Missing Detroit boy found alive in his basement

DETROIT – Police in Detroit say a 12-year-old boy found Wednesday in the basement of his home after being missing for a week is being medically evaluated.

There had been an intense search for Charlie Bothuell V, and police just hours earlier had told reporters that they were not ruling out the possibility of homicide.

Officers discovered the boy while serving a search warrant on the home that the child shares with his father and stepmother. It’s not clear if the child had been in the house the entire time, but police say they found him hiding in the basement behind boxes and a large plastic drum.

Police say the boy was hungry but appeared fine.

The boy’s father says he’s as surprised as anyone that his son was in the basement. Police say the father took a polygraph test while his son was still missing, but the stepmother would not.

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