r/ForCuriousSouls

Darla was 25, an IRS analyst in Little Rock known for never missing a shift without calling ahead. Her 2-year-old daughter Leslie was found alone in the apartment the next morning. Ex-husband Barry Harper spent the following week with bandaged hands remodeling his bathroom. He was never charged. source

Teekah was a Black and Native American girl, approximately 3 feet tall and 35 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and pierced ears. She was wearing a green Tweety Bird sweatshirt, white sweatpants, and red, white, and black Air Jordan shoes. Her sisters described her as a “mature” toddler who never left her mother’s side. She slept with her mother every night. source

Warning: This post goes into detail of abuse and torture, including sexual abuse.

Between August 13th 2015 and June 30th 2016, a 22-year-old autistic woman was kept prisoner by 5 members of a family in Amite, Louisiana. The woman, referred to as ‘’Dee’’ (as her identity has been kept private) was meant to move in with the family after her mother passed away. It has been reported that the family were distant relatives to Dee. Dee was eventually housed in a cage built out of chicken wire and was not allowed to leave unless it was to do chores. The family members: Raylaine Knope (43), her husband Terry J. Knope II, her daughter and son Bridget and Jody and Terry's daughter Taylor forced Dee into a campaign of abuse.

Raylaine would shoot Dee with a BB gun, hold her underwater in a hot tub continuously, burn her hand with a flame, steal her social security payments ($8,800 in total) as well as confiscating her phone and laptop so she couldn’t contact anyone. They would force her to do work so that she could earn food. Bridget would hit Dee over the head with a wooden board and would hold her arm down to be burnt with a lighter as ‘punishment’. She was also forced to eat her mother’s ashes mixed with milk. This caused Dee to throw up which the family found entertaining.

Dee would be forced to take part in sexual acts including an act with a jalapeno. The family had planned on forcing Dee to be a sex worker. Terry admitted that he would reportedly make Dee clean up a spill on the floor with her tongue as well as smashing her hand with a hammer. He and Jody also threw a bucket of human urine and feces over her. She would be called slurs and told that she deserved to die. She would be warned if she ever tried to escape, she would be shot and killed. She would be choked, kicked and had food cans thrown at her repeatedly.

She was forced to consume dog feces on bread as well as methamphetamine and painkillers. The family would threaten to inform the police that she was taking drugs if she ever escaped. Any wounds that the family made on Dee would be glued back together as they wouldn’t take her to a hospital. A man who lived in a nearby trailer with his girlfriend and baby suspected something was not right and reported the suspects to the police. When she was eventually found, she was covered in insect bites and was malnourished. Dee was found by investigators and sent to hospital.

In 2019, Raylaine would be sentenced to 28 years in prison. Bridget was sent to 4 years in prison. Jody was sentenced to 10 years. Terry was sentenced to 28 years. Taylor was given probation.

Further Reading: https://www.wafb.com/2019/10/20/family-members-sentenced-after-autistic-woman-locked-backyard-cage-allegedly-forced-eat-cremation-ashes/

Hussein Dawabsheh, the grandfather, was taunted by Jewish settlers outside the court proceedings who were supportive of the defendant. They chanted in Arabic "Where's Ali? There's no Ali. Ali is burned. On the fire. Ali is on the grill" and "Where is Ali? Where is Riham? Where is Saad? It's too bad Ahmed didn't burn as well." Police and court officials present did not interfere. Israeli Arab parliamentarian Ahmad Tibi put up as video

More info : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duma_arson_attack

Stephanie Sempell, 15, left Boca Raton in March 1976 for Key West with an unidentified male companion. Her bones were found nine months later with a knotted T-shirt containing her hair tangled inside the knot. source

The man accused of murdering his ex-cop girlfriend is in fresh trouble behind bars after allegedly attacking two inmates for defying his order to have sex with each other.

He also allegedly wanted one of the two men to kill the other.

It is understood that the assault happened at Knysna prison where Bevan van Druten is being held for the murder of Anneke "Nicky" van Heerden.

Van Druten, a well-known driftwood artist in the Garden Route, is alleged to have been riled up after an inmate refused to carry out an act against another prisoner.

Though no details of what led to the incident were disclosed, NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said he has now also been charged with two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Van Druten, 53, briefly appeared in court on Wednesday after waiting for a bed at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital.

