A teenage boy, who was missing for years, was found alive in a closet during a raid of the apartment of a 44-year-old man in west Germany suspected of disseminating child pornography, police said.

"A review showed that this is a 15-year-old boy who has been missing for a long time," police said in a statement Friday after the boy was found.

The boy was missing since 2017 and was in Recklinghausen. Another man was also in the apartment and was arrested, police said.

According to police, there are currently no indications that the boy was held in the apartment against his will.

On Saturday, an arrest warrant was issued for the 44-year-old man, who is being held on suspicion of a serious sexual offense, police said in another statement.