A 12-year-old Detroit, Michigan, boy who was missing for 11 days was found safe and sound Wednesday in his father's basement.
An intensive search went on for Charlie Bothuell V ever since he disappeared the night of June 14 after leaving his home, the Detroit Free Press reported. Detroit police were issuing a search warrant at Wayne County home the boy lives in with his father and stepmother when they found him. His father, Charlie Bothuell IV, told investigators he had no idea his son was there.
"In 37 years of policing, I will tell you, I've never seen anything quite like this," Detroit Police Chief James Craig told the Detroit Free Press. "But the outcome, I couldn't be happier."
Police found Charlie in the basement hiding behind some boxes and a drum, the Associated Press reported. There appeared to be food and an area to sleep nearby.
"He was nervous, but excited," Craig told the AP. "He indicated he was hungry. He appeared fine."
The child is to undergo a medical evaluation.
It is not yet clear if Charlie was in the basement the entire time he was missing. Police are baffled as to how he ended up there when a search including cadaver dogs was carried out at the home last week, the AP reported. Police even mentioned the possibility that the case was a homicide.
Authorities are investigating to see if the father, who was equally surprised when his son was found, was involved in the disappearance.
"I'm shocked. I looked. The Detroit police looked. The FBI looked," Bothuell told the AP. "To imply that I knew my son was in the basement is absurd.
"There was no abuse of my son," Bothuell told the Detroit Free Press.
Bothuell agreed to take an FBI-administered polygraph test, the results of which are still pending. Charlie's stepmother, however, did not agree to take one. So far no charges have been brought against the parents.
