Missing Detroit 12-year-old found alive in his basement

DETROIT — A picture of Charlie Bothuell V — the one of him in a buttoned-up, collared shirt and pinstriped suit, smiling at the camera — was repeatedly issued by Detroit police.

The 12-year-old was missing.

But on Wednesday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig delivered good news: “We have Charlie.”

In the course of the day, the case took major turns. In the afternoon, Craig said police weren’t ruling out the possibility of a homicide in the child’s disappearance. A short time later, Craig announced that police found Charlie, missing since June 14, alive in the basement of his home.

Craig said Charlie was concealed by a makeshift barricade that police don’t believe the child could have made. He said Charlie was discovered by police as they executed another search warrant on the home.

Craig said Charlie was crouched behind a large container, and there appeared to be food nearby. He said Charlie didn’t call out but was happy to see police.

“In 37 years of policing, I will tell you, I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Craig said. “But the outcome, I couldn’t be happier.”

The investigation, though, continues.

Craig said that if it’s determined there was evidence of child abuse, then “our investigation will take a turn in that direction. But at this point, there’s a process that must be followed and, certainly, the Wayne County prosecutor is directly involved in this. And, so, once that process is completed, we’ll know if any charges will be filed against either or both custodial parents.”

Charlie’s father, Charlie Bothuell IV, said he was unaware his son was in the basement and said “there was no abuse of my son.” He said he was shocked that his son was found in the home.

“For anybody to imply that I somehow knew that my son was in the basement, it’s absurd and it’s wrong,” Bothuell said at the scene. “I love my son. I’m glad that he’s home and he’s going to have the great future that he deserves to have.”

Bothuell broke down sobbing and said: “I want to see my son.”

The discovery came shortly after a news conference, where Craig said authorities had not ruled out the possibility of a homicide in the case.

Craig said police have had ongoing conversations with Charlie’s parents. Bothuell submitted to an FBI-administered polygraph test, but Craig said the boy’s stepmother declined to take one.

On Tuesday, Bothuell appeared on the Nancy Grace cable TV show. He described an exhaustive search that began when he received a call from his wife at about 9:45 p.m. June 14, saying Charlie had left from their home in at about 9 p.m. Bothuell was at his office in Southfield — he’s a registered nurse with his own company — trying to complete some work so he would have that Sunday, Father’s Day, to spend with Charlie, another son, 14, and daughter, 10 months old.

Bothuell said he came home from work and called police. He said the response from a dispatcher was dismissive and disrespectful, and he said it took three calls to actually make the report.

Police showed up sometime around midnight, Bothuell said.

Bothuell said he was asked to take a Detroit police lie detector test but refused, noting that he had been questioned for eight hours by officers, and he said they were not truthful when they told him what to expect.

Craig said he’s “not aware of any mistreatment by our investigators or any other investigators.”

Contributing: Eric D. Lawrence of the Detroit Free Press

Missing Detroit 12-year-old found alive in his basement