Teen held captive ‘covered with soot, sores, scars’

THREE people are accused of kidnapping and torturing a 16-year-old boy who police said had been kept chained in a fireplace, choked with a belt and denied food for days at a time during more than a year in captivity.

The emaciated boy fled a home in Tracy, California, last week with a chain around his ankle and sought help at a local gym.

Michael Schumacher, 34, his wife, Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and the teenager’s one-time guardian, Caren Ramirez, 43, face torture, kidnapping and multiple child abuse charges. They have appeared before San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton.