Tucson police are investigating a case where three girls said they were held in captivity for several years by their parents, officials said. 
 
 The mother and stepfather of the girls have been arrrested and are facing numerous charges, police said late Tuesday. 
 
 Police responded to a home in the 2800 block of North Estrella Avenue, near North Stone Avenue and East Glenn Street, at about 4 a.m. Tuesday on reports of a domestic violence incident, said police Capt. Michael Gillooly. 
 
 When officers arrived they discovered two girls, ages 12 and 13, who said they were in a bedroom in the house when their stepfather kicked in the door and threatened them with a knife. The girls told officers they ran out of the house and went to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor called 911. 
 
 The two girls said they had been imprisoned for about two years. When officers went into the house, they found a 17-year-old girl locked in another bedroom, Gillooly said. 
 
 All three sisters were dirty and malnourished, he said. They told police they were only fed once a day. 
 
 They told officers they hadn’t taken a bath in four to six months. The two younger sistes said they hadn’t seen the 17-year-old sibling in about two years. 
 
 He said the two younger sisters were kept separate from the older girl. They were kept in separate bedrooms, Gillooly said. 
 
 "They were kept in filthy living conditions and kept separately," Gillooly said. "They told officers they had not seen each other in 2 years and were kept separately in bedrooms in that house." 
 
 Gillooly would not answer any questions about the case. 
 
 Later Tuesday, police said the girl's mother Sophia Richter, 32, and their stepfather, Fernando Richter, 34, were arrested and booked into the Pima County jail. The two are facing three charges each of kidnapping, child abuse with emotional abuse and child abuse with physical abuse. 
 
 Fernando Richter is also facing one count of sexual abuse of a child under 15. 
 
 "We are doing all we can to make sure these kids are kept safe," Gillooly said at a news conference. 
 
 A resident who has lived in the neighborhood for about five years said she didn't know anyone was living in the home, which is set back from the street. 
 
 She said there was no activity visible at the house, but that other neighbors had told her that they had heard what sounded like children playing inside the house at night. 
 
 Police officers have removed plastic bags of evidence from the home. They also removed what appeared to be a computer. The items from the house was placed into a box truck. 
 
 On the front porch of the single-story house is a sign warning that the property is under video security surveillance. Two red chairs were also visible at the front of the house. 
 
 Most of the homes in the neighborhood are rentals, the neighbor said. Online records show the current owner of the home is listed as a resident of Cave Creek. ||||| 3 girls say they were imprisoned in Tucson home; parents jailed 
 
 TUCSON, Ariz. -- A Tucson couple are in custody after three sisters told police they were imprisoned in their home by their mother and stepfather for up to two years. 
 
 The girls are 12, 13 and 17 years old. 
 
 Tucson police Capt. Mike Gillooly said the children have been removed from the home and their mother and stepfather have been arrested. 
 
 
 
 Aunt: Tucson woman lied about girls' whereabouts 
 
 
 
 The girls' mother, 32-year-old Sophia Richter, and their stepfather, 34-year-old Fernando Richter (above), were booked into the Pima County Jail. They face multiple charges of child abuse and kidnapping. 
 
 The two youngest girls escaped to a neighbor's house early Tuesday and the neighbor called 911. When officers arrived, they found the third girl locked in one of the home's bedrooms. 
 
 The girls told police they had been imprisoned in their bedrooms for at least the last several months, and possibly up to two years. 
 
 According to police, all the girls were malnourished and living in filthy conditions. The sisters reportedly told police they were fed only once a day and hadn't taken a bath in months. 
 
 "All three juveniles were extremely dirty and malnourished and stated they had not bathed in the last four to six months," says Capt. Mike Gilooly of the Tucson Police Dept. "They were kept in filthy living conditions, separately, and told our patrol officer they had not seen each other in almost two years." 
 
 A resident who has lived in the neighborhood for about five years reportedly told police she didn't know anyone was living in the home and that there was no activity visible at the house. 
 
 "If there were kids, they never came out and played," one neighor says. "We have kids all over this neighborhood and they had to try extra hard to keep themselves secluded, you know, because obviously somebody would have said, noticed something." 
 
 Residents also say that most of the homes in the neighborhood are rentals. 
 
 Records show that the current owners of the home are Walter C. Noll and Sharon Noll, both residents of Cave Creek. 
 
 Fernando Richter faces three counts of kidnapping, three counts of child abuse/emotional abuse, three counts of child abuse/physical abuse and one count of sexual abuse with a person under 15 years of age. 
 
 Sophia Richter faces three counts of kidnapping, three counts of child abuse/emotional abuse and three counts of child abuse/physical abuse.
– A horrific case out of Tucson: Police were called to a house around 4am yesterday, where they ultimately found three young sisters, malnourished and dirty, who say they were imprisoned there for as long as two years, the Arizona Republic reports. The 12- and 13-year-old girls say they managed to flee to a neighbor's house when a 34-year-old man living in the house kicked in the door of their room while armed with a knife and threatened them; the neighbor called 911. Police found a 17-year-old girl in another locked room; the girls say she was kept separate from her younger sisters and they had not seen each other for as long as two years. The man and a 32-year-old woman, both described by the Republic only as "relatives" of the girls, were arrested and charged with physical and emotional child abuse and kidnapping; the man was also charged with one count of sexual abuse. The Arizona Daily Star says the man and woman are the girls' mother and stepfather, and identifies them as Sophia and Fernando Richter. The girls say they were only given food once a day and hadn't bathed in as many as six months. "They were kept in filthy living conditions," says the police captain. A neighbor tells 3TV she didn't know anyone lived at the house. "If there were kids, they never came out and played."