The biological mother of a Connecticut man who has been captured and said to be starved by his stepmother for over 20 years, says she is “pride in him” by her escape.
Police say a 32-year-old Connecticut man broke out a fire on February 17th in a small room allegedly trapped in his family’s Waterbury home.
He told officers responding that he was captured by his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, who was 56 years old since he was 11 and started the fire because he “wanted freedom.”
The man’s biological 52-year-old mother told NBC Connecticut on Monday that she had been searching for signs of her son for decades after giving up custody when he was a baby. Last week she found tragic news from her sister.
“While I was at work, my sister actually called me and she said we found him (her son). We found him,” the mother, who remains anonymous, told NBC Connecticut.
“I’m heartbroken,” she added. “I can’t guess that yet. How can anyone treat someone like that?”
The mother said she and her daughter, the victim sister, had scrutinized the internet for him when he grew up.
“I want him to know that he has a sister, and I always knew that he existed, I always loved him, I was trying to find him. I had been looking for him for over 10 years. I wanted to wait until he turned 18.
Sullivan faces attacks, tricks, illegal restraint, brutality and reckless danger in this case. Her attorney denied the claim.
In Sullivan’s arrest, prosecutors told authorities that his son-in-law, who weighed 5 feet 9 and weighed 68 pounds when he was found, was locked up in a room that was 8 by 9 feet from the fourth grade. He told authorities that it was the equivalent of two sandwiches and two small bottles of water a day, leaving for chores for 15 minutes to two hours in the morning.
According to the affidavit for the case, he lit the fire using light hand sanitizer and some paper from a printer.
The victim’s biological mother told NBC Connecticut that she was requesting accusations against the family who held him at the Waterbury home.
“All of them in that house need to charge… and she actually has to spend the rest of her life locked up in a cell and give her two glasses of water a day,” she said.
She hopes to connect with her biological son soon.
“He loved him and there are all here on both sides of his family, both sides, who have been looking for him,” his mother said. “We all love him. I love him. He’s so strong and I’m proud that he did what he needed to do.
Sullivan’s lawyer, Ioannis Caroigis, told NBC News last week that Sullivan is innocent of any crime. Caloid said the man’s biological father passed away in January 2024.
“We cannot reveal details about the conversations we have with our clients, but when her father passed away, this gentleman was over 30. She had no control over anything in his life,” Kalooidis said. “She kept her home, kept her groceries, kept her lights on, kept her heated, and kept her shelter.”