"His case was postponed until May 7 for bed placement at Valkenberg," Ntabazalila said.

"He has also appeared at Knysna Magistrate’s Court on other charges allegedly committed while in prison.

"These charges have been added to the murder charges in Plettenberg Bay."

Correctional Services spokesperson Candice van Reenen said the altercation occurred on February 22.

"The three inmates were involved in a physical altercation," she said.

"As a result, all parties opened assault cases with the police, who attended to the incident and registered the matters.

"The inmates were also assessed at the centre's healthcare facility for any injuries sustained.

"The individuals involved have since been separated to ensure stability and safety within the facility.

"The department continues to monitor the situation and will cooperate fully with all investigative processes."

Van Druten was arrested the day after Van Heerden’s brutalised body was found in Plettenberg Bay on January 18.

The 54-year-old former police detective and Van Druten were in a romantic relationship at the time of the incident.

Van Druten previously abandoned his bid for bail.

During that appearance, he told magistrate Stephan Lourens that he saw himself as the Archangel Michael and that Van Heerden was Jesus Christ.

The court then ordered Van Druten to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

This is to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.

IOL previously reported that Van Druten allegedly told a friend during a phone call that “demonic stuff” was happening to him and that “strange things” were occurring inside the Knysna prison where he is being held.

According to the man who said Van Druten had phoned him from prison, the call was "strange".

IOL also reported he had been blocked from attending the Summer Solstice Festival because of what organisers described as his “aggressive behaviour”.

WhatsApp messages seen by IOL showed organisers informing Van Druten in November last year that he was not allowed to attend the event.

The Summer Solstice Festival is an annual gathering held in December at a Garden Route well-being sanctuary.

After Van Druten’s arrest, several women came forward claiming they had previously sought protection orders against him.

Those claims were exclusively reported by IOL and are separate from the murder case.

An almost 11-minute voice note believed to have been recorded by Van Heerden shortly before her death was also widely circulated.

“Bevan van Druten is no longer Bevan van Druten. He is now Jonah, like the man spat out by the whale … the Bible was written in code.

“You need to listen to me. I felt the fear of Jesus Christ. Please listen to me. I gave myself the name Alaska. It comes out of the f---- Bible,” she said.

A man can then be heard laughing in the background, with Van Heerden adding: “This mad man laughing next to me is Bevan van Druten.”

In summer 2000, Shamsa was in the United Kingdom on holiday with her extended family residing at their Longcross estate near Chobham in Surrey. In an attempt to seek a better future for herself and escape restrictions on her life in Dubai, she used the opportunity to flee from her family in mid July 2000. After her escape, she stayed with friends for a few weeks in a London flat before being found by her family. In August 2000, Shamsa was forcibly picked up by what she describes as four Arab men carrying guns from the streets of Cambridge while walking out of a bar and taken back to Dubai on a private jet. In March 2001, after having been contacted by a British solicitor who had spoken to Shamsa, Cambridgeshire police began investigating the incident. During inquiries, people close to Shamsa in the United Kingdom substantiated her story of escape, and the matter was raised in Parliament; the police investigation stalled, however, which was alleged at the time as being due to denial of access to her by Dubai authorities and non-cooperation of the Longcross estate staff. According to the Foreign office, Sheikh Mohammed himself tried to intervene with the British government over the police investigation.

In March 2018, Shamsa's sister Latifa also attempted to escape and was also forcibly recaptured and brought back to Dubai. Her video-statement corroborating story of Shamsa's attempted escape, her own abuse and their imprisonment in a family-owned compound brought the almost two decades old incident back into media focus, as has a BBC Panaroma documentary of 16 February 2021 about Latifa's plight. Appeals by various human rights groups and campaigners seeking release of the two sisters made a United Nations special rapporteur to seek official response from the United Arab Emirates as well. A few months later in 2019, Princess Haya had to leave Dubai with her children reportedly due to feeling threatened after inquiring about the sisters on her own.

In December 2018, the police investigation on Shamsa's disappearance was reopened after testimony of Shamsa's cousin Marcus Essabri (then Fatima Essabri) living in the UK, and their mutual correspondence before her disappearance made her wishes for freedom apparent. Essabri called for the release of both Shamsa and Latifa from Dubai and Sheikh Mohammed's prison.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamsa_bint_Mohammed_Al_Maktoum