A 12-year-old boy, who came to media attention after his father was told live on air that he had been found barricaded in the family basement, has revealed why he was down there.
Charlie Bothuell V, who was missing for 12 days, told police that it was his stepmother who told him to go into the basement and hide, telling him “not to come out, no matter what he hears.”
While live on air, the boy’s father told Nancy Grace that he had checked the basement, as had the FBI and his wife, to no avail.
His stepmother did not bring him any food and the young boy began sneaking upstairs to get some when the family was out.
Charlie was found by police and a document obtained by the Detroit Free Press also reveals that the boy had suffered physical abuse by his father, though he denies this.
The boy and his siblings have now been removed from the family home.
