A shocking 11 starving children and five adults were found in a remote compound in New Mexico, near the border with Colorado, after police received a message calling for help. The message said that the children were starving and that they needed food and water. On arrival at the compound, police were shocked when they saw the children’s condition. According to the sheriff, they were famished and looked like refugees from a third-world country.

The 11 children were hidden away in a filthy underground trailer, concealed by a plastic cover, in the remote compound and the only food police found on the property was a box of rice along with a few potatoes.

Three of the adults were starving women, believed to be the children’s mothers and two were heavily-armed men.

Police shocked by the scene

According to a video by CBS Denver, the FBI had reportedly been investigating the compound but had not had probable cause to enter the property. It was only when the message was received via a third party from someone in the compound that the police could enter the scene.

Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said the 11 children – aged between one and 15 – and five adults had little food and no fresh water.

They were also lacking shoes and facilities for personal hygiene and were wearing dirty rags. According to Hogrefe, there was no plumbing, water or electricity on the site.

The sheriff said it is unclear how long the five adults and 11 children had been living in the trailer. Three women found in the trailer were believed to be the children’s mothers.

They were taken in by police for questioning but were soon released, as they were also victims. All 11 emaciated children are now in the care of social services.

As reported by the Evening Standard, Sheriff Hogrefe said that he had never seen anything like it in his 30 years on the force and that it was “unbelievable.” He said the children were so skinny, their ribs showed and were dirty and very scared.

He believes that the children and women had been brainwashed and that they felt intimidated by the men who were controlling the compound.

Heavily-armed men arrested at the compound

A report by CNN said that two heavily-armed men were arrested at the scene and were named as Siraj Wahhaj and Lucas Morten. Police found an AR-15 rifle, four pistols and many rounds of ammunition in the compound. It turned out Wahhaj was already wanted in Georgia for abducting his three-year-old son, Abdul Wahhaj. Police booked Wahhaj with no bond, due to the warrant already being out for his son. However, Abdul was not among the 11 children discovered on the compound. Police are trying to contact a woman, who they believe to be the missing child’s mother, but with no success so far.

The video included below shows the horrifying scenes at the New Mexico compound found by the police.