How a man used printer paper and hand sanitizer to escape an alleged 20 years of captivity by his stepmother

The man said he was locked in an eight-by-nine-foot room and was fed two sandwiches a day with two cups of water for years, according to a police affidavit in Connecticut.

Both sides of his door had been secured with plywood and a lock, the man would later say, to stop him from getting out. For years, he’d only been given two sandwiches a day and two cups of water, he’d recall, in the storage space where he was locked. But now, he had a plan. Printer paper for kindling. Hand sanitizer for fuel. And a lighter. Emergency personnel responded February 17 to reports of a burning home in Waterbury, Connecticut, said city police, who plan to give an update Thursday on all they’ve learned since then about the house and who lived there. At the fire site, they found a woman – and her 32-year-old stepson.