HOUSTON (AP/KXAN) —  Several people were discovered Friday being held captive in a Houston home and living in deplorable conditions, media outlets in the area reported.

The Houston NBC affiliate KPRC said authorities confirmed that four are men between the ages of 50 and 80 were found in “deplorable conditions.” They may have been held so a captor could cash checks the men were receiving, police told The Associated Press.

Three of the men were taken to a hospital and appeared to be malnourished, Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said at a news conference.A caretaker and three other women were also found in the home but not in the same deplorable conditions, Silva said.

The AP said a neighbor called authorities expressing concern about men in the house in North Houston. Officers who responded found three men locked in a garage and a fourth in the home, said Sgt. Steven Murdock, who described the living conditions as like a “dungeon.”

Murdock said at least one of the men is a military veteran. He said all four were homeless and may have been held so a captor could collect their checks, though it wasn’t clear whether the men were targeted for their Social Security payments or some other kind of assistance.

The men were malnourished and “almost invalids,” Murdock said. Three were taken to a hospital for treatment.

One person was taken into custody and investigators were trying to determine whether there are other houses involved, KPRC said.

Neighbors told media outlets that they occasionally saw the men sitting outside. Virginia Rogers, who lives five houses away, said she greeted them with a wave when she drove by.

“I’m shocked,” Rogers said. “I’m baffled. I didn’t have a clue.”

The men were found in a working-class, residential neighborhood of one-story, brick homes. Harris County property records show the home was built in 1969 and is about 1,400 square feet.

Police were going in and out of the house’s bright purple door and black gate Friday afternoon, removing evidence as neighbors stood outside watching.

A portion of the block was cordoned off with police tape.

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