An image of the house where a group of masked men allegedly tortured a family in North Carolina in June 2024 (Screengrab/WRAL)
A horrific crime unfolded earlier this month in small-town North Carolina when a large group of men forced its way into a family’s home and tortured the residents during a sleepover.
Details were initially scarce about the Father’s Day weekend nightmare, but more information has since been released as the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation.
The incident occurred during the early morning hours of Saturday, June 15, in Spout Springs, a census-designated place roughly an hour south of Raleigh, according to law enforcement. Sheriff’s deputies arrived sometime after 2 a.m. to find the family in dire straits.
On the night in question, the wife, husband, their daughter and one of her friends were hanging out in the garage with the door open when five or six men showed up and forced the family inside the house, the sheriff’s office said, according to Raleigh-based NBC affiliate WRAL. The couple’s other child was ultimately caught up in the attack as well.
First, the men confined all their victims using duct tape, then the assailants allegedly began torturing several of their captives.
The grim circumstances were detailed by Sheriff Wayne Coats.
“They took and put a knife and fork — like a butter knife — on top of the stove and heated it up and they just started sticking it to the bodies,” the sheriff said. “They were trying to get them to tell them where their money and guns were.”
Though the men had come looking for guns and cash, there was none to be found inside the unassuming and since-shattered home, the sheriff said. The men then tore through the residence and left — stealing two cars. One of the vehicles has since been recovered but the family is still missing its gray, four-door Honda Accord.
At least two of the children were assaulted, Coats added.
The wife, husband, and their daughter are currently being treated for non-life threatening injuries at a UNC-Chapel Hill hospital, according to Goldsboro, North Carolina-based CBS affiliate WNCN.
In a GoFundMe, the sister of one of the victims described the impact the traumatic home invasion has had on her family:
My sister’s home was burglarized by masked intruders who also physically harmed her and my brother-in-law, including their young children. The entire house was ransacked and several personal belongings were taken. My sister and her family unit are suffering physically, emotionally and mentally. Our extended family and close friends are devastated. Their home was vandalized and their peace of mind and safety will never feel the same.
The online fundraiser intends to help with the family’s “health care costs as a result of what they experienced, to purchase items that can be replaced, and to assist with anything they need to support them in navigating this traumatic and invasive event.”
The Dodge Challenger allegedly used by the masked home invaders (Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats)
The investigation into the attack is ongoing and the suspects are currently at large, according to law enforcement.
The sheriff released a photo of the car said to have been driven to the once idyllic suburban crime scene: a silver or gray Dodge Challenger — with a request that the photo be shared.
“They tortured this family,” Coats added in comments to WRAL. “There’s no other way to put it. Other than just pure torture.”
Law&Crime reached out to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office for additional details about this story but no response was immediately forthcoming as of the time of publication.
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