A woman was found locked in a shed behind a home in Los Angeles County. Covered with wounds both old and new, she appeared malnourished and frail. She could not speak English well.

The 54-year-old, whose name is being withheld, seemed to have been living in the shed for some time, though, it appears she was only locked in for a day following a family dispute.

The man accused of abusing this woman is none other than her own brother, Elias Abdurahman, 61, along with his girlfriend, Sara Kebede Tadesse, 50.

Police are trying to determine how long this situation has been going on and what the possible motivation could be. The captive has been described as reluctant.

“That’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of — how long has this been going on?” said Sargent Harold Morrow of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.. “We’re just trying to keep her cooperation and get to the story.

The police found the woman on September 22 after neighbors called in to report somebody screaming.

Elias and Sara are currently being held on $1.1 million bail. They are facing charges of false imprisonment by violence, torture, assault with a deadly weapon, and abuse of a dependent adult causing great bodily injury. Allegedly, many of the wounds came from a cane- the deadly weapon in question.

According to official court documents the torture charge covers an entire year and stems from the intention “to cause cruel and extreme pain and suffering for the purpose of revenge, extortion, persuasion and for a sadistic purpose.” The false imprisonment charge only covers one day, the day the woman was found and was “effected by violence, menace, fraud and deceit.”

Neither of the accused has yet to be assigned an attorney due to lack of a translator for their particular Ethiopian dialect. Nonetheless, their arraignments are to be held on October 20. Both Elias and Sara could face life in prison if found guilty.

The authorities have not released any of the parties’ immigration status or country of origin.

“We’re still scratching our heads on the whole thing,” said Morrow.