3 Pahrump residents arrested on false imprisonment charges
Three Pahrump residents were arrested after a woman and her adult son said they were held hostage by the trio for about three months, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Sgt. Adam Tippetts said in a videotaped statement that James Thatcher, 28, had tied his 52-year-old mother and 34-year-old brother, both mentally impaired, to a twin-size bed in a home he shared with his girlfriend, 30-year-old Chelsea Demille.
Thatcher held his mother and brother to cash out their Social Security disability checks, Tippetts said.
Officers located the mother and son after responding to a call Friday to a residence next door.
The man could not walk or talk, but his mother told officers the two had been confined to a bedroom with little food and one bottle of water daily since August, Tippetts said.
He said the bedroom where they were tied up had tinted black windows and a security camera to monitor the mother and son.
Both appeared malnourished and dehydrated when officers found them, according to the videotaped announcement. They were transported to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump by ambulance.
Officers searched the property and found a stained mattress with ropes and cables, handcuffs and a security camera.
Thatcher and Demille were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment and elder abuse. Another suspect, 19-year-old Sandra Wombles, was arrested on charges of false imprisonment and elder abuse.
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Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.
