The young girl seen in this 1970 photo is Genie Wiley of California, otherwise known as the “feral child,” barely able to walk at age 13.
For her entire life, her father had abused her viciously, keeping her in a makeshift straitjacket and tying her to a children’s toilet in a locked room all day. When she made any sound or did anything he didn’t like, he’d growl and bare his teeth at her like a dog.
Under such brutal conditions, Wiley never learned how to walk or speak. When this creepy photo was taken at a hospital just after she was rescued, her life inside a series of abusive institutions was only beginning. Her whereabouts today are unknown.
