A man who was allegedly held captive for 20 years in the basement of
his father and step-mother was too traumatised to speak after being
filmed shortly after his release.
Armando de Andrade, who disappeared when he was 16, was found tied to a bed in a tiny, windowless room by police searching houses for drugs gang members
Witnesses said the man, now aged 36, had "enormous" toenails and fingernails and a long beard which had grown to his knees while police said he was "malnourished".
Detectives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, believe he lived in virtual darkness for two decades in a room without light fittings, while the floor was reportedly covered in human faeces.
Police chief Celso Marchiori, who is investigating the case, said of the moment policemen 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."
Neighbours in the Guarulhos district of Sao Paulo, southeast Brazil, recalled how Armando was a normal 16-year-old, who liked skateboarding and playing the guitar, when he suddenly disappeared.
Never seen again by his friends, Armando's family always claimed he had moved to another part of Brazil and was "doing well".
One neighbour, Aparecido Rocha Brasil, said he believed the teenager's father and step-mother decided to lock him in the room after he started experimenting with alcohol.
Armando de Andrade, who disappeared when he was 16, was found tied to a bed in a tiny, windowless room by police searching houses for drugs gang members
Witnesses said the man, now aged 36, had "enormous" toenails and fingernails and a long beard which had grown to his knees while police said he was "malnourished".
Detectives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, believe he lived in virtual darkness for two decades in a room without light fittings, while the floor was reportedly covered in human faeces.
Police chief Celso Marchiori, who is investigating the case, said of the moment policemen 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."
Neighbours in the Guarulhos district of Sao Paulo, southeast Brazil, recalled how Armando was a normal 16-year-old, who liked skateboarding and playing the guitar, when he suddenly disappeared.
Never seen again by his friends, Armando's family always claimed he had moved to another part of Brazil and was "doing well".
One neighbour, Aparecido Rocha Brasil, said he believed the teenager's father and step-mother decided to lock him in the room after he started experimenting with alcohol.
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