Half-Naked Teen Shows Up At Gym In Chains

Calif. Couple Faces Charges After 17-Year-Old Claims He Escaped Captivity

(CBS/ AP)  A husband and wife have been charged with torture and other counts after a bruised, terrified 17-year-old showed up at a gym with a chain locked to his ankle, claiming he had just fled his captors, authorities said Tuesday.

Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and Michael Schumacher, 34, were arrested late Monday, said Matt Robinson, a spokesman for police in Tracy.

They had been taken into custody for questioning earlier in the day at their home in Tracy, where the emaciated boy was allegedly held against his will. A search of the home turned up evidence implicating the couple, Robinson said. Tracy is about 60 miles east of San Francisco.

They were charged with torture, kidnapping and child abuse, and were set to appear in court Thursday, officials said. Bail was set at $1.2 million for Michael Schumacher but his wife's bail had not been set, authorities said.

Police said they were searching for a third suspect but wouldn't give details.

The boy turned up half-naked Monday at the In-Shape Sports Club, near the couple's home. It's not clear how he ended up in Tracy; authorities said he ran away last year from a foster home in Sacramento, about 70 miles to the north.

Robinson said the boy was confused when approached by detectives Monday, unsure where he had come from and how long had been held against his will. He was taken to a hospital.

"The wounds he had and his physical condition as well as having a chain around his leg corroborated his basic statement that he was being held against his will," Robinson said.

Chuck Ellis, a manager of the In-Shape Sports Club, said the boy came into the fitness center Monday afternoon wearing only boxer briefs, covered with what appeared to be soot. Ellis says the teen was scared someone was going to come after him and asked to be hidden.

"He said `Don't let them get me, don't let them get me,"' Ellis said. "He was totally terrified."

Ellis said he had cuts on his arm and back and dry blood on his body, reports CBS affiliate KPIX. He said the teenager told him he was picked up after running away from the foster home to look for his family and that he had been held for almost a year. Ellis said he looked like he was only 10 to 12 years old.

Robinson said detectives plan to interview the boy more Tuesday when he is a "little healthier."

[dan_da_ban3]

test5

[dan_da_ban3]

test 4

[wiccanpth]

I have to laugh, "God" has not punshied me by giving me an autistic child. If nothing else, I am blessed with an extrodinary child who has taught me more about patience than anything else. I will say affirmations for you caco58 or lady_organs that the light of intelligence reaches you some day. May you learn some of the lessons in your Bible. How sad I am for you.

[themroaches]

Our neighbors adopted a 9/11 orphan out of foster care last year. Now both of my teens want us to look into adopting too; and this horrific story has only strengthened our entire families conviction to try.

[rf35]

Looks to me like they are brother & sister or something. Notice the resemblance in the nose, eyebrows, and general facial shape? Probably inbred. There are a lot more rednecks in CA than many people realize, especially up north. I look forward to the updates/follow-up articles. There%u2019s surely a lot more to come out here.

[auscross1277]

when they throw ''''em in jail, don''''''''t drop the soap.
Posted by hober_mallow at 10:20 PM : Dec 02, 2008
*** Good advice for Jorge W Bush....

[auscross1277]

So Micheal Jackson has been living in SAN FRANCISCO, California lately living with this couple?????

[auscross1277]

Lucky thing he didn''''t go to a Catholic church for help.
Posted by Regats at 02:09 AM : Dec 03, 2008
*** that was wrong!...LOL

[regats-2009]

Lucky thing he didn''t go to a Catholic church for help.

[rwsmith29456]

What a handsome couple.

[zykracosmos]

These folks look like meth heads.

[mram49]

Very scary and could create a slew of copycat type creeps, but I was a kid who hitch hikes all around the country at his age. I''m 50 now, but i can only imagine how many others are kept against their will. For these people, if you can call them people, I suggest the death penalty, but forget a needle. Hang the creeps in public. To bad some things just won''t qualify any longer.

[mram49]

ery scary and could create a slew of copycat type creeps, but I was a kid who hitch hikes all around the country at his age. I''m 50 now, but i can only imagine how many others are kept against their will. For these people, if you can call them people, I suggest the death penalty, but forget a needle. Hang the creeps in public. To bad some things just won''t qualify any longer.

[drinuk]

It appears you must have been very pi--ed off with the foster home too, we can only imagine what was going on there for him to runaway. Hopefully there will be a little digging into his care prior to leaving there and falling into the hands of these evil morons. We can only hope conditions are favourable for him to be re-united with his family.

[hober_mallow]

when they throw ''em in jail, don''''t drop the soap.

[lanawonders]

These people are pure evil freaks...Who knows what they were doing to that boy...luckily he didn''t end up dead...

[staycalm]

It chills me to think of what might be happening to other foster children and runaways behind closed doors. Even at 17 he was helpless against these evil people. Why do we think kids are adults at 18 when they are so clearly not? It just lets the government off the hook when the emancipate them at 18 and the kids have nowhere to go and no way to make a living. What happens to all these poor kids? Imagine what it must be like to realize at the tender age of 18 that there is no one in the world that you can lean on but yourself, nowhere to go when you are sick or need help. How can we abandon these kids? Why didn''t the group home look for him or report him missing? The whole system is a mess and wrong, wrong, wrong.

[jowand]

Inbred white trash.

Posted by ThinTheHerd2 at 06:29 PM : Dec 02, 2008

No just criminals. If you want to thin the herd start with yourself.

[flexsf]

The boy ran away from a foster home to look for his biological family? How sad! I''m usually unmoved by missing children stories, but this poor kid deserves someone to take him in, and get him educated.

[dan_da_ban3]

test3