Missing teen found 20 years later - TIED TO A BED IN HIS PARENTS' BASEMENT

Armando de Andrade was freed after twenty years of captivity.

A 16-year-old teen went missing over twenty years ago in Guarulhos, Brazil.

When he was discovered, authorities could hardly believe what he'd been through.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the BBC, police were going door-to-door in an unrelated anti-drug raid in a poor section of the city.

Believing the house was empty, police stormed in.

As they searched the rooms, authorities came upon a windowless room with human feces on the floor, a filthy bed, an even dirtier toilet and chains on the wall.

Tied to the bed was a man with "enormous" toe and fingernails and a beard trailing to his knees.

Police freed the unidentified person, who was too traumatized to speak.

He was later identified as 36-year-old Armando de Andrade, who went missing when he was only 16-years-old.

Authorities described Andrade as "malnourished" in appearance.

Police chief Celso Marchiori told the Mirror the moment police found him: "He got up, very impaired and didn't speak a word.

"We took him outside and he still didn't say anything. We didn't know if he was scared or drugged. He wasn't able to identify us as police officers. We called for help and he was taken straight to hospital.

"It's difficult to believe he was in that place for 20 years. It's a very insanitary place, he wouldn't have survived. There's no light at all."

Neighbors recall Armando when he was a teen. He enjoyed skateboarding and playing the guitar.

When he disappeared, friends and neighbors asked what happened and Armando's father and step-mother claimed he was fine but had moved to another part of Brazil.

One neighbor, who saw Armando escorted from the home, told authorities he believed the boy was punished because he began experimenting with alcohol.

He told Brazil's Globo News TV channel: "Every teenager is curious about these things. But for some reason, when alcohol entered into his life, his family decided to take this approach, and kept him locked up for all this time."

Ederson Silva, a childhood friend, recalled: "Whenever we asked about him they always said [the] same thing, no, he's living in the northeast, he's well, he's working, he's building his family there. That's all they said to us."

Arbando's father, Amancio de Andrade, claimed his son left their home at 18-years-old and only returned last week, asking to be locked in the room to get clean from drug addiction.

"He's a grown man," Amancio stated. "He never got in touch. Then last week I opened my door and he was there. [W]e gave him food and let him stay in the basement room. He asked me to lock the door so he couldn't get out."

Armando has been moved to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital, where he remains unable to speak.

A video of a friend talking to him reveals Armando's ability to nod or shake his head in response to questions but he otherwise refrains from verbal replies.

Police have since launched an investigation into Amancio and his wife, neither of whom have been arrested and have reportedly fled their home after angry neighbors began harassing them.

Amancio is being charged with false imprisonment but there has been no news of his wife being charged with anything at this time.

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