Escape from a House of Horror l 20/20 l PART 1 

her being 17 but sounded like an 8 year old really messes with my mind about the life she grow up with

She went from sounding like a little child to a strong woman. Tears. Shes a hero 😭

this case is the perfect example of “every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child”

The fact that Jordan, a teenage girl who had almost no knowledge of the outside world and was deeply terrified of her parents finding her or the police turning her away, she actually tried to prepare herself in order to save her siblings by collecting the envelope, recording the abuse, and explaining everything to police. I’m so glad the police took her seriously and helped these kids, but Jordan is a true heroic young woman. I’m so happy she’s living a better life and has a successful career.

I can't believe she's 17 at this time.. she sounds like a little girl,desperate to get help. Such a brave soul!

One thing about her that really stands out is how unbelievably polite and respectful she is during her 911 call. She's so sweet.

She's so sweet. Diane offers her a tissue and she says "Thank you so much" as if that small act of kindness is still alien to her. Thank God she had the amazing courage to get out. ETA: confused Diane Sawyer with Barbara Walters lmao

There is no way I could possibly understand why any parent would do this to their children.. It breaks my heart so much that they went through this.

The amount of information she didn’t know like, how to read street signs, sidewalks, medication, how to speak to people, it’s baffling. Yet she still managed to do all of that. The bravest girl ever. 😭

Crazy how she was 17 but sounded 10. How that isolation emotionally stunted her.

My heart breaks for what her & her sisters must have gone through, but huge respect for the level of bravery she showed by coming forward and telling her story like this.

It was so horrible when dispatcher didn't confirm that information was received. I hate that silence.

It’s so scary to think about how many people are locked away in homes who we may never find out about. It’s terrifying.

The fact that she did not even sound 17 on the phone shows how sheltered from the world she really was. The last 4 years have really helped her.

I never get sick of watching this footage. The innocence in her voice and the confusion about questions. Then, a beautiful young lady is on the couch with the ABC. She gets emotional and so do I. Jordan, you are the definition of a hero.

These poor babies. 17, probably never been to school, never left the house, house is disgusting, no baths. My heart breaks for these kids. Thank god Jordan took the risk to help herself and her siblings. Real hero. She even has older siblings between the ages of 20-29 and none of them could help or tried. Absolute angel.

She was in such trauma and isolation that her speech wasn’t able to develop fully at 21, truly heartbreaking.

The fact that she was 17 years old and was so childlike from being so sheltered from the world broke my heart

I fully sympathize with and understand Jordan as a violent father in North Korea and as a person who risked his life to South Korea to find freedom and escape dictatorship and tyranny. My father was a Navy officer who often beat four brothers and my mother, including me. When I was young, I was forced to perform in the card section of the system propaganda, and if we made a mistake during practice, we were chained like Jordan and beaten severely by soldiers. I live in Siheung, South Korea (near Seoul), and here in South Korea, it is heaven. I even feel guilty because I feel like I'm living too rich in South Korea. Like Jordan, I secretly watched South Korean videos in North Korea and opened my eyes to the outside world, and that's when I decided to defect. When I was watching the drama, I saw South Korea so nice that I thought, "Why am I living here like this?" Unfortunately, however, I still left my two brothers in the north, and my mother was shot dead by Chinese soldiers while crossing the Yalu River. Please don't let Jordan's brothers suffer from the sadness of family dissolution like me. Like Jordan, when I walked on the streets of Seoul for the first time in South Korea, I felt that this was heaven. I hope that the deification and brainwashing of Kim Il-sung will be lifted and that freedom will be settled in North Korea. North Korea is the California horror house and is expanded to the national level. There could be mistranslation, so I will write down it with Korean at the bottom. Thank you for reading. 저는 북한에서 폭력적인 아버지와 독재와 폭정을 피해 자유를 찾아 목숨을 걸고 남한에 온 사람으로서 Jordan을 전적으로 공감하고 이해합니다. 아버지는 해군 군관으로 저를 포함한 4명의 형제와 어머니를 자주 구타했습니다. 제가 어렸을 때 체제선전의 카드섹션공연에 강제동원 되었는데, 연습도중 우리가 실수하면 Jordan처럼 쇠사슬에 묶여 군인들에게 심한 구타를 당했습니다. 저는 헌재 대한민국 시흥(서울 근교)에 살고 있고, 이곳 남한은 천국입니다. 남한에서 너무 부유하게 살고 있는 것 같아 죄책감마저 듭니다. 저의 여동생은 같이 탈북하는도중에 중국에서 잡혀서 다시 북송되었습니다. 아마도 그녀는 정치범수용소로 끌려가거나 총살당했을것입니다. 저도 Jordan처럼 북한에서 몰래 남한 영상을 보고 외부에 눈을 떴고, 그때 탈북을 결심했습니다. 드라마를 볼 때 남한이 너무 좋은 것을 봤는데 '내가 왜 여기서 이렇게 살고 있을까'라는 생각이 들었습니다 하지만 안타깝게도 저는 아직도 두 동생을 북쪽에 두고 왔고 어머니는 압록강을 건너던 중 중국군이 쏜 총에 맞아 돌아가셨습니다. 부디 저처럼 Jordan의 형제들이 가정해체의 슬픔을 겪는일이 없길 바랍니다. 저도 Jordan처럼 남한에서 처음으로 서울의 거리를 걸었을 때 이곳이 천국이라는 것을 느꼈습니다. 북한에서도 김일성 신격화와 세뇌가 풀리고 자유가 정착되기를 바랍니다. 북한은 California horror house가 국가단위로 확장된것입니다. 오역이 있을수있어 밑에 조선어로도 써놓겠습니다. 읽어주셔서 감사합니다. 🇰🇷 🇰🇵

