Overview

• Authorities say the victims included a vulnerable married couple for whom Donnie Ray Birchfield Jr., 35, was the sole caregiver, along with two women allegedly in relationships with him.
• Warrants describe control over food, bathroom use and communications, plus threats to dispose of a body and alleged strangulation of a girlfriend.
• One woman is alleged to have lived at the Lancaster residence since 2015 and another since September 2024, indicating years of confinement for some victims.
• Investigators allege he used the couple’s funds to pay about $11,800 toward his credit-card debt and spent at least $2,000 at Walmart.
• Birchfield was arrested on Aug. 1 and remains jailed without bail at the Lancaster County Detention Center as the investigation continues.