Linda Ann Weston, now 51, is accused of preying on four mentally disabled adults and locking them in a basement crawlspace in northeast Philadelphia. A landlord found them Saturday, weak and malnourished.

Police suspect Weston and two others were keeping them in squalor while wresting control of their monthly Social Security disability checks.

In 1983, Weston’s brother, then a 13-year-old boy, testified that his older sister had beaten another sister’s boyfriend with a broomstick and locked him in a closet. The man died of starvation weeks later. Linda Ann Weston was convicted of murder, but it’s not clear from court records how much time she spent in prison.

One of the current victims said he met Weston through an online dating service.

“That was real dirty of (her). That was wrong,” Derwin McLemire told KWY-TV.

He and two others told the station they had been on the move for about a year with their alleged captors, traveling from Texas to Florida to Philadelphia.

“They moved them around,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said after examining the boiler room-turned-dungeon inside a small apartment house. “Whenever it looked like people knew what was going on, they moved.”

The landlord found the victims Saturday after he heard dogs barking. He found the door to the foul-smelling room chained shut. Inside, Turgut Gozleveli lifted a pile of blankets to find several human eyes staring back at him. One man was chained to the boiler.

Philadelphia police soon arrested Weston at her daughter’s apartment upstairs, along with two other men.

Detectives also found dozens of ID cards, power-of-attorney forms and other documents in the apartment, suggesting the alleged theft scheme involved more than just the four captives.

“Without a doubt, this is just the beginning of this investigation,” Lt. Ray Evers said Monday. “We think she’s been doing this for quite some time.”

Exactly how long, how much money the scheme brought in, precisely how the disabled were deceived, and how many people in all were victimized are still unclear, investigators said. The FBI has joined the investigation.

Weston was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and other offenses, with bail set at $2.5 million. Also charged were Gregory Thomas, 47, whom Weston described as her boyfriend, and Eddie “the Rev. Ed” Wright, 50.

The three remained jailed Tuesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. A lawyer for Weston didn’t return telephone calls seeking comment.

The victims, a woman and three men, were found in a crawlspace that reeked of urine and was too shallow for an adult to stand up. There were mattresses and blankets, but the only food found was a container of orange juice. The adults shared their space with three dogs.

Gozleveli called police, suspecting they were squatters, then watched as officers and ambulance workers helped them up the steps to the street. The victims, ages 29 to 41, had the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, along with some physical disabilities, authorities said. One could barely see.

Neighbors said the defendants and their alleged captives had arrived from West Palm Beach, Florida, about two weeks ago, though it does not appear the victims spent the entire time in the basement.

Danyell “Nicky” Tisdale said a man and woman and four mentally disabled adults held a yard sale a week ago, selling piles of shoes, jackets and other clothing on the sidewalk.

Since the arrests, police have slowly and patiently been trying to elicit information from the alleged captives. All four were treated at hospitals and placed with social service agencies.

The woman had been reported missing by her family in Philadelphia in 2005, police said. One of the men was also from Philadelphia, and a second one from North Carolina. Their relatives were contacted. Police were having trouble finding family members for the fourth victim, 40-year-old Herbert Knowles.

According to an investigative report obtained by The Associated Press, Knowles was reported missing in Norfolk, Virginia in December 2008 after a mental health case worker couldn’t reach him and family members failed to hear from him.

Knowles’ government benefits were stopped after his mail was forwarded to Philadelphia, but Weston took the man to a Philadelphia social service agency in 2008 and showed identification, and the checks resumed, Norfolk police said.

Scam artists can get control of a disabled person’s checks by visiting the Social Security office with the victim, who then designates the other person to receive the payments, said Nora J. Baladerian, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles.

Mark Riordan, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said a search of its databases as well as vital statistics and school records found no record of the alleged perpetrators, the victims, or the children who lived with them.

“This family has clearly led a nomadic lifestyle and had become quite adept living beneath the radar. Until now,” he said.