, who in their right mind>… seriously people who would put up with some PENIS HEAD MAN MAKE them stay in house for years….???????????????????????? i would love to know who even anymore listens to what they are told to do anyway, weak mind or not…… but for me.. i am such a strong willed minded person, some call it stubborn, i call it my life, my independence and NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE ME DO ANYTHING I DON’T WANT TO DO so it is hard to even believe all of this crap, but i guess we live among alot of weak minded women out there…. I just feel bad for the children that they did not just get up the nerve to kick his balls and grab dear oh mom and leave
ok- Finally a blip on the news at lunch…Maybe they will post a link at the end of the newscast.
I don’t have sound at work so I could only watch the video, but kudos to reporter Mandy Gaither for going into that place. I hope it was after pest control visited; otherwise, I bet she had roaches crawling up her legs. And from the shot of the hasp, it looks like he did lock them in when he was gone. Anybody with sound capabilities can add anything?
I’m calling freshly dumped bullshit on Mom! Sorry, kids are involved…no excuse.
Another thing to keep in mind–they had been in that trailer for 3 years, but the 14-year-old had gone to school only through the 1st grade (some accounts say 2nd), so there’s some indication that things could have been seriously fucked with this family for quite a long time. You have to wonder what happened there. Too many eyes monitoring the child’s condition perhaps, Daddy decided he didn’t want that level of scrutiny?
I love my children to death, and should not make this comment when it is truly a horrible situation, but I have to admit my first thought was that….being locked in a single wide trailer with my children for 3 years, even with a loving husband,no roaches,and all kinds of entertainment would have drove me batshit. I know that sounds awful since I love my kids but I cant imagine beling locked in a trailer with them for years on end, I would have had to jump out the window at some point.
I do understand a little bit of the abuse thing and her leaving when she discovered he was having an affair. I put up with many years of infrequent abuse, and always stayed. This was never done in front of my children and each time I believed it would be the last. When things started getting really bad I made a plan, well when i found out he was in the midst of another affair, I did not stay to finish my plan or save more money, I left with a couple hundred bucks, 3 kids, 2 dogs, a cat, a car full of stuff. I dont know why that did it for me, I dont know why I ever allowed any of that to go on, who knows since I am not the same person anymore. I do remember thinking I would end up living on a street in a box with my kids if I left him and figured the life they were accustomed to was better then what would be.
Of course things were not that simple it took a protection order..wow you know he was not really scared of that paper..great family, wonderful freinds, and finding the brain I once had. Well 7 wonderful years later, I am doing pretty damn well. I mean there are times things can get a little tight but I am doing better then I did when I was with him. I own a 4 bedroom home, had an ingound pool put in, gave my daughter a car for her recent graduation, but i still remember not too long ago thinking I could never do it with out him.
Okay, so these 4 kids have been locked in a trailer for 3 years, starting when they were at the ages of 11, 10, 9 and 6? How do you keep 4 kids quiet in a trailer for 3 years? I can’t imagine the confinement they must have been in, or the threats they must have been under to keep quiet. It doesn’t take much to get kids wound up and noisy. Not to mention just moving around the trailer. It is just so bizarre that no one in the park every heard movement in the trailer.
I wonder if there was ever question of child abuse/neglect when the oldest child attended school.
Very strange that the mom bails when she finds out the dad is cheating. I think she was a big part of the problem. Glad she got out, regardless. Those bugs were disgusting, BTW.
I hope those kids can recover.
Not strange at all, really. Battered human syndrome has various degrees and stages, depending on the person and the abuse suffered, but in cases in which an abused person decides to get out of a certain situation, there comes a moment of enlightenment. What that moment is obviously varies with each individual. With this woman, it seems as if it was a discovered affair.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not on the side of the woman in this…yet…but we have read and posted enough cases of women and children who stay with their abusers, and there is more than enough documentation out there on how this mental condition happens, that again, I am not about to throw her in the same boat with him. Not yet, anyway.
Wow. I didn’t know you had a “soft” side Morbid. I mean other than the side that is stuck to the “couch”…
I wouldn’t call it a soft side. I just like to see something as clear as possible before I throw a rock at it.
I think the kids were probably just terrified to make any noise and risk a punishment. If a child learns early on that there are dire consequences to making a sound, that lesson stays with him.
I thought I saw a hasp for a padlock on the outside of the door in the video, so I was assuming that he padlocked the door from the outside. Maybe the wife was finally able to escape because he was distracted enough by his affair not to lock up securely, and the wife seized the opportunity to escape.
I’m pretty baffled about the “not allowed to clean” issue. A lot of abusive men start throwing punches when they think the house isn’t clean enough, and want to keep the woman in “her place” at home–scrubbing and cleaning what he thinks of as “his” castle. So I would have thought he’d be keeping her locked up with orders to clean, not vice-versa. I think there probably are some mental issues that kept her from cleaning…or maybe it was just the one issue that she had some control over, and she lashed out her own way by refusing to clean. Although…5 people who never left a trailer in several years? It would have been stale and dank in there, even if she’d been Martha Stewart. Maybe she was thinking that if it got bad enough in there, he’d have to let her open the doors or windows or something, and she could escape?
The really sad thing is that those kids (the older ones, anyway), are probably past the point where they can recover, brainwise, from years of malnutrition, neglect, and any kind of positive stimulation. They’ll be able to learn, yes, but (and I apologize for how horrible this sounds) they’ll be at the lower end of the dull-normal range. Which will just make them sitting ducks for the same kind of predatory relationship when they’re adults. And the cycle continues…
I see what you mean. I don’t know why an affair struck my as strange. There were SO many forms of abuse going on in their garbage cluttered, bug infested living area. I can barely comprehend it. Am glad they are out of there. That trailer should be burnt to the ground after the suffering that family endured there.
ps…His mugshot is too clear. Creeps me out a bit.
