Shackled California Teen

A disturbing case of alleged child abuse and torture came to light in Tracy, Calif., on Dec. 01, 2008, when a half-naked and emaciated 17-year-old boy managed to escape from a residence where he reportedly had been held captive for roughly one year.
According to police, the boy ran into In-Shape City gym at about 4 p.m. Monday and asked an employee to hide him. Witnesses say that the boy, who was covered in soot, urine and feces, was carrying a chain that was padlocked to his ankle.

The boy was initially confused about where he was and how he got there; however, he eventually told investigators that he ran away from a Sacramento foster home in 2007 to look for his biological family. The boy was reported missing; at some point he made his way from Sacramento to Tracy, a 70-mile journey, and allegedly ended up being held captive in a tract home less than a block from the gym.
Based upon the boy's initial statement and his poor physical condition, police went to the house the boy identified as the place where he had been held. They took into custody a married couple identified as 34-year-old Michael Luther Schumacher and 30-year-old Kelly Layne Lau-Schumacher. At that time, the couple's four children, ages 1, 3, 9 and 11, were placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.
According to Robinson, a search of the home revealed evidence that further supports the boy's statement to police. As a result, Schumacher and his wife were booked into San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of felony conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment by
violence and child beating. Both are being held in lieu of nearly $1.2 million in bail.
In the days following the Schumacher's arrest, investigators took two more suspects into custody on similar charges. The third suspect, 43-year-old Caren Ramirez, had become the teen's legal guardian approximately four years ago, when child-welfare officials took him away from his father. Not long thereafter, a warrant was issued for Ramirez, for assaulting and abusing the boy, and he was placed into a Sacramento foster home. According to Sacramento County court records, Ramirez was convicted in 2007 on one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a child. Police say Ramirez also has three outstanding warrants for her arrest in the same county.
The fourth suspect has been identified as Anthony Waiters, 29, a neighbor of the first three suspects. Waiters was booked into jail on suspicion of six felonies, including conspiracy, torture, false imprisonment, child beating and child endangerment. Due to a court-ordered gag order, the details of Waiters' alleged involvement remain unknown.
All four suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.