They used the internet at times and saw cops and real shows so he had an inkling of reality and Jordan is so beyond gifted. After being captive from day 1 of birth. She’s so brave. I just wanna hug her. I hope she doing okay now. I can only imagine having to adjust to the world

You can hear how young she sounds. She's 17 but her speech is like that of a 7 year old. Bless her heart. I'm glad she had a happy ending.

I just want to give her a hug. She saved every one of her siblings lives that night. She’s a hero

She really proves that no matter how bad you think your life is, there are always people with hard/worse ones that are pushing through, and you should too Edit: I’m not tryna say she has a worse life or anything just that she survived near death experiences by perseverance.

She saved all her siblings. She is so brave!

Her apologizing just broke me. She had never knew and talked to anyone depart from her torture.

You can tell from the phone call, that she's trying as hard as possible to be clear, to make sure she's heard properly. It's like when you get that one opportunity

“Have you seen the gun?” “No, but they’ve talked about it” That made my heart sink. The idea that these people have “talked about” a gun with their own kids is absolutely disgusting.

My heart breaks for them. Makes me sick that the parents could do that to them. But I am so glad that they are rescued!!!

You can hear the innocence in her voice. She sounds so child like for a 17 year old. The bravery it must have taken is amazing.

The fact that she's not the eldest but still she was so brave to do this.

Watching her struggle to talk about this broke my heart

i love how she made sure the operater heard EVERYTHING like shes like "did u get that?" she made sure her parents were gone for good

And the fact that she never talked to anyone, to strangers before, but still she was brave enough to save her siblings. I salute you Ma'am.

Jordan sounded about 8 years old in the 9-1-1 call. Even in the interview she sounds very young. The kids were so isolated you would think they would get culture shock when they finally got out. Oh my heart breaks.

This young woman is really brave, not just because of what she did to save her siblings but also that she went so far out of any personal comfort zone into a world she never knew. In addition that she is as sweet natured as she is makes her incredibly wonderful

Despite how isolated her parents made her, she still grew up smart and brave and it's just amazing to me she managed to pull herself and her siblings out of this situation.

"Did you hear me?" Absolutely broke my heart. Thats all abused children want, to be heard and cared for. All my love and strength to everybody whose gone through that or is going through it. May you find the strength to never hurt people as they've hurt you

History repeating itself with 8 passengers now...when will lessons actually be learnt instead of just spoken about as a concept 😞 what an amazing young lady who deserves the world and more 😞❤️

Jordan is so strong. She gave everything to save her sisters. She is a really good person❤️

She's so panicked and overwhelmed with adrenaline that she's struggling to breathe and trying to collect her thoughts while she's talking to the operator and the cop. And just the fact that she's apologizing for "talking too much" in a situation where you HAVE to tell every single detail and keep talking is so revealing of how she's been treated.

