Dec 1, 2008 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Teen In Shackles Stumbles Into Calif. Gym
TRACY, Calif. (CBS) ―
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A teen boy who was reported missing in 2007 walked into a Tracy, Calif. gym bruised and wearing chains Monday, saying he had been kidnapped and held hostage, according to authorities. (File)
In-Shape Sports Club
A bruised and "emaciated" 17-year-old boy wearing shackles showed up at a downtown Tracy, Calif. gym late Monday afternoon — claiming he had just fled his captors after being held hostage for about a year, authorities said.
Tracy police later surrounded a house on Tennis Lane and arrested a man and woman, who were suspected of abducting the teen and holding him against his will after he ran away from a Sacramento foster home in 2007.
Chuck Ellis, a manager of the In-Shape Sports Club in Tracy, said the boy came into the fitness center about 4 p.m. nearly naked — wearing only boxer briefs, covered with what appeared to be soot and with a chain locked around his ankle.
Ellis said the teen was scared someone was going to get 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 the teenager told him he was picked up after running away from the foster home to look for his family and held for almost a year. The gym manager said the teen looked like he was between 10 and 12 years old.
Tracy police spokesman Matt Robinson said the boy was confused when first approached by detectives, unsure where he had come from and exactly how long he had been held against his will.
"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.
The couple arrested lived close to the fitness center. Two children inside the couple's house - where the teen was allegedly held - were also taken into protective custody, Robinson said.
The suspects were booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, but their names were not immediately released.
Police were still investigating the kidnapping allegations, trying to determine exactly how the boy may have ended up in the couple's custody.
Robinson said detectives planned to interview the boy, who was taken to Sutter Tracy Community Hospital for treatment, more extensively on Tuesday when he is a "little healthier."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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