As each day passed and Michael’s very brief contact with us showed more signs of his extreme anxiety, we had to act. We called a friend of his, a SDPD officer, and my uncle, a retired Navy captain and former Navy SEAL. They showed up to the address we had recently found and rang the doorbell early on the morning of July 8. He had been gone since June 27.

A young man answered the door and as soon as he saw who was there, he slammed it shut again. The officer and my uncle noticed that all the shades were drawn shut. They convinced the man to reopen the door and asked to see Michael. The man said Michael doesn’t have to go with them, he’s fine. They reiterated that they were there to see Michael. Michael woke up and made his way downstairs to the front door. A look of extreme fear came over him. The man blocked the front door between the officer and Michael and he wouldn’t let Michael answer questions they were asking him.

My uncle asked him to come out of the house. As Michael began to walk through the door, the man blocked him again and said no, let me talk to him. He shut the door on my uncle and the officer. Behind the closed door, he spent ten minutes trying to tell my brother not to go. My brother later told me the man seemed very scared. They reopened the door and the man said Michael would not be going and he wanted to be left alone. My uncle asked him if this was true. Michael’s hands began to shake and walk toward my uncle. Michael kept repeating “it’s fine, I can go, I’ll be fine.” He walked out safely with my uncle and the officer. We got him.

This photo was taken minutes after my uncle drove him away from the house he was held in. As soon as my uncle told us he’d had Michael in a safe place, I got in the car and drove with Michael’s autism assistance dog Rocco. It was the first time he saw Rocco and me after having been gone for 12 days. He was finally safe.