A naked man was discovered trapped in the walls of a movie theater on Friday after being stuck there for several days.
Firefighters were called to the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York, at around 7:30 a.m. after employees heard the man screaming for help.
Syracuse Fire Deputy Chief John Kane told Syracuse.com that the 39-year-old man, whose name has not been released, got into the building on or around Tuesday.
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Mike Intaglietta, executive director of the Landmark Theatre, said that employees had noticed the man wandering around the building earlier in the week. At a certain point, they lost track of him and assumed that he had left.
Instead, the man had found his way into a crawlspace and stayed there for two days. After this, he reportedly fell into a space behind a wall in the theater's men's room and became trapped.
"I don't know if he was entering to keep warm or to use the bathroom," Intaglietta said. "I don't know."
Kane explained that members of Syracuse's Rescue Company 1 drilled a hole through the bathroom wall and used a small fiber-optic camera to locate the trapped man. After that, they were able to cut through layers of drywall and tile to free him.
The man had no signs of physical injury, but Kane said that he was most likely dehydrated. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
Kane also said that the unnamed man is likely suffering from some sort of mental illness and will not face any charges.
In a statement to Newsweek, Intaglietta said: "We are glad he's ok, glad that staff was in the area to hear when he called, and glad the Syracuse Fire Department was able to respond immediately and effectively."
According to its website, the Landmark Theatre first opened in early 1928 and remains the only theater in Syracuse built in the "movie palace" style popular during the silent film era. It closed down in 1975 but reopened about two years later due to community support. The Landmark has remained in operation ever since.
This past July, firefighters in Cincinnati rescued a dog that had been trapped behind a garage wall for around five days. The homeowners called for help when they began to hear noises from their garage and realized that it was likely a dog that had gone missing in the area some time ago.
Firefighters on the scene deduced that the dog, Gertie, had fallen down a crevice and gotten stuck between concrete walls, the department explained in a statement sent to Newsweek. Using a sledgehammer and saw, they were able to open a hole in the wall and get the animal out. The dog was returned to its owner soon after.
Updated 11/06/21, 3:24 PM ET: with a comment from the Landmark Theatre.
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