Police probe 'horrific' US case of disabled captives

PHILADELPHIA: Police are investigating a US woman charged with locking four mentally challenged adults in a filthy Philadelphia cellar in order to collect their social security checks.

Philadelphia police said Monday that Linda Ann Weston, 51, had identification records of as many as 50 people when she was arrested Sunday, suggesting she might have defrauded dozens of people in several states.

She, her boyfriend Gregory Thomas, 47, and Eddie Wright, 49, who police say is homeless, were arrested Sunday and charged with keeping three men and a woman -- aged 29 to 40 -- locked in a squalid basement.

Police found the captives on Saturday in a basement space with a dirt floor and some makeshift beds. They were undernourished and had bed sores, and at least one of the men was chained to a water heater, police said.

"You can't get any lower than how they preyed on these people," Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Ray Evers said.