On June 14, 2014, 12-year-old Charlie Boswell was reported missing by his father, Charles,
and his stepmother Monique Dillard Boswell. Charlie had been working out and took a break to use the
restroom, but he never returned. For all accounts, according to his father, this is not the first time
that Charlie had run away. When he was 11 years old, Charlie had disappeared and was found three
hours later wandering around his Detroit, Michigan neighborhood. Charlie was returned home that day
and life went back to normal. That is, until he disappeared for a second time just one year later.
Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted to say that
episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind.
Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this
podcast. Listener discretion is strongly advised. Hi everyone, this is Deb, your host from the True
Crime Podcast, Dying to be Found and Dying to be Found the Dash. Thanks for joining me today
where I give you a collection of short true crime events. After you're done listening here,
be sure to head on over to Dying to be Found wherever you get your podcasts and listen to
in-depth discussions with my family members. That's right, we have two podcasts, so be sure to check
both of them out and tell your friends. In the meantime, let's get started where today you're
going to hear about Charlie Boswell, a 12-year-old boy who for 11 days had gone missing from his home
in Detroit, Michigan. We have two Charlies in today's storyline. First, we have 12-year-old
Charlie, whom this story is about, and then we have Charles Boswell IV. To avoid confusion,
I'm going to reference the elder Boswell as Charles and the younger Boswell as Charlie.
This story begins two years earlier when Charlie was 11 years old. In November 2011, Charlie had
moved in with his dad, Charles, and his stepmom, Monique, plus his two siblings. The reason he
changed households is not clear, but Charlie had voiced his preference to remain with his biological
mother from the get-go. That didn't happen. Instead, for the next two years, Charlie lived
with his dad and was homeschooled, but not like you would think. There's not a ton of information
on the structure of Charlie's education. He simply learned from some textbooks that did come from the
local elementary school. So by the time he eventually enrolled in public school in grade seven, Charlie
was very much behind for his age and grade level. Living conditions were not much better. Charlie
found himself parked on the couch as opposed to his own bedroom, which resulted as punishment for
receiving poor grades. Later, Charlie would tell authorities that he had often been banished to the
basement, deprived of food, and isolated from the family. On rare occasions, Charlie was let out of
the house to help his stepmother with grocery shopping, but that was the only exposure that he
received to interact with society other than going to school. Other times, Charlie was forced to stand
in the corner while holding his hands high up in the air. If he dropped his arms, he would be punished.
Charlie was also forced to participate in rigorous exercise routines. During these encounters,
Charlie's father, Charles, would ease up just enough to give Charlie a beating, then force the
young man back into his workout regimen. Beatings continued and even escalated, where Charlie recalls
being punched and choked even for the smallest things. When Charlie was 11, he simply couldn't
take this abuse anymore. He left his house, wandered around his neighborhood for around three hours
before police picked him up and took him home again. Charlie's running away did not go over well
with Charles and Monique. After he was returned home, Charles forced him to lie down on the dining
room table to take a beating with a PVC pipe. That was his first beating, because from that moment on,
Charlie would endure regular beatings in the same manner. According to Detroit News, Charlie later
told authorities that he had lost count on how many times his father had beaten him with that pipe,
but recalls being struck all over his entire body over time and to the point where the skin on his
back had split from the blows. When that wasn't enough for his father, Charlie would be ordered
to roll over and endure beatings on his front side as well. On June 14, 2014, Charlie finally
reached his breaking point. He simply disappeared. Charles and Monique reported Charlie missing for
a second time in one year, stating that he had gone to use the restroom around 9 p.m. that night
during his daily workout and simply never returned. Police immediately began an investigation.
They visited the Boswell's home on three different occasions to take a look around,
but found no evidence of the missing boy. In the early days of the investigation, Charles Boswell
agreed to take a polygraph to rule himself out as a suspect in Charlie's disappearance. However,
Monique refused to take one for herself. 11 days later, on June 25, 2014, police had not ruled out
homicide and served a search warrant at the Boswell home to look for more evidence. It was during this
search that investigators discovered 12-year-old Charlie alive and well, hiding in his own basement
of their townhome. The basement was filled with clutter, with storage boxes six feet high. It was
difficult to sift their way through everything and make any kind of headway. After about one hour,
police found food squirreled away behind some of the debris. Authorities took out their flashlights
to take a closer look and imagine their surprise when they found Charlie peering back at them from
behind a stack of boxes plus a 55-gallon drum. Before his discovery, Charlie had not given any
indication that he was present in the basement and it even appeared to be hiding when police
began looking around. It's not clear if Charlie had been there for the past 11 days or not,
but after he was discovered, Charlie was taken to the hospital and medical staff found positive
signs of child abuse. It was then that Charlie told his story that he was beaten regularly
and his stepmother had threatened to murder him in the past. A lot of this case can be considered a
he said she said situation, but neither side's truth should be discounted here. And I want to
kind of talk about how when I was researching this case, I found myself understanding both points of
view. You'll have to decide for yourself here on whose story is most reasonable. So let's start
with young Charlie's accounts of events. Charles was arrested for this incident when Charlie
disappeared, which I will explain in just a moment, but I will say that Charlie showed bravery when he
testified against his own father in court. Charlie testified that Monique had banished him to the
basement after he did not complete his two day exercise regimen. According to the Associated
Press, Charlie was required to complete a list of exercises within one hour or he would face
consequences. This regimen included 100 pushups, 200 sit ups, 100 jumping jacks, 25 arm curls with
a 25 pound weight and thousands of revolutions on the elliptical machine. For any of our listeners
who know how realistic this is for a 12 year old boy, please DM me because this is not the first
time Charlie could not complete his exercise workout. Monique used threats on Charlie brandishing
knives and frequently telling him that he could easily disappear. Only this time during that
nine o'clock workout where Charlie did disappear, Monique ordered him into the basement and told him
to remain quiet no matter what he heard going on if police were to show up. Young Charlie testified
that he followed his stepmother's orders to remain in the basement because he simply didn't think
anyone at this point would even believe his tale of events. Charlie later told investigators that
Monique was the one who informed Charles that his son had gone missing, but only after she ordered
Charlie downstairs into the basement. Charlie added that the spot where he had hidden was set up as
his living quarters where Monique ordered him to remain. Charlie also testified that Monique locked
him up in the basement on a regular basis and constantly reminded him that he would never be
missed. During Charles Boswell's trial, Charlie testified that he was too terrified to leave the
basement and snuck food and bathroom breaks only when nobody was home. Let's move on to the sequence
of events leading up to Charles and Monique's arrest. During the time of Charlie's disappearance,
Charles Boswell went on live television to make a plea for his son's return. It was during a syndicated
interview with Nancy Grace that he was told that Charlie had been found in his own basement.
