Connecticut captive confined for 20 years escapes from house of horrors

There are few places where the warmth of home is so visibly entrenched as in the suburban neighborhoods of Waterbury, Connecticut. Across its tree-lined streets, solar panels gleam under the sun and neatly trimmed lawns stretch toward the horizon.

Yet, one house on Blake Street—a modest two-story Colonial—conceals a tale so horrific, it seems almost drawn from the darkest corners of fiction.

The once peaceful neighborhood in the Town Plot section of Waterbury, was been rocked by disturbing revelations about a man who was allegedly held captive in a local home for more than two decades.

On the outside, the home is a typical part of Waterbury’s Town Plot district: a well-kept façade, fading but still cheerful Saint Patrick’s Day decorations still taped to the windows.

But the words “Love” etched in a bold, welcoming font above the front door may as well be an eerie misnomer. Inside, according to police, Kimberly Sullivan turned that very word into an ironic mockery of the love she denied her 32-year-old stepson.

For two decades, authorities say, that boy, now a grown man, was locked away—imprisoned in a room so small it could barely be called a cell. The man, once an innocent child, spent his life confined to an 8-by-9-foot storage room on the second floor of the house. His captor? The very woman who should have been his protector—his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan.

The nightmare began when he was just 11 years old. Police believe his captivity started soon after school officials raised alarms, noticing the boy’s strange behavior—stealing food, scavenging in garbage cans.

It was the kind of concern only a vigilant teacher could have; the kind of concern that should have reached authorities. But as the years went on, the child vanished from public sight, like a ghost drifting out of view. School records stopped. Family members lost contact. By all appearances, he had simply disappeared from the world.

The disappearance was not just physical. It was psychological—nurtured by starvation, isolation, and relentless control.

Police reports paint a harrowing picture of a man now so emaciated that his frame weighed just 68 pounds when he was discovered. His teeth rotted, his body frail, his hair matted and tangled. He had been kept in near-complete darkness for the majority of his life. In winter, there was no heat. In summer, no air conditioning. The man was only allowed out for chores, and sometimes, he would join his father to do yard work or watch television—but these moments were rare, fleeting.

The only time he would be fully free was when he set a fire—an act of desperation on February 17, 2025—that would lead to his eventual discovery. Authorities believe the fire was the man’s last attempt at escape, a cry for freedom. He used a lighter, hand sanitizer, and scraps of paper to ignite the blaze. When firefighters arrived, they found him in a condition so grave it defied belief.

As firefighters carried him from the flames, his body limp and frail, one could hear the desperation in his words: “I wanted my freedom.” That single sentence spoke volumes. He had lived in fear for two decades, a man chained not by locks but by his captor’s unyielding will.

In her panic, Kimberly Sullivan called 911, claiming that her stepson had been injured. Authorities quickly turned their attention to her. What followed was the unraveling of a tragedy that shook this quiet corner of Connecticut to its core. Police began piecing together the puzzle of this man’s life—locked away in plain sight, kept out of reach of both family and the public.

The discovery was made after a fire was deliberately set at the home on Blake Street, and firefighters arrived to rescue the 32-year-old man, who was found severely emaciated, weighing just 68 pounds.

On February 17, the man, believed to have been confined since the age of 11, set a fire in an attempt to escape.

The blaze led to his rescue and sparked an investigation that has since revealed the horrific conditions under which he lived.

Authorities say the man spent much of his life locked in an 8-by-9-foot room on the second floor of the home, with limited contact with the outside world and inadequate food and medical care.

When emergency personnel arrived, he was found in critical condition.

He was taken to the hospital, where the victim disclosed that he had set the fire intentionally, telling authorities, “I wanted my freedom.”

His hair was matted, his teeth decayed, and he was described as filthy. Police said the man’s physical state indicated years of neglect and deprivation.

The victim’s stepmother, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, and intentional cruelty to a person.

She was arraigned in court on March 12 and released on $300,000 bond.

According to police, Sullivan’s stepson was removed from school in the fourth grade, and officials from the state Department of Children and Families were notified about the child’s condition. Despite the allegations, Sullivan denies any wrongdoing, claiming that the victim was free to move about the house.

