Calendar may be key to captivity case

A handwritten calendar kept by a 17-year-old girl may be the key to discovering how long three Tucson girls were held captive in their bedrooms, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said Monday.

“On that calendar, there would be marks or notations of significant events that occurred,” Villaseñor said in an interview. “That’s what we’re looking at, and that’s what gives us a time line as to how long this imprisonment occurred.”

Seven days after a Tucson couple were arrested on suspicion of imprisoning three daughters in a dungeonlike environment, Villaseñor discussed the status of the investigation and how police who visited the home recently saw no traces of the siblings.

The oldest girl kept a satchel around her neck, and in it was her calendar and a photograph of singer Enrique Iglesias, Villaseñor said. He said she kept track of changes in routine, such as when new food was served.

Police said the girls were held captive for up to two years in their bedrooms, where they slept, ate and at times went to the bathroom. Surveillance cameras were pointed at their beds, and the girls were subjected to the incessant blare of music focused on their beds 24 hours a day, police said.

Villaseñor said Monday that there is no evidence the video was streamed outside the house or sold for profit.

The family moved into the home in August and previously lived in other Tucson neighborhoods.

Their parents were arrested last Tuesday after the two younger girls, ages 12 and 13, crawled through their bedroom window to escape their stepfather, who was allegedly wielding a knife, officials said. A neighbor responded to their knocks at 4 a.m. and called 911.

The parents were arrested on suspicion of three counts each of kidnapping, child abuse/emotional and child abuse/physical. The stepfather also faces one count of sexual abuse of a minor under age 15.

is not naming the parents to avoid identifying the children.

The younger girls were held in one room and the oldest in another, yet they had not seen each other in months, possibly years, police said. Alarm systems were placed on doors and windows. The air vents and ductwork were covered and towels placed under the bedroom doors, making the girls’ bedrooms virtually soundproof, Villaseñor said.

When police officers went to the house about 21⁄ months ago in response to a robbery call, they saw no traces of three girls, Villaseñor said.

“Even when our officers last week responded to the house, they went into the house and it wasn’t until they got right outside the bedroom door of the child’s room that they could hear the music,” Villaseñor said.

The police chief said detectives were continuing to interview family members and others who came into contact with the family, investigating the conditions in which the girls were kept and the manners in which they were intimidated.

The parents are being held in custody and face arraignment later this week or early next week, officials said.