CHARLIE BOTHUELL - 12 yo (6/2014) - Detroit MI

Detroit police ask for public's helping in finding missing 12-year-old boy
Charlie Bothuell last seen Monday night at his home on Nicolet Place

Author: Halston Herrera, Senior News Editor for ClickOnDetroit.com,
Published On: Jun 17 2014 07:24:10 AM EDT  
Updated On: Jun 17 2014 08:01:39 AM EDT



Detroit - Detroit police are asking for the public's help in finding a 12-year-old boy who is missing.

Police said Charlie Bothuell was last seen Monday night at his home in the 1300 block of Nicolet Place. His father told police his son was working out, stopped to go to the bathroom and never came back.

Bothuell is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, 120 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red T-shirt, black and gray pajama pants and a black and gray Phat Farm jacket.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/detroit-police-ask-for-publics-helping-in-finding-missing-12yearold-boy/26525982

Cadaver dogs used in search for missing 12-year-old boy

By Kim Craig
6:22 PM, Jun 20, 2014
10:32 AM, Jun 21, 2014

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The parents of missing 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell V are hopeful their son is alive and safe despite the use of police cadaver dogs.

Charlie was reportedly last seen by his step-mother the evening of Saturday, June 14, at the family's residence on Nicolet Place near Rivard.

Once she realized the boy was missing, she notified his father, who was not at home at the time. Charlie's dad called 911.

Charlie's mother, who doesn't live very far away, was also called and they began to search the neighborhood.

Charlie's father, Charlie Bothuell IV, tells Action News that police had him take a polygraph examination Friday to rule him out as a possible suspect in his son's disappearance.

Bothuell says he completely understands that police need to rule out the parents as having any involvement in a child's disappearance. He says he just wants to find his son.

Thursday night, members of the Detroit Violent Crime Task Force, searched the father's home and vehicle for any clues into Charlie's disappearance. The home where Charlie's mom lives was also searched earlier this week.

Charlie is 5'-4" tall, weighs 120 lbs., with brown hair, brown eyes and dark complexion. He was last seen wearing a red t-shirt, black and gray pajama pants and a black and gray Phat Farm Jacket. Charlie has a good mental and physical condition.

Bothuell said his son took a computer from the house and he just learned that his son had opened up a Twitter account.

Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of 12-year-old Charlie is asked to call Detroit Police Department's Criminal Investigations Bureau at 313-596-1140.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/cadaver-dogs-used-to-search-for-missing-12-year-old-boy

Lie detector twist in case of missing 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell

4:33 PM, Jun 24, 2014

DETROIT (WXYZ) - There is a new twist in the case of a missing 12-year-old boy from Detroit who was last seen leaving his home on June 14.

Polygraph tests for Charlie Bothuell's father have come back inconclusive. The child's stepmother declined to take the polygraph test.

Charlie was last seen at his dad’s house in the 1300 block of Nicolet Place.

He’s 5'-4" tall, weighs 120 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes and dark complexion.

He was last seen wearing a red shirt, black and gray pajama pants and a black and gray Phat Farm Jacket.

Family has offered a $1000 reward for information that leads to his safe return.

If anyone has seen Charlie, please contact the Detroit Police Department's Criminal Investigations at 313-596-1140.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/lie-detector-twist-in-case-of-missing-12-year-old-charlie-bothuell

June 24, 2014 at 5:41 pm

FBI joins search for missing Detroit 12-year-old

Tony Briscoe, The Detroit News

Detroit — Federal authorities have joined the search for a missing 12-year-old boy who disappeared a week ago after leaving his house.

The FBI joined Detroit police in the search for Charlie Bothuelle V, who was last seen at 9 p.m. June 14, leaving his home in the 1300 block of Nicolet Place, near Gratiot Avenue, after working out.

Last week, the FBI used cadaver dogs to search Charlie’s home, which led them to a nearby elementary school playground where Charlie is known to hang out. The search went cold at the playground, said the boy’s father, Charlie Bothuelle IV.

