Dripping Springs Couple Arrested for Holding Adopted Son Captive

A Dripping Springs couple was arrested Thursday, accused of keeping their 22-year-old adopted son in a locked garage apartment for about four to five years with little access food or the outside world.

According to the arrest affidavit for Dane Thyssen, 39, the garage apartment was outfitted with a toilet, sink, refrigerator and microwave.

All windows were boarded up and a padlock secured the door from the outside, the son, Koystya Thyssen, told police.

A package of food was dropped off once a week, usually on Saturdays, and Koystya said that if he ran out, he would have to wait until the next Saturday.Koystya told police that he had lived in a garage apartment behind his adoptive parent’s house since the family moved onto the property four or five years ago.

He said he was locked in the apartment six days a week, only allowed to leave on Wednesday to shower and visit with his counselor. Police became aware of the situation when Koystya was arrested, suspected of burglarizing one of Thyssen’s neighbors along Meadow Ridge Drive.

He said he had stolen a screwdriver from his father’s workshop and used it to escape.

The affidavit says he then broke into the neighbor’s house.The couples' attorney, Perry Minton, says the Thyseens kept their son locked in the apartment to keep the neighborhood safe and said he was confident they'd be found not guilty at a jury trial.

He described Koystya as a sexual predator with "predatory tendencies."Dane and Jenifer Thyssen, 39 and 40 respectively, have each been charged with kidnapping, a third degree felony, and are being held in Hays County Jail on $350,000 bond each.