Missing boy found in his own basement

Detroit: A 12-year-old Detroit boy, who was missing for more than a week before he was discovered in his own basement, told cops his stepmother sent him there, according to a court record obtained yesterday.


Charlie Bothuell. Pic/AP

The petition, filed in Wayne County juvenile court by Children's Protective Services as part of a custody hearing, says Charlie Bothuell V was placed in the basement by his stepmother, Monique Dillard- Bothuell, and told "not to come out, no matter what he hears."

Although Dillard-Bothuell knew her stepson was in the basement, she did not bring him food, according to the petition: "Charlie reports sneaking upstairs to get food when everyone left the home."

Charlie was found in the bowels of the multiple-unit condo building where he lived with Dillard-Bothuell and his father, Charlie Bothuell IV. He was evaluated at a hospital and returned to his mother. Police do not believe the boy had been there the whole time.