Bothuelle and several other family members passed out fliers last week at the nearby Martin Luther King Apartments, where one resident told relatives she saw Charlie walking east on Lafayette on June 14.

Bothuelle said his son’s mother lives one mile east of his home on Nicolet. Two years ago, Charlie left without permission and within three hours of police responding, he was found one block away from his mother’s home.

On June 17, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said social media accounts belonging to Charlie were still being used.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detroit Police’s Criminal Investigation’s Department at (313) 596-1140.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140624/METRO01/306240117#ixzz35fF1GDuN




From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140624/METRO01/306240117#ixzz35fEuFlnk

Search continues for missing boy, 12

Posted: Jun 24, 2014 3:27 PM CDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2014 5:31 PM CDT
By myFOXDetroit.com Staff

DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit police are asking for the public's help locating a boy who has not been seen since Monday, June 14.

Charlie Bothuell, 12, was last seen when he left his home that day in the 1300 block of Nicolet. Fox 2's Randy Wimbley, who spoke with the boy's father, reports Charlie ran away after his stepmother chastised him for not doing his chores.

Charlie has apparently run away from home before but was found a few hours later by police.

Charlie is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds, having brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was last seen wearing a red T-shirt, black and gray pajama pants and a black and gray Phat Farm jacket.

He is said to be in good mental and physical condition.

Sightings of the boy have been reported. A woman claims to have seen Charlie the day he went missing and he was said to be spotted playing basketball a week later.

Wimbley reports he was last seen near the King Apartments on Saturday. His father got wind of it while searching for him on Sunday, but the trail has gone cold since then.

"Anybody who has any information on my son, or if you know anything, or Charlie if you can give us a call, just call us and say you're okay. Just call us and say you're okay, simple as that. We just want to know that he's okay. Just call us and say you're okay, if nothing else," pleads his father, Charlie Bothuell IV.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25859610/detroit-police-seek-missing-boy-12

Detroit police chief: Missing 12-year-old boy Charlie Bothuell found alive, well in dad's basement
Chief Craig: It's unlikely he barricaded himself in basement

Author: Dave Bartkowiak Jr. , Online News Editor, @DaveBartko, dbartkowiak@wdiv.com
Jeff Wattrick, Managing Editor, jwattrick@wdiv.com
Published On: Jun 25 2014 02:22:07 PM EDT   Updated  6 m



Detroit - A missing 12-year-old Detroit boy has been found alive and well in his father's basement Wednesday afternoon, said Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

Charlie Bothuell had been missing since June 14. His father, Charlie Bothuell IV, said he last saw him at his home in the 1300 block of Nicolet Place. He said his son was working out, stopped to go to the bathroom and never came back.

Craig said the 12-year-old was found by investigators barricaded behind boxes. Craig added that, in his opinion, it would have been unlikely for Charlie to have built the barricade with a five-gallon drum himself.

"He indicated he was hungry ... I saw evidence that there was food around where he was," said Craig.

The chief said the boy was excited to see police. He said he would not rule out the possibility that his parents knew Bothuell was hidden in the basement.

Craig also said the townhouse was searched multiple times with a cadaver dog without finding evidence the boy was hiding. He also said investigators are not certain Botheull was in the basement the entire time he was missing.

"I didn't know," Botheull's father, Charles Botheull IV, said about his son's location after he was found Wednesday afternoon.

He called assertions that his wife, the boy's stepmother, hid the child in the basement "absurd."

"My wife wouldn't do that," he said.

Police removed Charlie Botheull from the house and he hasn't yet had contact with his parents.

"He needs a whole lot of help at this point," said the elder Botheull about his son's future.

On Tuesday, more than a week after his son first was reported missing, Charlie's father appeared on "Nancy Grace" begging for help to find him.

He told a different story about the last day he saw Charlie. The dad admitted that Charlie ran away from home two years ago, but police found him after three hours.

During a news conference earlier on Wednesday afternoon, Craig said Charlie's close family members were being questioned, but no one was considered a person of interest.

"As in any missing investigation, we certainly look at close family members," said Craig, who called it a "normal investigation."

Craig said the father had underwent a polygraph test administered by the FBI, which was inconclusive.