Charles did appear to be visibly shocked and upset with this news because I personally saw the video
and I'm not convinced that he was acting. Charles was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with
torture plus two counts of felony child abuse. Monique was arrested on a probation violation
related to a misdemeanor gun charge. Both Charles and Monique were released on a $50,000 bond each
and required to wear ankle monitors until they went to court. Although he testified during his
trial that Charlie's accounts were a fabrication of events, Charles denied that he ever beat up his
son, let alone using a PVC pipe. Charles' argument about the rigorous workout routines was that his
son Charlie had asked for help to lose weight. Charles' defense team argued that the 11 days
where Charlie had gone missing, the police and FBI agents had been in his home numerous times.
They'd even gone into the basement to take a look around. At no point during these visits did Charlie
call out for help or let investigators know he was present. By contrast, prosecutors argued that
Charlie had endured so much emotional trauma while under his father's roof that he was too scared to
let investigators know that he was there. Young Charlie later testified in court that his stepmother
Monique ordered him to stay hidden in that basement when authorities came to investigate. He also
insisted that he did not come forward the day the investigators were there because he didn't
think anybody would believe him that he was banished to the basement. Defense attorneys
grilled Charlie on his accounts of events stating that he was never locked up in the basement.
He had free access to bathrooms, the pantry, the refrigerator at any time during the 11 days of his
alleged confinement. Charlie's weight had come under scrutiny where Charles' defense team insisted
that Charlie was at one point overweight and even his family doctor expressed a need for him to lose
a few pounds. During cross-examination, Charles' defense team argued that Charlie's testimony was
not credible based on the fact that there were no locks on the door leading to the basement, bathroom,
or refrigerator to show that Charlie had been held captive against his will. They also argued that
Charlie had a history of running away and that any rigorous exercise regimen was instilled due
to Charlie's obesity. Charlie did not deny he was overweight when questioned. Additional behavioral
problems were also brought into question including an incident where Charlie was thought to have
caught the Boswell's house on fire. Charlie adamantly denied these allegations during court.
Now the judge had a tough decision to make here because he did voice discrepancies from the
accounts on both the prosecution and the defense. Ultimately, the judge ordered Charles Boswell the
fourth and his wife Monique to stand trial for child abuse, not torture, based on photos that
were taken after Charlie was found. Charlie was severely underweight and also showed signs of
bodily injury. During his medical examination, hospital staff found a half-circular scar on
Charlie's chest which Charlie said he received after his father drove that PVC pipe into his skin.
The original torture charges were dismissed when Charles eventually took a plea deal to fourth
degree child abuse which is a misdemeanor. During this deal, Charles openly admitted that he had
indeed hit his 12 year old son Charlie with a PVC pipe. This plea deal was quite fortunate for
Charles and Monique because they had just escaped a life term behind bars. Charles was facing up to
10 years behind bars when he made the deal but was eventually sentenced to 18 months on probation.
He was ordered to take anger management classes and was given a no contact order for Charlie.
Charlie was returned to his biological mother. Charles and Monique's two other children were
placed in foster care. And in case you're wondering how Monique made out here, her file was somehow
lost in the shuffle and prosecutors decided not to pursue any charges against her. So that's the
story of Charlie Boswell, the 12 year old boy who disappeared for 11 days and was found in his own
basement. Be sure to write me and let me know what you think of this episode and any of our other
episodes on Dying to be Found the Dash. You can also head on over to Dying to be Found, our other
podcast with the newly founded SoundSlice Podcast Production Network where I get together with my
family members and tell them a tale or two. If you're a true crime podcaster and want a chance
to highlight your own podcast here on Dying to be Found the Dash, email me at dying the number two,
the letter B found at gmail.com and I'll send you more information on collaborating.
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