When the first police officer arrived, she immediately showed him the phone, full of photos and videos she took of herself and her siblings to prove the abuse.

Her bold getaway in January 2018 led to the discovery of her siblings and uncovered what Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin described as one of the "worst, most aggravated child abuse cases" he has ever seen.

A few of the adults were so malnourished, they looked like young teenagers.

That morning, Jordan sat in the back of a police car and watched as her parents, David and Louise Turpin, were arrested.

Their first glimpses of freedom

When police arrived at the Turpin home and declared they were conducting a welfare check, it didn't take long for them to recognize the magnitude of the children's horrifying reality.

They discovered a home reeking of human excrement, decaying garbage, and molding food, with every surface covered in trash, ABC News reported in the 20/20 program titled, "Escape From A House Of Horror." The children were found quietly sitting in filthy beds, limp, frail, caked in dirt, their arms covered in bruises.

One child was found with his wrist and ankle chained to the bedpost; he had been in that state for weeks.

One preteen's arm was the size of a 4.5 month old baby, according to ABC.

The children had limited language skills and knew little about the outside world.

Besides suffering severe caloric malnutrition associated with muscle wasting, several had cognitive impairment and "neuropathy, which is nerve damage, as a result of this extreme and prolonged physical abuse," Hestrin said.

The first thing Jennifer Turpin did to celebrate was dance in the middle of her hospital room.

"Music was playing, I got up," Jennifer, now 33, told Sawyer.

"After that whole day happened, I kept having nightmares that she was killing me."

Free, but still neglected

Despite overcoming a life many could not even begin to imagine, the Turpin children aren't completely safe yet.

ABC reported that a few of the Turpin children were placed with a foster family that was arrested and charged with abusing multiple children in their care, including at least one Turpin child.

Another Turpin child who is now an adult was placed in a home where her foster parent told her she understood why her parents would chain her up.

"They felt betrayed," Melissa Donaldson, the Director of Victim Services in Riverside County, told the show.

You would think that this is the time to really get it together and do everything we can, and we didn't do it that way," she continued.

At times, some of the Turpin children didn't have access to housing, and relied on couch surfing for shelter, Donaldson said, adding that they also went to churches to get food.

"I don't really have a way to get food right now," Jordan said.