TRAGEDY

Three Daughters Held Captive

By mother and stepfather for two years.

Three girls, ages 12, 13 and 17, were held captive in Tucson in squalid conditions for up to two years by their mother and stepfather, according to police. The two youngest girls escaped the house through a window and notified a neighbor after the stepfather attempted a knife attack. Police then discovered the 17-year-old locked in the bedroom. The stepfather, Fernando Richter, 34, and the mother Sophia Richter, 32, are charged with three counts of kidnapping and emotional and physical abuse. Fernando is also charged with sexual abuse. The girls allegedly lived a terrifying life—they were placed under 24-hour surveillance, soundproof rooms with loud music constantly played, and they were found malnourished and filthy.