Boy with Down syndrome found starving and locked in attic is reunited with officers who rescued him

It all began when Govi’s mother, Rachel Perez, was taken into custody on outstanding warrants. During the arrest, law enforcement officers searched her home and found her other children. They were immediately placed in protective care. But there was no sign of Giovanni. When questioned about his whereabouts, Perez offered a fabricated story, insisting Govi was somewhere else. Her lie might have gone unnoticed if not for the instincts of the officers, especially Sergeant John Klingele, who had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. They returned to the home for a second search.

They called out for Govi—nothing. Then, faint sounds, barely noticeable, led them to the attic. And there, in the dim, stuffy heat, they found him. “I’ll never forget that moment,” Klingele recalled. “He looked like a child straight out of a concentration camp—just skin and bones. We were told he was about to turn seven, but size-wise, he looked three, maybe.”

The boy couldn’t walk. He could barely speak. He was covered in his own waste, wearing soiled clothes, lying in an area that had no blanket, no toys, no light—no signs of love or care. His tiny frame showed signs of advanced malnutrition: hair loss, brittle and bowed bones due to rickets, and the wasting away of fat and muscle tissue. Medical professionals later confirmed that if Govi hadn’t been found that night, he would not have survived much longer. Continue reading…