Police look for aunt of boy allegedly shackled, tortured

(CNN) -- Police in California say they are searching for a woman whose nephew allegedly escaped captivity and wandered to a gym with a shackle on his ankle.

Detectives are trying to unravel the case of a 17-year-old boy found dressed in boxers, bruised, his bloody ankle shackled, at a gym in Tracy, California. Tracy is about 70 miles east of San Francisco, California, said Matt Robinson, spokesman for the Tracy Police Department.

Police believe 43-year-old Caren Ramirez, who is thought to be the boy's aunt, was somehow involved.

Authorities arrested Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, on charges of kidnapping, torture, false imprisonment, child endangerment and corporal injury to a child, Robinson said.

Police are trying to ascertain the connection between the aunt and the other two suspects.

Robinson said the teen was held at the home of the suspects, about 500 feet from the fitness center. It was unclear how long the teen had been held at the home, he said.

"The victim said he was held against his will," Robinson told reporters Tuesday.

"When you have a 17-year-old boy showing up with a bloody ankle from having a chain wrapped around it -- it was one of those things where officers put one and one together."

Four other children belonging to Schumacher and Lau, ages 1, 3, 7 and 9, were at the home. All were taken by the San Joaquin County Child Protective Services and showed no signs of abuse, Robinson said.

At some point earlier, social workers took the teen from his parents and he ended up living with his aunt. Later, the aunt was charged with felony abuse and the teen was put in a foster home, Robinson said.

The teen escaped the foster home and somehow reunited with the aunt, Robinson said.

The teen, whose name was not released, was in stable condition at a hospital, suffering from bruising, cuts and malnutrition, Robinson said.

CNN's Andrew Iden, Matthew Zarrell and Ellie Jostad contributed to this report.

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