Police have accused a family that housed a mentally disabled woman and her daughters of holding two of the women captive for their disability checks, severely beating them, and leaving them chained to a box spring for days without food.
The mother, Melinda Vinson, was missing Sunday. Police say John Dennee, 47, and his family - knowing they were under investigation - put the woman and her similarly disabled daughter on a bus bound for Florida.Beverly Vinson, 24, was found Friday at the Syracuse bus station and taken to a hospital for examination of bruises, contusions and rope marks on her arms and legs, state police said.
"They were made to stand in a corner for a whole day, and, if they couldn't stand, were forced to kneel with their hands tied behind them," investigator John Wood said. "They weren't allowed to go to the bathroom. They had to go to the bathroom on the floor and were beaten with canes when they did that, beaten in the head to the point where it caused lacerations and drew blood."
Officers arrested Dennee, his 44-year-old wife Kathleen, and their 26-year-old daughter Janet on Friday. They were charged with unlawful imprisonment and were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each.
Melinda Vinson and her three mentally disabled daughters moved to Lewis County from Florida with the Dennees in 1988. Police said they were not sure what connection the two families had.
The group lived mainly off Social Security checks that Vinson and her daughter Beverly received for their disabilities. The two other daughters, who did not receive checks, moved out around 1993 and are living nearby under managed care.
State police say the Dennee family beat Vinson, 52, and Beverly with metal canes, belts and rubber hoses. They were also chained to a box spring and left for up to three days without food.
Investigator Craig Brennan said the abuse escalated in December, when the victims began to act defiantly.
On Wednesday, an anonymous tip sent state troopers and social workers to the Dennee home in Greig, about 60 miles northeast of Syracuse.
The authorities were not allowed in and were told the women had gone fishing. Police returned the next day with a search warrant and discovered the women had been placed on a bus for a one-way trip to Jacksonville, Fla.
"They wanted to get them out of there," Wood said. "Obviously, they didn't want us talking to them because they've been abused."