Wow her speech improvement from the date of the call to this interview is absolutely insane, shows how smart this girl really is and what abuse can do to someone. Also look how beautiful she is, doesn’t even look like the same girl from the video of her talking with the officer.

Growing up in a horror abusive evil parents, from a early age's stood up in hellish realm. A heart ♥ containing a responsibility of saving her little siblings. She is a truth hero, Amazing how beautiful she is. God truly is good!

I've heard about this in the media obviously but when I watched this young woman telling her story and listened to the 911 call I was crying my eyes out. It is beyond belief that any parent can treat their own children like this.

She wasn’t experienced in speaking with strangers or on a phone, but she was clear, confident, and intentional. I mean, thinking to grab an envelope for the address? Genius

The fact that she doesn’t know her address, but was smart enough to grab a piece of mail is amazing.

It’s absolutely incredible and heartbreaking that Jordan had the courage and the bravery to fight for herself and her siblings, being raised in a home like that their whole lives. The fight that that girl has in her soul is innate, I wouldn’t like to imagine if she wasn’t born with the character she was.

I’m so proud of this young woman. 😢 I’m so sorry for what her and her siblings had to go through. I truly pray god heals their minds and souls

The fact that she rescued her entire family all by herself (possibly with siblings) is pretty crazy to imagine. Mad respect to her

She sounded like a 6 year old. Just heartbreaking what they went through. What a brave woman.

She’s so brave for doing what she did, she saved her siblings and she should be so proud of that

She is incredible. I can't even fathom how brave she is to face all this without any knowledge of the world outside.

when she said on the phone that she was 17 i started crying because I thought she was around 10 based off of how little she knew and the way she spoke. that shows how horrible her childhood really was

to the very few people making fun of her voice, she didn’t go to school. She was locked in a home not allowed to go out often. My grandma lived in one of these houses so we are so grateful. Because of her bravery, I exist.

I don't understand how anybody could abuse a child like this much less ones own flesh and blood. Poor girl. I hope she can recover from this trauma

I just want to hug and hold her forever and protect her. This poor baby. I'm crying so hard. She deserves the world for what she did. Please world let her have it.

She sounded so grown up and so mature and yet so childlike and so innocent.

God, that poor kid. She’s still so traumatized. Listening to her 911 call is like listening to a small kid try to call 911. They stunted these poor kids’ growth-physically, emotionally, mentally. She was so brave, all just trying to save her siblings.

one middle child with big bravery. glad she was able to make this crucial move. the best of luck to her and her 14 siblings.

Those emergency operators are unsung heroes Patient Speak clearly Amazing workers So much respect

They literally set her development back years. It's so damn sad and I'm just grateful to see how brave she was. This couldn't have been easy

One of the bravest things a person can do. I cant even begin to imagine the fear and adrenaline she was going through in that moment. Absolutely terrifying and makes my heartbeat faster just imaging myself in her shoes. What an amazing person

Can't believe how cruel some people are. Their own children. They had it worst than mine

She’s so well mannered even after all that horror.

the amount of mental strength and courage needed to be the sole rescuer in the family is incredible. Jordan is a hero

It's amazing how wonderful of a person she became despite her parents and upbringing

I’m so proud of her, for risking her life to have her siblings.

To see her with her hair, nails and makeup done makes me so happy. She deserves to enjoy all pretty things and comforts in life ♥️ ugh poor kids

The way she said sorry when she couldn’t say anything because she was too scared. I feel so bad for her siblings and Jordan. I hope there aren’t any more families like this, torturing their own children. ❤❤❤

It’s so amazing how she’s able to openly talk about it.

She's so brave to save her siblings. It's appalling how the parents only serve 25 years.

The fact that she referred to the policeman as a ‘stranger’ instead of a ‘cop’ screams innocence and I cannot believe she had the prowess and instinct to carryover a conversation with the brass without ever having done so before- truly courageous!

