Woman rescued after being chained to bed for years when maintenance worker hears cries for help, police say

FARGO, N.D. (KVLY/Gray News) — A woman was rescued in North Dakota after being chained to a bed for years when a maintenance technician working in the apartment building heard her cries for help.

According to court documents, Fargo police were called to an apartment complex Tuesday after a maintenance technician heard someone crying for help.

The maintenance technician told police he entered the apartment where he found a woman chained to a bed with a security camera pointing at her. Court documents also said the windows of the bedroom were covered with tin foil.

The responding officer said the woman was in a bedroom with a chain and padlock secured around her right ankle, with the other end of the chain secured to the bed.

The woman told authorities she was brought to Fargo from Mexico in 2024 by her ex-husband, identified as 40-year-old Arturo Calzada Becerril. She said she had been chained up in his apartment and had not been outside for two years.

The woman said Calzada Becerril brought her food twice a day but did not let her go outside or use the bathroom. She was given a bucket to relieve herself.

Court documents said that police freed the woman from the chains and interviewed her using Language Link because she did not speak English.

Investigators noted bruising to her body and face. She was then brought to the hospital.

Police said that shortly afterward, 41-year-old Erendira Amoles arrived at the apartment with her 8-year-old daughter.

While being interviewed at the hospital, the woman told investigators that both Calzada Becerril and Amoles would beat her and sexually assault her.

Calzada Becerril told investigators that the three of them were from the same town in Mexico. Court documents show that he told investigators he locked the victim up so “she did not run away.” Amoles told police she is the one who often locks the woman up.

Calzada Becerril and Amoles were arrested on kidnapping and assault charges. They were booked into the Cass County Jail.

Border Patrol assisted Fargo police.