'She was trapped there': Woman kept starved sister-in-law locked in basement for years, police say

A 48-year-old pistillate successful Michigan is accused of severely abusing her sister-in-law, allegedly imprisoning the 58-year-old successful a locked basement against her volition for years portion providing hardly capable nutrient and h2o to survive.

Tasha Beamon was taken into custody past week and charged with 1 number each of unlawful imprisonment and first-degree maltreatment of a susceptible adult, tribunal records show.

The probe into Beamon began erstwhile officers with the Saginaw Police Department responded to a location successful the 1600 artifact of Gilbert Street astatine astir 2 p.m. connected March 15 regarding a telephone astir a location being vandalized, section CBS affiliate WNEM reported. The caller told the dispatcher that a pistillate had conscionable breached 1 of the windows of their location and was inactive extracurricular the residence.

When officers arrived, they recovered a 58-year-old pistillate who said she had conscionable escaped from a adjacent location wherever she had been held against her volition for astir 2 years, according to reports from WNEM and MLive. The pistillate told constabulary she broke the model truthful idiosyncratic would telephone for help.

"She told officers she was not fed precise often and that she didn't person immoderate entree to water," Saginaw Police Detective Sgt. Jeff Doud said, according to a report from MLive.

Authorities said the pistillate identified Beamon — her sister-in-law and caregiver — arsenic the idiosyncratic who confined her successful the basement since astir 2024. The unfortunate said she had been forced to enactment connected a mattress with a vigor perpetually blaring nearby, according to MLive.

"Usually, idiosyncratic was there," Doud said. "She didn't judge anyone was location astatine the time, truthful she was capable to unit a doorway unfastened and escape."

A neighbor, Colton Ehlow, told section ABC affiliate WJRT helium was startled to find the pistillate wrong his location aft she shattered his model with a metallic pipe.

"She asks maine to telephone the cops astatine first, which was weird. But that was the archetypal happening she said to me: Call the cops," Ehlow said.

Ehlow described the pistillate arsenic highly frail.

"I thought she was similar 78. She was this tall, tegument and bones," helium said.

He besides spoke astir however the basement was acceptable up.

"It was connected the extracurricular door, truthful you can't get successful from it," Ehlow said. "You can't unlock it from the inside, truthful that's what clued them to judge her that she was trapped there."

Investigators who searched Beamon's location reportedly recovered grounds accordant with the woman's account, including a locked basement door, a mattress, and containers of urine. Authorities besides determined the unfortunate had small to nary entree to food, water, a bathroom, oregon a shower.

Emergency responders transported the pistillate to a hospital, wherever unit determined she was suffering from terrible malnourishment and could dice if released, prosecutors alleged, according to MLive.

Beamon aboriginal admitted to keeping the pistillate successful her location and not allowing her to leave, though she claimed the unfortunate stayed successful an upstairs chamber — a connection that was reportedly contradicted by grounds astatine the scene.

Authorities judge Beamon whitethorn person been motivated by fiscal gain, alleging she kept the pistillate confined successful bid to cod her disablement payments, Doud said.

Beamon is presently being held astatine the Saginaw County Jail, wherever a justice acceptable her enslaved astatine $100,000. She is scheduled to marque her adjacent quality successful tribunal connected April 20.