Police launched a new search for the missing boy Tuesday night. Several K-9s sniffed around the Martin Luther King apartments on Lafayette searching for the 12-year-old.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/detroit-boy-charlie-bothuell-has-been-missing-since-june-16/26657470

June 25, 2014 at 1:00 am

Questions remain after missing Detroit boy found in dad's home

George Hunter and Tony Briscoe, The Detroit News

Detroit— A 12-year-old boy missing for 11 days was found secreted in his family’s basement Wednesday, and Police Chief James Craig said the child’s parents “have a lot of questions to answer.”

Just hours before they discovered Charlie Bothuell behind a makeshift barrier at the townhouse at Lafayette Park, police said he possibly had been killed.

Craig hosted a press conference outside the townhouse to announce the child had been found, apparently unharmed, and had been placed in protective custody. Charlie’s father, Charlie Bothuell IV, who halted an interview with HLN’s “Nancy Grace” show, interrupted the chief’s press conference and insisted he didn’t know his son had been hiding in the basement.

“I searched; my wife searched, the police searched,” Bothuell IV said. “Any intimation that I knew he was there is absurd. I’m a nurse. I take care of people.”

Detroit police detectives and FBI investigators had searched the townhouse in the 1300 block of Nicolet Place four times since Charlie went missing, Craig said.

“There were cadaver dogs, and it seems to me they would have picked up on it if he was in the basement when they searched,” Craig said.

Craig said it doesn’t appear the boy could have gotten into the hiding place alone. He was crouched behind a heavy drum, the chief said, and “the investigators had to move lots of boxes that were stacked up; if he did it by himself, how does that happen? Is it impossible? Maybe not, but it doesn’t appear he could have done it alone.

“All I know is, he was really excited to see us. One could interpret something from that.”

The chief added he’s not sure where Charlie’s stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, is. Bothuell insisted police told his wife to leave the area.

“The FBI ... forced my wife to leave,” Bothuell said.

Craig said that didn’t make sense. “I don’t know why he’s asserting the FBI said she had to leave; seems to me they would’ve asked her to stand by,” he said. “That’s him talking.”

Craig said the boy “won’t be put back into the home until we finish our investigation.”

“I didn’t see any signs of abuse, but the child protective people will certainly look for that,” the chief said.

Meeting with reporters Wednesday, before Charlie was found, Craig said police had expanded the scope of their investigation to include the possibility that the boy had been killed. He said foul play was a possibility.

“This was based on evidence the detectives found,” Craig said after Charlie was found alive. “I think there was a premature reaction; you might find some kind of evidence that suggests there was a homicide, but that doesn’t mean there was one. We put the information out there, and then we got an update.”

Charlie reportedly left his home at about 9 p.m. June 14. His father said the boy got into an argument with his stepmother before saying he was going to use the bathroom. Bothuell said that was the last time he saw him.

The father took a lie detector test but insisted it be administered by the FBI — not Detroit police. The results were inconclusive. His wife has refused to take a lie-detector test, Craig said.

“I want to take (another lie-detector test) with the media,” Bothuell said. “I want my name cleared, and my family name cleared.”

When asked whether his son could have moved the heavy barrel to access his basement hiding place alone, Bothuell implied that he could: “Have you seen the pictures of my son?” he asked.

At one point while speaking with reporters, Bothuell broke into tears.

“I want to talk to my son,” he said. “He needs some intervention. He needs a whole lot of help at this point.”

Last week, the FBI used cadaver dogs to search Charlie’s home, which led them to a nearby elementary school playground where the boy was known to hang out. The search went cold at the playground, said the boy’s father.

Bothuell and several other family members passed out fliers last week at the nearby Martin Luther King Apartments, where one resident told relatives she saw Charlie walking east on Lafayette on June 14.

