Thurmond Held Family Captive

Police say for the past three years, the wife and children of Raymond Daniel Thurmond lived in fear and squalor; held captive in a single-wide trailer where they were literally not allowed to see the light of day.

This morning, the 36-year old Thurmond was arrested when he showed up for work at the Fieldale Processing Plant on Highway 145 in Stephens County.

He is charged with one count of rape, four counts of first degree child abuse, and five counts of false imprisonment.

Neighbors in the Beaver Dam trailer park in Lavonia where the family lived said they had no idea anyone occupied the single wide – one of dozens of mobile homes in a park where units sit within feet of each other.

“During her two-week investigation, Lt. Missy Collins discovered there was an adult female and four under-age children living there. They had been there since 2005 and no one knew it,” Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle explained. “The family has been held hostage by Thurmond since they moved in.”

Carlisle said Thurmond would not allow his wife or children to leave the house or go outside except for on one occasion when he let them travel to North Carolina for Easter.

“But even then, they were only allowed to stay for two hours and had to return home,” Chief Carlisle said.

Mrs. Thurmond, whose first name is being withheld, told investigators she was repeatedly raped by her husband.

Only one of the children, who are ages 14, 13, 12, and 9, had been to school.

“The 14-year old had been allowed to go school until second grade,” Chief Carlisle said.

“The wife told investigators she was home schooling the children, but we found no evidence of that in the home. Additionally, the children were not registered in Franklin County as being home schooled,” Carlisle said.

Investigators found no food in the house and all four children were undernourished and underweight. 

“Their weight is not consistent with their height and age. They were deprived of food and had also gone without medical attention for a long period of time. In fact, one of the children has a serious medical condition that has gone untreated,” Carlisle said.

Photos taken at the scene by investigators and shown to this reporter revealed the family was living in unimaginable filth.

The photos showed thousands of roaches and roach dirt covered every part of every room. They crawled in and out of drawers, cupboards, and furniture.

Old pizza boxes were stacked in one corner of the living room with dozens of empty plastic soda bottles strewn about on the floor.

In the kitchen, counters were covered in stacks of dirty dishes and old empty cans of food. Bags of garbage were strewn about the house, mixed in with dirty clothes and other trash.

Investigators say the wife told them she was not allowed to clean.

Chief Carlisle said the family was discovered when the wife was finally able to leave the house and call for help.

“Mr. Thurmond decided he needed to carry on an extra marital affair. When he did that, his wife escaped and took the children with her,” he said. 

All are now in protective custody at an undisclosed location. 

The children are being evaluated and their medical needs treated. 

“I want to commend Lt. Collins for her diligent work on this case,” Chief Carlisle said. “She put together an outstanding case file that will likely result in other charges being filed against Thurmond,” he concluded.

Chief Carlisle also expressed his appreciation to the Stephens County Sheriff’s office for their cooperation in apprehending Thurmond.

A bond hearing has not been set as of press time.

More on Thurmond Case

No one living around the Thurmond mobile home ever suspected an entire family was inside, but according to management records, they were listed on the lease.

The Thurmonds moved in to the Beaver Creek Community mobile home park in August, 2005. At the time, the couple both signed the lease.

"I wasn't here then, but on the lease he (Thurmond) said he had a wife and four children," noted Alma Medina, Beaver Creek property manager. "But we never saw his wife, we never saw his kids out playing or her taking out the crash, you know, like normal people. The only person we ever saw was him," she said.

Medina said Thurmond talked often about his family. So, from time to time she would ask him why she never saw them around.

"He would say that his wife's mother or father was very ill in North Carolina and they were all up there staying with them," she said.

Despite the fact that he was always late on his rent, Medina said she never had a reason to suspect anything was wrong.

"He always caught his rent up in full. Whenever he came into the office he would be pleasant, calling me 'Miss Alma'," she said. "He was quiet and kept to himself. We never had any reports of trouble or loud noises coming from his unit," Medina recalled.

In fact, Thurmond has no police record, according to Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle. "Not even a parking ticket," he said.

Under Georgia law, Medina is not allowed to enter a unit unless asked to do so by the occupant. The only exception would be if management suspects illegal activity is taking place. So she never knew what was really taking place inside Thurmond's trailer until Tuesday.

"He was quiet and kept to himself. We never had any reports of trouble or loud noises coming from his unit," Medina recalled. "So I had no reason to go in there."

Even when the plumbing in the kitchen sink broke, no one called maintenance to fix it. "The floor in the kitchen has rotted away under the vinyl flooring," explained Beaver Creek maintenance man Roger Dutton. "The entire floor has to be replaced."

Dutton, who has worked at Beaver Creek for three years and in construction in the past, said he never saw anything like it. "When I walked into the trailer, the stench was unbearable. There was trash and roaches everywhere. The refrigerator had food in it, but it was rotted left overs from fast food places, like left over french fries," he said.

A pest control company is coming to fog the four-bedroom trailer, according to Medina, but Dutton doesn't think that will totally rid it of bugs. "I'm going to have to gut the place to get at all the bugs in the walls and totally rebuild it," he said.

No Bond for Thurmond

No bond for the Lavonia man accused of holding his family prisoner for three years.

Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Lindsey Tise denied bond for the 36-year old Raymond Daniel Thurmond.

The 36-year thurmond remains in the Franklin County Detention Center in Carnesville.

So far, it’s not clear if he has obtained an attorney.  When he does, it’s likely that attorney will request a bond hearing.

Thurmond was arrested early Tuesday and charged with one count of rape, four counts of first-degree child abuse, and five counts of false imprisonment.

Police say Thurmond’s wife and children were subjected to years of abuse, neglect, and starvation – kept as prisoners in their beaver creek mobile home – not allowed to go outside or have any contact with the outside world.

Authorities say the family was living in a garbage-filled, roach-infested trailer.

None of the four children, ages 9, 11, 13, and 14 had attended school.  They were severely malnourished, and suffered from various medical conditions.

Thurmond’s wife was able to escape and call for help when Thurmond told her he was leaving her for another woman but would return every couple of days with food.