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Man finds out that his missing son was found in his basement on live TV

Home> News

Published 13:29 30 May 2023 GMT+1

Man finds out that his missing son was found in his basement on live TV

Charles Bothuell IV was informed on live TV that his son who had been missing for 11 days had been in his basement all along

The UNILAD Team

The UNILAD Team

This is the chilling moment a father was told live on air that his missing son had been found alive in his basement.

When Detroit dad Charles Bothuell IV's 12-year-old son Charles Bothuell V was reported missing, the case made headlines as the FBI were called to assist in an eleven-day search.

Then, in a disturbing twist, HLN Nancy Grace found out live on-air that the boy had been discovered in Bothuell IV's basement.

Several seconds of stunned silence followed, before Grace asked Bothuell IV: "Sir, did you check your basement?"

He said: "I've checked the basement, the FBI has checked the basement, the Detroit Police checked my basement, my wife has checked the basement.

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"We've all searched my basement multiple times."

After the interview, Charles Bothuell IV was bombarded by the press as he returned home, saying that reports he knew his son was in the basement all along are 'absurd'.

So how did the pre-teen come to be found on Bothuell IV's own property?

The man appeared shocked when he found out his missing son was in the basement.
YouTube/ HLN

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A police investigation followed and they found that the 12-year-old boy was never lost at all - and was just hiding from his father and stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell.

As Bothuell IV said on-air, the FBI had checked the basement, so it's believed the boy must have moved there at some point afterwards.

When Charles Bothuell V was found, he admitted that he hid in the basement because he was scared of the reaction his father was going to have when he realised he hadn't exercised.

According to court documents, Bothuell IV forced the boy to complete a gruelling workout twice a day, which included 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 100 jumping jacks.

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He also allegedly has to curl 25-pound weights and do 5,000 revolutions on an exercise machine, and if he didn't finish in less than an hour, he had to do the whole thing again.

In April 2015, the couple were arrested and charged with torture and second-degree child abuse.

The torture charge was later dismissed in court. If proven, the couple could have faced life sentences.

At the trial in 2016, Bothuell IV pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child abuse in exchange for the removal of the second-degree child-abuse charges.

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Charles Bothuell IV was convicted in 2016.
YouTube/ HLN

Prosecutors revealed that Bothuell V was very thin and had marks on his body when he was found.

Bothuell IV admitted to beating his son with a PVC pipe and handed 18 months of probation and mandatory anger management classes.

He also lost custody of his son and was no longer allowed to have further contact with him. His wife, Dillard-Bothuell, reportedly accepted a plea deal too, but the details of this were not made public.

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As the footage has appeared on social media once again, users have been giving their reactions, with some not familiar with the story questioning whether it is real.

One commenter said: "Wait this is real? There's no way."

A second added: "If he had no idea why didn't he run off and go home."

And a third said: "He definitely knew he was in there."

Featured Image Credit: HLN

Topics: Crime, US News

The UNILAD Team
The UNILAD Team

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