Court records indicate financial strain in the Sullivan household, with both Kimberly and her late husband, Kregg Sullivan, filing for bankruptcy in the years leading up to the man’s captivity.

Kregg Sullivan, who worked as a shipper at a local manufacturing company, passed away last year. Police say that after his death, the victim’s situation worsened, and he became more isolated.

Neighbors and others who had lived in the area for years were shocked by the revelation. Some said they had never seen the man, despite living next door or just down the street. The house, which sits among well-kept homes in a quiet section of Waterbury, appeared ordinary from the outside, with no indication of the horrors occurring inside.

Neighbors like Zeffery Guarnera, who lives across the street, expressed disbelief. “When I was asked about a son, I was shocked. I never, I never even heard of or knew that there was a son,” he said.

Another local, John Perugini, who grew up in the area, was stunned by the news. “It’s still a great area of the city. All our family is here, and we just can’t believe this. I feel so bad for this kid,” Perugini said.

Despite the fire and the subsequent investigation, the property had not attracted much attention in the years prior. The home, valued at around $250,000, appeared to be just another house in a neighborhood that had seen a mix of both long-time residents and newcomers. Property records show that the home has seven rooms and sits on 0.2 acres of land.

Authorities say the man’s confinement started in childhood. His early life involved severe malnutrition, and he was reportedly forced to steal food from classmates and even scavenge from garbage cans to survive.

He spent the majority of his life in isolation, only leaving his room for chores, such as yard work or watching television with his father. His stepmother’s actions intensified after the death of his father, with the victim describing an increasingly harsh existence.

The victim’s stepmother, Kimberley Sullivan, is accused of holding her stepson captive in a tiny room for more than 20 years.

She allegedly fed him two sandwiches and a cup of water a day, occasionally making him drink from the toilet, and only allowing him outside briefly to take the family dog out.

A private investigator hired by the victim’s uncle in the early 2010s expressed concerns about the situation, although no action was taken at the time.

The man’s uncle, who had not seen him since 2004 or 2005, was horrified when he saw the victim in the hospital after the fire. “He looks like a Holocaust survivor,” he told police.

Investigators say the victim’s stepmother and other family members, including his two half-sisters and a deceased grandmother, were aware of his captivity, though they did not physically confine him.

Police say the family actively obstructed inquiries about the victim’s well-being, including filing a harassment complaint against school officials.

Heather Tessman says she has been looking for her half brother for more than a decade.

She says she found out with the rest of the world that her half-brother was held captive in Waterbury for over 20 years.

Tessman always wondered what had happened to her half-brother when they were young and says she did not know that he was just 12 miles away facing daily abuse, starvation, and torture.

When the victim’s father, Kregg Sullivan, died last year, Tessman ramped up her search for her half brother. Somehow, she says no one outside the house knew where he was.

She says the ones inside the home were lying to her so despite her searches, everything she tried failed.

“I think, personally, that she didn’t like that he was not her son and she took it out on him. Her daughters, they got to go to school, have friends, jobs, have a life. What did he get? A jail cell. For what? Locks on the outside of the door? Are you kidding me? You don’t treat people like that,” Tessman said.

“We just need him to know he’s got people. We love him and we want him. He shouldn’t have been thrown away like garbage,” Tessman said.

Tessman wants her half sisters held responsible too. She claims they were complicit.

“I want to see them all fried. They deserve solitary confinement for the rest of their lives, drink out of the toilet,” she said.

Police are still investigating to see if more charges are warranted.

The community has now begun to process the shock of the case. The Town Plot Neighborhood Association, which typically investigates cases of neglect or property disrepair, has expressed concern that the events could have been prevented had the community been more involved in looking out for one another.

As the investigation continues, Kimberly Sullivan faces multiple charges, and authorities are working to determine the full extent of her involvement. The victim, now receiving medical care, has begun to speak out about his experiences, offering a chilling account of his captivity. The community, meanwhile, is left to grapple with the discovery of the horrors hidden behind the door of a seemingly normal house.