Police said the 17-year-old boy, who walked into the In-Shape City fitness center in Tracy about 4 p.m., claimed to have been imprisoned by a man and a woman, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The youth had burns on his body, a cut on his arm, was bleeding on his back, and was covered in soot or dirt, police and gym employees said.

The youth was taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Gym employee Chuck Ellis said the boy appeared to be scared and pleaded for him to "hide me, please hide me," KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported.

"He was hunkered down, terrified," Ellis said.

Ellis said the youth told workers at the fitness center he had been taken from a Sacramento group home about a year ago. Police said they had located a home suspected of being the residence where the boy was held captive.