Three reasons “mommy” let it go on:
1. She was mentally/physically disabled
2. She came from worse abuse and was really young when she married him.
3. She was in on it.
Also, the trailer was the children’s world. They didnt know anything else. if they were not exposed to other people or TV then they would think that what they were going through was normal. They didn’t have classes at school telling them what emotional/physical/sexual abuse was and they have probably never had anyone ask what it was like at home.
They only knew their trailer, Daddy and Mommy and each other. The older one probably kept the younger children in line so that it would be easier on them. Also, children can be beat into submission the longer it goes on the more submissive they will be.
This story is truely sickening it reminds me of Josef Fritzl. , except the dungeon was clean.
The police chief “says they haven’t ruled out charging the wife, but at this point she does appear to be a victim…He says it appears she, as well as the children, were mentally abused—continously told they were worthless, trash and stupid. He says this situation was all about control.”
http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/georgia_man_makes_first_appearance_in_court_for_imprisoning_family/7120/
Also, please use the correct name should you find occasion to address Mr. Thurmond–he prefers to be called “Daniel.”
They say there could be another victim ?
well I would, if they are living and breathing… not just bones in a suitcase… Come on they have to know that is not normal. The kids hear noises, neighbors chatting, stereo’s blaring, unless the windows were boards they saw kids laughing and playing ? odds that one of the 4 kids knew to get help and I am not saying that they didn’t try - could be no one believed them… where are the grandparents the aunts uncles ?
The mother is reliable as well as the other adults living with her childrens mental emotional physical health. (My kids claim to be homebodies - but they occasionally go out, see & speak to neighbors, answer the doors to the jehouva witnesses, and ride in my car here and there, attend school - but still most kids are involved in something even if it is just cutting grass and shoveling snow lol)
Let me understand did they think a single guy lived there alone ? was there a car ? fast food garbage ? Mail ? utility bills ? lights came on after dark ?
I do understand why there would NOT be no phone or internet service so they can’t talk - bad mouth and call for help.
———
[ haha i just ran this by my 18 yr old son, what if we had thought the house across the street was vacant never seeing people, garbage, mail, lights didnt come on at night... then we found out there was a man a woman and 4 kids living there for last 3 yrs.... he said they would be fucked up kids and most likely vampires ]
Those poor kids. The horrors they must have experienced over the years and I cannot imagine how backward, ignorant and what other social problems they will have as obsticles to overcome.
If you ask me, that family was breeding future Dreamin’ Demon perps! What does anyone think the chances are that the 13 and 14 year old will be upstanding citizens when they are out of the foster system in 3-4 years?
Tell your son thanks, I got a good chuckle out of that.
I’m with Morbid on this. There are women (and some men) who are totally mentally battered and can’t make decisions on they’re own. Some of these men are master manipulators and it can finally break on the stupidest of things.
But, again, because of the children, i’m going to keep an eye on this, because we can’t be sure yet of what was going on….
More:
http://www.wyff4.com/news/17183770/detail.html#-
Homeschooling supplies were never bought. There was a TV that the children watched, mostly cartoons. The windows were covered. Each child had two sets of clothing. All had seen their father rape their mother.
A couple weeks ago, Thurmond told his wife he was leaving for a few days and would be back. She took the opportunity to escape. The details of how she got out of the trailer were not immediately clear. Investigators said that when she got out of the house, she called relatives in North Carolina who helped her get into an emergency shelter.
I wonder where they lived before.
More clarification:
“Police are awaiting the results of psychological tests to decide whether to charge Thurmond’s wife, but [Lavonia police] said she seemed to have slowly fallen under her husband’s control.
She described her marriage as wonderful at first, but she steadily lost control…
Thurmond’s wife finally came forward after he told her he was leaving her for another woman and that he’d return every few days with food…”
My sympathies are starting to swing toward the wife, even though that somehow makes him even scarier.
I wonder about the new woman. Ewwwww
A few more details:
http://www.wyff4.com/news/17183770/detail.html#-
QUOTE: Collins said, “She found body glitter on him and that was a clue to her that he had been with someone else.”
Sorry, that struck me as funny. He’s cheating with someone that shops at Libby Lous.
I stand corrected and humbled. No bullshit on Mom. Another link for you all: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/14/captive.family/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo
Has video of the inside of the trailer…dear God!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/14/captive.family/index.html?iref=topnews#cnnSTCVideo
Home walk though
lol yw
well then that just proves it if they are not his kids, then there is no excuse why some have never been to school they are much too old - she is neglectful and unfit. What a freak! Besides she had family to support her…
no doubt …. yikes guess she is available… men beware of this kooky one
I’ve decided to hold judgement until I can see an image of the wife. If she is pale, thin and malnourished like the kids, then maybe there is some abuse and or mental illness going on. But, if she’s a Bonnie Grape with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, then I’m gonna have to go with her being complicit in this abuse of the kids.
I doubt the new woman had any idea what a scary freak he would turn into, same as his wife said the marriage was wonderful at first
But I still dont buy it 100%,,,,even if they were padlocked in, a trailerpark is a crowded environment with neighbors everywhere and windows that could be kicked out, it seems he worked all day………if the mom really was too far gone, one of the three teenagers should have had strong enough will to take action. and the lack of cleaning makes no sense what did he have her do all day in there??
I know that’s right!! I know that the Battered Woman Syndrome does exist, but it seems like any woman would protect her children, no matter the cause. What got me thinkin it wasn’t right was the fact that she waited til he was cheating on her to do something about it…and like he said in the article: raping her was OK, abusing her was OK, etc. but cheat on her and it’s OVER for you buddy!! Hard to call for sure, but I believe she is a woman scorned…you just never know.