Loved one speaks out about unlicensed group homes under investigation

Deanna Castro said she only recently met her half-sister, Angelique "Angel" Estes, after a DNA test revealed their connection.

"When I first looked at her, she looked just like my sister that I grew up with. So, I was like, 'Oh, no, there's no doubt that we're related,'" Castro said.

Castro said she got to know her half-sister by visiting her at different living facilities for about a year.

"She’s bedridden. It’s hard to take care of her. She can’t move around, and she doesn’t have any mobility, so it is very difficult. So, it’s just sitting there by her bedside," Castro said.

She said the visits increased, but eventually, she couldn't keep up with how often her sister wanted to see her, and she was also trying to juggle her full-time job, kids, and grandkids.

"I would like to say I do love her ... I just can't be a caretaker, and that's a weakness for myself," Castro said.

She said she last talked to Estes around July 2023.

According to a police affidavit, Arlington Police officers found Estes at a home on Woodbrook Street in Arlington in December 2023 after someone called 911, claiming a friend texted her, saying she was being held against her will inside the home.

Patrol officers went to the home and found 53-year-old Angelique Estes, who immediately told them, "I don't want to be here."

The affidavit said that patrol officers took Estes to the hospital, where officers from the police department's Behavioral Health Unit came to talk to her.

According to the documents, the behavioral officers knew that the Woodbrook home was an unlicensed living facility run by Becquer, and there was a previous history at the address.

Documents state that when officers contacted Estes, "they could immediately smell an odor of urine and feces."

She told the officers she moved into the home five days before and, after two days, told the people working there she wanted to leave and that they would not let her go. She said she was told she would have a bed but was left on a mattress on the floor. She said her condition requires her to wear a diaper and that she was forced to sit in her feces because the staff allowed her to go multiple days without changing the diaper.

She also told police, according to the affidavit, that workers gave her a "liquid medicine with a mint taste" that was not prescribed to her, but she did not know what it was. Estes said they would give her the medicine "when she would get upset about them not allowing her to leave."

Estes said they kept her in a room with another patient and that they'd kicked her while in there. Estes also told police that more than once, people in the home would stand over her and pour cups of water on her, making it difficult to breathe. In a desperate attempt to leave, Estes told officers she cut her wrists, hoping someone would call 911 and take her to a hospital. Detectives said there was no history of 911 calls at the residence, meaning no one called 911 about Estes trying to cut her wrists. The officers noted the abrasions on Estes's wrists in their report.

"It’s sad, it’s sad even if it’s not a family member. It’s sad that anyone can be treated that way," Castro said.

Castro said she never visited her sister at one of Becquer's facilities but heard about it on the news.

Arlington police said Becquer faces an abandonment and endangerment charge related to Estes' case.

They also said Estes is still alive, but Castro doesn't know where her sister is now.

"I would like to say I love her and tell her I think about her all the time, and ... hopefully, one day I can reach back out to her, or she can reach back out to me, and maybe things will be better," she said.

The affidavit obtained by NBC 5 details the experience of other clients who were able to leave Becquer's facilities, as well as clients who died. You can read more here.