Bothuell said the child’s mother lives one mile east of his home on Nicolet. Two years ago, he said Charlie left without permission and was found a block from his mother’s house, within three hours of police responding.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140625/METRO01/306250087#ixzz35kTEY2UP

Nancy Grace tells dad missing son found alive

By Katherine Cavazini
updated11:04 PM EDT, Wed June 25, 2014

○ Police say 12-year-old was found alive in father's basement
○ Charlie Bothuell reported missing from Detroit on June 14
○ Nancy Grace breaks news to father that his son has been found alive

VIDEO

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2014/06/25/charlie-bothuell-found-alive-missing-detroit-family-basement

Timeline of the Charlie Bothuell disappearance

Author: Jeff Wattrick, Managing Editor, jwattrick@wdiv.com
Published On: Jun 25 2014 06:09:28 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jun 25 2014 11:34:10 PM EDT

Charlie Bothuell, 12, was found in his father's basement alive and well Wednesday afternoon. The child had been missing for more than a week. This is how the saga has unfolded.

June 16, 2014: Father says this was the last time he saw Charlie Bothuell.

June 17, 2014: Police ask public for help with their search for Bothuell.

June 21, 2014: Bothuell's father, Charles Bothuell IV, says he took a polygraph at police request. Results were inconclusive.

June 24, 2014: Police use dogs to again search the townhouse. The elder Bothuell appears on cable news asking for help to find his son.

June 25, 2014: Detroit Police Chief James Craig holds news conference about case. A few hours later, the boy is found alive and well, behind a makeshift barricade in his father's basement. Craig says there was bedding and food in the Bothuell's hiding place. He also said it was unlikely the young man could have constructed his barricade by himself.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/timeline-of-the-charlie-bothuell-disappearance/26663732

Detroit Police say Charlie Bothuell's stepmother in custody, children removed from home

12:42 PM, Jun 26, 2014
3 hours ago

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police say they have taken Charlie Bothuell's stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, into custody. We're told there was a bench warrant out for the 37-year-old's arrest for violating her probation.

Earlier this year, Dillard-Bothuell plead guilty to purchasing a pistol without a permit and was put on a 2-year probation period.

Police also confirm that Child Protective Services has removed two other children, a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old, from the home.

A day after 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell V was found alive in the basement of his father's Detroit home, new details are emerging about his strange 10-day disappearance.

Police say Charlie was home schooled and subjected to an exercise regime, though further details were not provided.

Bothuell was discovered hiding behind a 55-gallon drum while officers were executing their fourth search warrant on the Nicolet Place home Wednesday afternoon.

We're told a PVC pipe with blood on it was taken away from the home as evidence.

Charlie was released from the hospital Thursday morning and is now with his mother where he has been interviewed by the FBI and other investigators.

Action News has also learned of a new twist in the case. The uncle of Monique Charlie's stepmother has a listed address three doors away from where the search had been going on.

That home is the end unit of the same condominium building. The units are connected by an underground hallway.

Charlie's stepmother's uncle is Detroit attorney Godfrey Dillard. Action News reached him on the phone to ask about the case and Monique, and he refused to comment.

Godfrey Dillard recently announced his run for Michigan Attorney General.

It’s unclear if police are investigating a connection to Godfrey Dillard’s listed address.

When his son was found Wednesday, Charlie's father, Charlie Bothuell IV, spoke out emotionally and said he was hoping to be reunited with his son. That has not yet happened.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/new-twist-in-case-of-12-year-old-charlie-bothuell-info-on-underground-hallway-that-connected-units

State wants to terminate parental rights in Charlie Bothuell case
12-year-old was missing for 10 days before police found him in basement

Published On: Jul 10 2014 09:50:25 AM EDT
Updated On: Jul 10 2014 05:47:15 PM EDT

DETROIT - The state wants a court to terminate parental rights of a Detroit man whose 12-year-old son was missing more than a week before police found him in his own basement.

According to petitions obtained by Local 4 in the Wayne County juvenile court, Charlie Bothuell V told investigators he was beaten with a PVC pipe by his father and hit by his stepmother, as well as forced to complete multiple grueling workouts on a daily basis. Investigators are analyzing blood that was found on a PVC pipe.

