Building worker allegedly finds woman who ‘has not been outside for 2 years’ chained to bed in North Dakota apartment after hearing cries for help
The alleged perpetrators deny the accusations.
A maintenance worker allegedly found a woman chained to a bed in an apartment complex in Fargo, North Dakota, after hearing her cry for help. 40-year-old Arturo Calzada-Becerril and 41-year-old Erendira Amoles have since been arrested and taken to Cass County Jail in connection with the case and charged with assault and kidnapping.
According to the Fargo Police Department, officers responded to a call reporting suspicious activity at the 4900 block of 44th Avenue South on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The worker, a technician, told police they entered the apartment unit to perform routine maintenance and found the woman in the bedroom, describing her as looking like someone “held against her will for an extended period of time,” the department said in a statement on Friday, Nov. 6.
The woman reportedly did not speak English, and officers had to use Language Link, a translation service, to communicate with her. The court document, according to Valley News Live, alleged that a padlock was shackled to her right ankle, with “the other end of the chain secured to the bed.” A security camera was said to be pointed at her, while the windows around the bedroom were supposedly covered with tin foil.
The woman was allegedly moved to North Dakota
During the investigation, the woman identified Calzada-Becerril and Amoles as the alleged perpetrators. She claimed that Calzada-Becerril, her ex-husband, brought her to Fargo from Mexico in 2024. Reports did not mention whether they were already separated at the time of the relocation.
Since then, the woman had allegedly been kept captive and chained in a bedroom and “had not been outside for 2 years,” although she was initially allowed outside occasionally before Calzada-Becerril revoked the privilege. Instead, she was forced to use a bucket placed inside the bedroom as her toilet and was fed twice a day, according to court documents.
The woman also claimed that Calzada-Becerril and Amoles, whose relationship with each other has yet to be described, would physically and sexually assault her. Police noted that the woman appeared to have bruising on her body and face.
Alleged captors deny assault charges
Shortly after the woman was taken to the hospital, Amoles reportedly arrived with her eight-year-old daughter at the apartment. Amoles allegedly told police that she was often the person who locked up the woman and had chained her that day to prevent her from running away while she picked up her child from school.
Calzada-Becerril told police that he, Amoles, and the woman were from the same town in Mexico, and alleged that he and Amoles were assaulted by the woman. He also claimed that the woman even pulled out a knife in a separate incident in the past. Speaking to Valley News Live, Calzada-Becerril maintained his innocence and said the “chains were not to keep her attached to the bed.”
Calzada-Becerril was charged with domestic violence causing bodily injury, while Amoles is facing a simple assault charge, which they both pleaded not guilty to, according to People. Calzada-Becerril and Amoles have yet to enter a plea on their kidnapping charge.
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