WGNO

Naked man rescued after days trapped in wall of historic New York theater

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR) — Firefighters rescued a man who was trapped inside the wall of a historic theater in upstate New York Friday morning, the Syracuse Fire Department said.

Fire officials said the unidentified man is believed to have been imprisoned in the wall of the Landmark Theatre for two to three days. The 39-year-old was naked when first responders found him, Syracuse Fire Deputy Chief John Kane told Syracuse.com.

Syracuse police said the man entered the building Tuesday. At some point they think he climbed into a crawl space and fell into a void in the wall of the men’s bathroom.

Landmark Theatre spokesperson Mike Intaglietta confirmed that a man was seen entering the Landmark on Tuesday, but could not be found during a search of the building.

The Landmark workers figured he had left the building and stopped looking for him. 

Friday morning, a worker at the Landmark heard the man’s cries for help and called 911.

Firefighters broke through the wall and used a fiber optic camera to free the entombed theater visitor. He was rescued and taken to the hospital for evaluation.