"It was also disclosed Charlie was placed in the basement of the family home for 11 days by his stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell," a petition states. "Charlie was threatened by Mrs. Dillard-Bothuell not to make any noise no matter what he hears. Mrs. Dillard-Bothuell reported Charlie V ran away from their home, but he was in the basement the entire time."

According the petition, Charlie claims he was denied food or water while made to stay in the basement. He told investigators that he snuck upstairs when he believed the house was empty to forage for food he didn't think his parents would notice missing.

"Charlie V reported Mrs. Dillard-Bothuell stated "she doesn't f'ing like me, and will f'ing murder me." She has also made additional statements, such as "unlike you, I know where the sharp knives are," and "I can make you disappear," according to the petition.

The petition also wants to terminate the parental rights for the family's other two children -- a 4-year-old boy and a 10-month-old girl.

A hearing is Thursday on whether to terminate Charlie Bothuell IV's parental rights and have the rights for the 12-year-old be given to his biological mother. No one has been charged in the disappearance.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/state-wants-to-terminate-parental-rights-in-charlie-bothuell-case/26877136

Father, stepmother of boy found in basement lose custody of children

2:14 PM, July 17, 2014
By Eric D. Lawrence and Gina Damron

The father and stepmother of a Detroit boy who was found in the basement of his home after going missing in June have lost their parental rights, at least for the time being.

During a hearing today at the Lincoln Hall of Justice in Detroit, Referee Nicholas Bobak authorized two petitions, one that seeks the termination of Charlie Bothuell IV’s parental rights for his son, 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell V, and one related to Charlie’s younger siblings that seeks to terminate the rights of Bothuell and his wife, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, who is Charlie’s step-mother.

The decision, in a case that has captured international attention and includes allegations that Bothuell disciplined his son with a PVC pipe, came during a probable cause hearing today that was waived by Bothuell and his wife. Outside of court, attorney Stephanie Carson, who represents Bothuell, described the waiver as a standard maneuver in such matters. Attorney Mark Magidson, who is representing Dillard-Bothuell, complained about a lack of information from authorities.

Both parents were in court but did not speak.

Magidson had argued in court that the Department of Human Services did not follow its mandate to make efforts to avoid removing the younger children, ages 4 years and 10 months, after Charlie was found.

But Children’s Protective Services Investigator Shalan Williams testified that those “reasonable efforts” were not needed,.

“There was concern the children were at risk, and they needed to be taken out of the home immediately,” Williams said.

The case is not over, however, and a pretrial hearing is set for July 28.

The Department of Human services had asked in the petitions that Charlie be formally placed with his mother, with whom he has been staying, and that the younger children be placed with DHS. Bothuell also has been denied visitation with Charlie, pending the outcome of a psychological evaluation. The parents can have supervised visitation with the younger children.

The attorney representing the children, Arthur Bowman of Detroit, said he had met with all three children and said their current placement is “very appropriate” and that Charlie “presents very well.”

The petitions detail allegations of abuse against Charlie, who was found June 25 barricaded in the basement of his home on Nicolet Place on the city’s east side after being missing for 11 days.

According to a petition, Charlie told authorities that he had been abused by his father during the two years he lived with him; was disciplined with a PVC pipe; and was put in the basement by Dillard-Bothuell after she accused him of lying about completing a workout.

According to the petition, Dillard-Bothuell “reported Charlie V ran away from their home, but he was in the basement the entire time.”

Attorney Magidson has dismissed that possibility, citing the extensive searches of the house by law enforcement officers.

Charlie was reportedly on a workout regimen that had him exercising twice a day, the petition says. According to the petition, Charlie said that he had to complete the workout “in under an hour or I would have to do it again.” The petition also says that Charlie reported there were times “when he was in too much pain to complete his workout, due to being hit with the PVC pipe on his feet.”

Bothuell has denied the abuse allegations. Magidson, who represents Dillard-Bothuell, said last week that his client “never harmed that child whatsoever.”

Neither Bothuell nor Dillard-Bothuell have been charged and, on Wednesday, police said a warrant request had not yet been turned over to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NEWS01/307170103/Detroit-Bothuell-dad-stepmother-lose-custody