US teen rescued after kept captive for a year

  • 06/07/2017
Hailey Burns
Photo credit: FBI / Facebook

A 17-year-old US girl has been rescued after a year held captive by her kidnapper, who reportedly forced her into sexual acts in exchange for food.

Hailey Burns, from Charlotte, North Carolina, was found in a home near Duluth, Georgia, on June 24 by the FBI. She had been missing since May 2016.

When Ms Burns initially went missing, her father Anthony Burns told local media she'd left behind a diary showing plans to elope with an older man she had met on the internet.

"He gradually wormed his way into her good graces," Mr Burns told WBTV Charlotte. "He coerced her into listening to him and not following our directions and the next thing I knew my daughter wasn't communicating with me."

Duluth man Michael Ren Wysolovski, 31, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated sodomy, felony child cruelty, felony interference with custody and felony false imprisonment, the Georgia newspaper the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.

Wysolovski's neighbours had thought the two were simply a reclusive couple, reports say. But inside the house, the man basically held the teen captive. He kept a food journal with details of Ms Burns' calorie intake, and if she'd had too many, he would starve her the following day.

Police warrants reveal he forced her to perform oral sex as payment for food, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.

Ms Burns eventually reached out for help when she contacted another woman online, shared an image and details of her incarceration. Within hours Ms Burns' parents and the FBI had been informed.

"After a night of sleuthing and driving to Georgia our sweet baby is coming home with us," Shaunna Burns wrote on Facebook.

Newshub.