1
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[News anchor] Officials in the 


2
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia

3
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have taken custody of a 13 year old girl,

4
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who they say, was kept in such isolation
by her parents,

5
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that she never even learned to talk.

6
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The girl still wore diapers,

7
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and was uttering infantile noises,

8
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when a social worker discovered the case

9
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
two weeks ago.

10
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The authorities are hoping

11
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she still may have a normal
learning capacity.

12
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Among the first to see the child

13
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was Temple City detective,

14
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sergeant Frank Linley.

15
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Eerie music]

16
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Sgt. Linley] I already knew that

17
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the child was 13 1/2 years old,

18
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I took one look at her,

19
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and she wasn't much bigger

20
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than my daughter, Beverly,

21
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who had just turned seven
about 3 months earlier.

22
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And, I really had a hard time

23
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
conceiving of the idea that the child

24
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was the age that she was.

25
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The child, uh, obviously,

26
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
had been severely mistreated.

27
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
She was still in diapers, couldn't walk,

28
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she had no verbal skills at all,
at that point.

29
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Eerie music]

30
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The last time I was on this street

31
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was probably 30 years ago.

32
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yep, there it is.

33
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Hasn't changed much.

34
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The back yard looks the same.

35
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's all weeds and dead grass.

36
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Looks the same as it did in 1970.

37
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Narrator] The house belonged
to Clark Wiley.

38
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A loner, Clark had turned his

39
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
back on the world,

40
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
after his mother had been killed

41
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in a hit and run accident.

42
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
After the accident,

43
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things in the Wiley house

44
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
would never be the same again.

45
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Sgt. Linley] The house was
completely dark.

46
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All the blinds were drawn.

47
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There were no toys.

48
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No clothes.

49
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nothing that would ever
indicate to you

50
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that a child of any age
lived there.

51
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Eerie music. Passing cars whoosh.]

52
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The child's bedroom was

53
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
back in this corner.

54
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That was the bedroom.

55
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The, uh, windows were covered

56
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to about 3 inches from the top,

57
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which was the only natural light

58
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that had ever come in there,

59
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in all the time the child was

60
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the bedroom.

61
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The entire furnishing to the bedroom

62
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
consisted of a cage,

63
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with a, uh, pull-down chicken wire lid,

64
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and some type of -- piece of wire,

65
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
securing it, when they closed it down.

66
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There was a potty chair,

67
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with some kind of homemade
strapping device.

68
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Narrator] For thirteen years,

69
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Genie had spent her nights

70
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
locked in bed,

71
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
her days strapped 
to a potty chair.

72
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
During that time,

73
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Clark had ordered his son John,

74
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and wife Irene,

75
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
never to talk to her.

76
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In her darkened room,

77
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she had led a life

78
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or near total isolation.

79
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Eerie music]

80
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Even close neighbors

81
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were completely unaware

82
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of her presence.

83
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Neighbor] I came home from work,

84
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the police was here,

85
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they came to question us.

86
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's when we found --

87
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
found out what, you know,

88
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
happened, and uh, you know,

89
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that they had a little girl