Brothers found chained, starving in bedroom

"It had been months since they had taken a bath," said Deputy Fred Gonzalez.

The aunt, Faye Potts, and the boys' parents, Carrie Davis, 41, and John Davis, 52, have been arrested for investigation of child abuse, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said. Bail amounts were not immediately set.

A 17-year-old boy called authorities early Saturday, saying he and his 12-year-old brother were chained up in their bedroom, said Joshua Tree deputies.

Potts called the station less than an hour later and said the call was a prank.

When deputies arrived at the trailer home in Wonder Valley, just east of Twentynine Palms, they found the boys in poor health, as well as signs of physical and emotional neglect, Beavers said. Signs on a fence and painted on exterior walls said: "God's Country," "Spirit of God," and "Jesus."

In addition to the dog chains, deputies found marks on the boy's wrists that were consistent with being restrained.

The boys are in the county's Child Protective Services, Beavers said.

The case is reminiscent of one last year in nearby Riverside County.

In Norco, authorities found 32-pound, 6-year-old Bettye Jean, wearing only a diaper and tethered at the waist to a bed in a room with boarded up windows.

The girl's mother, Cindi Topper, who suffered brain damage in an attack 16 years ago, is serving six years in prison after pleading guilty in March to one count of felony child endangerment. The child is with a foster family.

The girl's 76-year-old grandfather, Loren Bess, is scheduled to go on trial later this month on a felony child endangerment charge. At Bess' preliminary hearing last month, Bess' lawyer argued that he was not responsible for the girl.<