# 20 years locked in room **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636 "2025-03-16T01:29:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/1 "2025-03-16T01:29:32Z")
Awful story from Waterbury, Connecticut. 32 year old man says he was locked in storage room by his stepmom for 20 years. Weighed only 68 pounds when firemen found and rescued him. I hope he survives but he will have a long recovery. > **[Experts predict long road ahead for alleged Waterbury survivor](https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/experts-predict-long-road-ahead-waterbury-survivor/3521214/)** > > In the past 24 hours, tens of thousands of dollars have poured in for the 32-year-old man who said he was held captive for decades. Experts say, generally speaking, anyone in this position would have a long way of recovery to go. “This is probably... ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/2 "2025-03-16T03:14:23Z")
Yikes that’s inhumane. The guy missed all that socialization everyone else gets. Horrible isn’t even a bad enough adjective. I can’t come up with any appropriate follow-up questions right now. It does motivate me to send some money for his support. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/3 "2025-03-16T04:36:12Z")
Wow. Kasper Hauser all over again. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/4 "2025-03-16T07:34:16Z")
Reminds me more of Blanche Monnier. > **[Blanche Monnier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Monnier)** > > Blanche Monnier (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French pronunciation: \[blɑ̃ʃ mɔnje\]; 1 March 1849 – 13 October 1913), often known in France as la Séquestrée de Poitiers\[a\] (roughly, "The Confined Woman of Poitiers"), was a woman from Poitiers, France, who was secretly kept locked in a small room by her aristocratic mother and bro ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/5 "2025-03-16T15:06:22Z")
I never heard of Hauser or Monnier. Good comparisons with a few differences. Hauser was an infant when his alleged captivity began. Monnier was an adult in her 20s. I can think of many questions about the Connecticut case. My first is the fire he started. Was it in his locked room? If so how did he survive the fire and smoke? Did the stepmom call the fire dept or did someone else? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/6 "2025-03-16T15:19:45Z")
> [@justdoit](#): > > Was it in his locked room? If so how did he survive the fire and smoke? Did the stepmom call the fire dept or did someone else? He started the fire in his room using a lighter he found in coat pocket (from his father’s old clothes given to him), hand sanitizer and some papers. He waited until it was too large to get extinguished by his mother then called for help. He did suffer smoke inhalation. His stepmother was forced to call the fire department because of the size of the fire. She wanted to get him washed up and out of the house but he collapsed and wouldn’t get up to ensure that the fire department had to come in and get (discover) him. [https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327122/connecticut-captive-stepmom-house-fire](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327122/connecticut-captive-stepmom-house-fire) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/7 "2025-03-16T15:42:46Z")
Kudos to him for figuring out to do that. And I wonder how many people are still in a similar situation because they weren’t so resourceful. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/8 "2025-03-16T16:01:15Z")
Thanks for the NPR article explaining the fire. Next question is doesn’t the Connecticut Child Services or Health Dept check on kids who are home schooled at least once a year? Seems like they should be required to. Also, don’t home schooled kids need to take tests to show they are learning and progressing? That should be required, also. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/9 "2025-03-16T17:19:51Z")
Starting a fire in his locked room was very risky. The stepmom may have gone to sleep and not heard him yelling and stomping. Or she may not have been able to open the lock for some reason. Or she may not have cared if he died in the fire and just gotten herself out of the house. But the man was desperate and may not have cared much if he died. Sounds like he was already close to death so fire was worth trying. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/10 "2025-03-16T23:32:25Z")
I was thinking more of the Turpin family, or Genie, who was kept so isolated, she never developed language. > **[Genie (feral child)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child))** > > Genie (born 1957) is the pseudonym of an American feral child who was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation. Her circumstances are prominently recorded in the annals of linguistics and abnormal child psychology. When she was approximately 20 months old, her father began keeping her in a locked room. During this period, he almost always strapped her to a child's toilet or bound her in a crib with her arms and legs immobilized, forbade anyone to interact with her, provide Psyc... ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/11 "2025-03-17T02:07:45Z")
Genie is another sad story. I wonder how the Connecticut man got a lighter. I doubt the stepmom gave it to him or would let him smoke. Maybe he stole it from her somehow. When he was doing his chores up to two hours per day, seems like one day there would be oppurtunity to use a phone to call 911 without stepmom noticing. He wouldn’t need to say anything. Police are supposed to respond and should be able to tell where the call is coming from. But maybe stepmom watched him too closely or made sure a phone was nowhere nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/12 "2025-03-17T04:03:10Z")
> [@justdoit](#): > > I wonder how the Connecticut man got a lighter. I doubt the stepmom gave it to him or would let him smoke The stepmother gave him a pile of his deceased father’s old clothing to wear and he discovered the lighter in a pocket. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/13 "2025-03-17T05:29:06Z")
She may also have brainwashed him, a la The Girl In The Box, and told him things like that that neighbors are spies who would bring him back and he’d just get it worse from her. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/14 "2025-03-17T05:31:29Z")
I have a feeling this was not required at the time. Here’s an interview with the principal of the elementary school he attended, who said multiple reports were made to the authorities, and literally nothing happened, and this was in the 00s! > **[FULL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Former Waterbury principal on malnourished boy -...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkO-ou2_mGE%2F)** > > "We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That's the tragedy of the whole thing,” Tom Pannone, the former principal of the now-closed Barnard E... ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/15 "2025-03-18T01:19:58Z")
So as early as 5 years old he was always hungry at school so the principal and teachers were concerned and called his stepmom over many years. For several years they reported him to DCF. DCF did welfare checks for years including some visual inspections of him and saw no problem. His two half-sisters and grandmother didn’t help him. When he dropped out of school stepmom said she was home schooling him. No verification or tests were done. Neighborhood kids were friends of him and would see him in his window watching them play outside. Principal and teachers thought they would hear about his death one day in the news. System failed this boy/man but he survived somehow. I wonder how much he will be able to recover. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/16 "2025-03-19T02:16:51Z")
Father lived in the home with the stepmom and victim and died in Jan 2024. He was at least partly to blame but won’t suffer consequences. Uncle hired PI to search for boy in 2004 and 05. PI just searched records and couldn’t find anything so uncle gave up. His biological mom and his sister did online search about same time and found nothing. Say they didn’t know boy’s name or location. His whole family failed him, just like his neighbord and DCF. What a strange story. > **[Biological mother of Connecticut man allegedly held captive by stepmom for...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/biological-mother-connecticut-man-allegedly-123222555.html)** > > "We all love him. I love him. He’s so strong, and I’m so proud of him for doing what he needed to do. I wish he did it sooner," the man's 52-year-old biological mother said. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/17 "2025-03-19T03:12:52Z")
> [@justdoit](#): > > His biological mom and his sister did online search about same time and found nothing. Say they didn’t know boy’s name or location. > > His whole family failed him These two statements don’t go together. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/18 "2025-03-20T00:34:36Z")
His mom and sister knew the father’s name and maybe location. Seems like they could have tracked him down easily and checked on the boy somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/19 "2025-03-20T00:41:29Z")
Some folks call it a Sling Blade, I call it a Kaiser Blade. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636/20 "2025-03-22T01:30:14Z")
What is the knife reference for? Sling Blade the movie? > **[‘Under pain of death no one was to see me': Warrant reveals CT man's account...](https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/under-pain-of-death-no-one-was-to-see-me-warrant-reveals-mans-account-of-20-years-in-captivity/3523142/)** > > A Connecticut woman has been accused of locking up her stepson for nearly 20 years. Here’s what he told first responders who rescued him from their burning home in February. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-locked-in-room/1015636.md?page=2)