The biological mother of the Connecticut man who authorities say was held captive and starved by his stepmother for more than two decades says that she is "proud of him" for escaping — and that his captor can "rot in hell."
Police say the Connecticut man, 32, started a fire in the small room that he is alleged to have been locked in at his family’s home in Waterbury on Feb. 17. The man, whom police did not name but described as a victim, was found severely emaciated after having been subjected to "prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglected inhumane treatment."
He told officers that he had been captive by his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, 56, since he was 11 years old, and that he started the fire because "I wanted my freedom," the Waterbury Police Department said.
The man’s biological 52-year-old mother told NBC Connecticut on Monday she had been looking for a sign of her son for decades after she gave up custody of him when he was a baby. Last week, she found out the harrowing news from her sister.
"My sister actually called me while I was at work, and she had stated we found [her son]. We found him," the mother, who wants to remain anonymous, told NBC Connecticut.
"I’m heartbroken," she added. "I still just can’t fathom it. How can anybody treat somebody like that?"
The mother, along with her daughter — the victim’s half-sister — said they scoured the internet for him once he became an adult.
"I just want him to know that he has a big sister, and I’ve always known he’s existed, and I’ve always loved him, and I’ve always been trying to find him. I’ve been looking for him for over a decade. I wanted to wait till he was 18. I’m almost 35 now. And ... there was nothing. No social media, no court records, no ancestry information, nothing," the half-sister said.
Sullivan faced assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty and reckless endangerment charges. Her attorney has denied the allegations.
At Sullivan’s arraignment, prosecutors said the stepson, who was 5-feet-9 and weighed 68 pounds when he was found, told authorities he had been locked inside an 8-by-9-foot room since the fourth grade. He told authorities he was let out in the mornings for 15 minutes to two hours to do chores and was given two sandwiches a day and the equivalent of two small bottles of water.
According to an affidavit in the case, he ignited the fire using a lighter, hand sanitizer and some paper from a printer.
His biological mother told NBC Connecticut she is demanding charges against the family that held him in the Waterbury home.
"All of them in that home ... need to get ... charged, and she needs to actually spend the rest of her life in solitary confinement and fed two cups of water a day," she said.
She hopes to be connected with her biological son soon.
"He does have everybody here, on both sides, on both sides of his family, that love him and have looked for him," the mother said. "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."
Ioannis Kaloidis, an attorney for Sullivan, told NBC News last week that Sullivan is innocent of any crimes. Kaloidis said the man's biological father died in January 2024.
"I can’t disclose the specifics of my conversation with my client, but I could tell you, at the time the father passed away, this gentleman was over 30 years old. She wasn’t controlling anything in his life," Kaloidis said. "She continued to maintain the home, she continued to get groceries, she continued to keep the lights on, the heat on, and provided a shelter."