Two missing girls found in cellar after a year - naked

BEIJING - Two Chinese teenage girls who went missing several months ago have been found naked and chained in a secret cellar after they smuggled out a note in a television set seeking help.

It all began May 14 when a television repairman and a co-worker in Wuhan city were taking apart a TV set sent for repair.

Inside, they discovered a hand-written note, the Global Times reported Thursday.

“It was a palm-sized slip of paper, written, ‘Help, I’ve been confined underground for a year’,” the man told the newspaper.

“On the note there was a sketch map, an address of the dungeon, the name of their captor (Zeng Xiangbao), and the name and telephone number of the captive girl’s father.”

The mechanic quickly dialled the girl’s father, Zhou, and told him that his 19-year-old daughter may be locked in Zeng’s cellar, the Times quoted Beijing News as saying.

The girl had been missing since July 2 last year.

Zhou and police quickly raided Zeng’s home but found nothing.

Later, police discovered a secret entrance to the cellar, hidden under wooden boards and covered with dirt.

The police went down and found the women, imprisoned and naked with their feet shackled with iron chains.

The chains were cut, and the frightened girls freed.

The victims had written several notes pleading to be rescued. These were tucked inside garbage bags, but only the note in the TV set was spotted.