It's so sad. You can see the pain and trauma she has gone through. I hope her and her siblings are recovering from this.

What a strong young woman. She's incredible.

Jordan Turpin is such a hero. For saving herself and her Brothers and Sisters.

She had such a peculiar cadence to her voice and strange childish delivery. She's lost a lot of that 4 yrs later, but it's still somehow stunted. Poor girl, this world is scary enough to those who know it. Let alone to her for the first time.

I made conversation with a young female at the grocery store yesterday. When I got in my car it clicked and I knew it was Jordan. She seemed to be doing well acclimating to life and was such a lovely young woman.

the bravery it took her to escape, is so amazing!! God be with her and protect them all. 🙏

For someone who’s been so isolated she sounded so mature and naturally intelligent on the phone knowing subconsciously exactly what she needed to do and say to the police to get the help she needed

Imagine, being abused so much, and sheltered so much that you don’t even know your house number, your address, anything about talking on the phone, or anything. You could hear in her voice how much she was terrified

She is so sweet. Thank God she is okay

I think what gets to me most about this is that as much as she personally suffered it was more about saving her siblings to her. Like that was what gave her the courage and motivation to escape, not her own suffering but that of others. It’s truly amazing how someone raised in those conditions could have such a huge heart. I don’t wanna sound too sappy but to me she is one of the most beautiful human beings from the inside out and the absolute definition of a hero. Instead of breaking her spirit the parents unknowingly created their own kryptonite and you love to see it! 👏🏻

I just wanna say hands down to this kid. She saved her family. Her brothers and sisters and self. She is soooooo incredibly brave.

This is so sad. That poor girl. And being 17 and not knowing you're supposed to walk on the footpath not the road?! Never talking on a phone before that 911 call.. not even knowing her address because she's never been outside? Those parents were beyond neglectful like there's no word to describe it. I'm so glad she had the strength to do what she did that night.. 💖

every time someone is asked to recount a story, it is retraumatizing. In the 911 call she seemed so calm and collective, talking clearly, but you can see the emotion and anxiety that was present when she retells the story. Brave young woman. I'm so sorry this ever happened to her and her siblings.

What a brave girl ?? How can parents who are supposed to love and care for their children do these awful things/

The fact that at 17, she had siblings that ranged to 29 and she alone had the bravery to save them all. 🥺 True hero right there. I cannot imagine the trauma they all experienced from abusive and negligent parents. This is something that’s gonna mess them up for the rest of their lives and it’s so sad! Some people should not be parents.

you can tell how she was trying so so hard to tell the dispatchers very clearly to make sure they heard every word she said

I found out about this case today. When she was on the phone talking to the operator, i guessed she was 11 to 12 yo. And when i saw her talking to the deputy i thought she was so very very brave! She saved her and her sibling. A hero i will not forget.

I hope someone is genuinely taking good care of these girls. It’s scary because they’re still susceptible to abuse from other people. I really hope they’re all doing ok and are with someone who is looking out for them and teaching them the skills they need to protect themselves out here. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼😔

It's scary to think there are probably more people out there like this.

Watching this and hearing Jordans voice on the phone call made me cry . Im so proud of you Jordan ❤

She is so brave! God bless those children. It makes me sick the kind of people that would do this to innocent children.

This woman. The strength. I can’t believe how strong she is.

The way she talks hurts me. She is still traumatized. I wish her and her siblings get all the help and love they need.

You can just hear all those years of trauma in her voice 😔

This is horrifying, you can see the effects of trauma on her the way she speaks, how sad and tragic. Why do evil parents like that exist??

I'm so thankful she took that risk and saved herself. When she was 17 she sounded like she was 9. Now at 21, she sounds like she's 16. She's on the right track and have faith Jordan and Jennifer will be okay. I just hope the younger ones are doing okay.

She didn’t know what a corner was when she escaped. And yet she was so incredibly brave. That’s like being lost on mars and still having the fortitude to risk yourself for those you love.

This is one of the most incredible tragic & heroic stories I've ever heard.

Such a strong hearted child, may she heal and find happiness.