Police have charged a 31-year-old man Saturday in the case of four elderly men being held in a dungeon-like garage in Houston, Texas, found by police Friday morning.
Walter Renard Jones, who is also a sex offender, has been charged with two counts of injury to the elderly and is being held on $200,000 bail. It is likely Jones will face more charges as the investigation into the case continues.
The four men told police they were forced to live in a garage with one chair, no beds or bathroom, very little food, locked doors, and burglar bars covering any opening to the outside. Jones was collecting and cashing the men’s Social Security and Veteran’s Assistance checks as he was holding them captive.
According to Huffington Post Jones persuaded the men to come to the house by promising them cigarettes, beer, and food. The house is owned by Jones’ grandmother, 83-year-old Essie Mae Scranton, whose whereabouts are unknown.
The victims, ages, 80, 74, 65, and 54 are all in stable condition. Three of the four men were suffering from malnutrition when they were found.
Four women, three appearing to be mentally ill, were also found living in the home but their living conditions seemed normal.
It is not yet known how the long the men were being imprisoned there or if the women are connected to Jones, but police have just begun investigation into the case.
"We're still in the beginning in the investigation,” said Houston Police Department spokeswoman Jodi Silva, CBS reports. “We still need to determine things like where the money was going”