A woman who was chained to her bed for two years while being beaten and sexually assaulted was discovered by a repair man after her muffled screams were heard. Police in North Dakota found the woman anchored to a bed frame with a padlock around one of her ankles.
Victim rescued after two-year ordeal
The woman was rushed to hospital and said she was sexually assaulted and beaten by her ex-husband, 40-year-old Arturo Calzada Becerril, and his girlfriend, 41-year-old Erendira Amoles. The pair reportedly wanted to use her to help his immigration status.
Speaking through a translation app, the victim explained that Calzada Becerril brought her from Mexico in 2024 and kept her trapped inside for years, with a security camera pointed at her bed and her bedroom windows covered in tin foil, according to Valley News Live.
Chains secured with bolts and padlocks
According to court documents, Amoles returned to the apartment with her eight-year-old daughter shortly after authorities discovered the victim, with all three said to be from the same town in Mexico. Calzada Becerril reportedly kept the woman locked up so that she did not run away because she was addicted to drugs and he did not want her to start using again, Inforum reported.
“The chains on the headboard appeared secured together with large bolts, washers, and nuts,” an investigative report viewed by Inforum read. “The chain was wrapped around the headboard and sheathed in a foam pool noodle. The chains at the head and the foot of the bed both had Master Lock brand padlocks on them.”
Neighbours express shock
The woman was found with bruising to her arms, legs and face and claimed she had been punched, causing a scar on her forehead. She also told police that at one point Calzada Becerril and Amoles allegedly pinned her down, beat and sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors claim the pair kept the woman, who is a US citizen, captive to obtain immigration status, according to Valley News Live.
Erin Schauer, who lives in the building, told Valley News Live: “We have security coming through from like 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every single night. They stop in the hallways, they walk through every single building, they drive around. That is really scary. You hear about that all the time on the news, but the fact that it was literally right over there.”
Neighbour Reed Bertsch said: “It’s unbelievable. I just can’t believe no one heard it, or you know, had any suspicion of something like that going on. It’s usually a little quaint place to live, but Fargo is getting crazy.”
