US Man Holds 4 Adults Captive For 10 Years, Steals Their Life Savings, Arrested

A 35-year-old man from South Carolina has been arrested and charged with holding at least four adults captive in the basement of his Lancaster house for over a decade.

Donnie Ray Birchfield Jr also allegedly controlled their eating, sleeping, and communication patterns while using their money for personal benefit. He is accused of mistreating them until police found that one of the victims had died, The New York Post reported.

Authorities were reportedly suspicious of Birchfield Jr's actions after discovering an unreported death at his Lancaster residence in July. Although authorities have confirmed that he was the only carer for the woman who died and her husband, they were still uncertain about how he knew them.

Neighbours expressed horror at the situation.

"He's a sick person to do something like that," a man told The Post.

Law enforcement officials say they are still figuring out how long the victims were detained and how the torture went unnoticed.

Among the victims were two women who dated Birchfield, and a married couple considered "vulnerable adults." One woman had reportedly occupied the property since 2015, while the other had occupied it since September 2024.

The woman who died on July 25 was allegedly neglected, subjected to physical violence for an extended period of time, and refused medical treatment. A police investigation was initiated following her death.

Officers found the other three people still held captive when they arrived at the man's house. They detailed highly controlled circumstances, with Birchfield allegedly dictating when they could eat and use the lavatory. He also cut off their communication with the outside world.

Birchfield has been accused of plundering his captives' money in addition to abusing them physically and psychologically. According to the indictment, he paid off his bills with about $12,000 from the couple's bank account during the previous eight months. He also allegedly used their money to make a number of other transactions of several thousand dollars at Walmart.

Birchfield Jr was detained on August 1 and charged with a long list of offences, including four counts of financial fraud, false imprisonment, domestic abuse, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, according to the Lancaster County Detention Centre.

He is being held on a $150,000 bond while authorities await pathology and medical tests that could add more charges.