When the family first moved in, a neighbor said Thomas Ferguson put a chain-link fence up around his house.

Behind that barrier, police say Ferguson put 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia through “horrifying circumstances” that would eventually lead to the teenager’s death in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The boy and his 13-year-old sister had been under the custody of their grandparents, who took care of the children for around a year, according to KRQE. It’s not yet known when the children began to live with Ferguson — the boyfriend of their mother Tracy Pena, who spent some time in jail for an unrelated case — and his 19-year-old son Jordan Nunez.

But when that happened, police allege frequent beatings from Ferguson, 35, required Valencia to use a cane to walk around. The teenager was allegedly put in a dog kennel as a punishment, according to KOB4, often left there without food or water for “hours on end.”

And sometime in late November, police say the beatings killed Valencia, whose body was just found buried in a plastic bin a couple miles away from the house he was staying at, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. For two months, police say, no one reported his death.

After growing angry, Ferguson allegedly hit the 13-year-old in the stomach and face in November, leading to the child’s death, police told KOB4.

Nunez said his dad took Valencia somewhere after beating him, according to court documents obtained by KRQE, while the boy’s mother allegedly told an inmate about her son’s murder while in jail. The boy’s sister, who police believe was not abused, said Pena and Ferguson told her to lie to authorities and say her brother was still alive and spending time with family.

But a week ago, the inmate that Pena confessed to decided to alerted police, who in turn searched for the missing boy. Pena led police to where her deceased son was buried, according to KRQE.

Looking back, neighbor Al Martinez said there were signs that something was amiss.

He told the Las Cruces Sun-News that he never saw the kids going to school — or any of the adults heading to work when he would expect them to.

"I think about that, how little interaction there was with this family," Martinez told the newspaper. "There were never any other people."

All three suspects — Nunez, Pena and Ferguson — were arrested on Monday, with each facing charges of abuse of a child resulting in death, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Facebook.

They are each in jail without bond.

Ferguson has a 20-year-long criminal background, KOB4 reported, including charges of aggravated assault, DWI, criminal sexual penetration, battery on a household member, abandonment abuse of a child and domestic violence.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia spoke of how this case affected him, even though he’s “seen a lot.”

"This is very gut-wrenching,” he said to the Las Cruces Sun-News, “... It's hard to sleep at night just thinking about the abuses this poor child went through.”