The six plot twists of the Barça player who was presumed dead for 40 years

BarcelonaThe reappearance of Charles Thomas is one of the most fascinating stories of recent years. After being presumed dead for 40 years, the former Barça basketball player showed signs of life four years ago when he contacted Norman Carmichael, another player with whom he shared a locker room. "While I was driving, I received a message from a nurse telling me she was with Charles Thomas and wanted to talk to me. I told her I didn't know what kind of dirty joke it was, but that Charles had been dead for years. She told me he'd been living in a nursing home for the past four years. Then she made a video of me. "Right?" It shook me to the core. It wasn't possible. I recognized him by his smile and the way he spoke to him for ten minutes, and he acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world, from the time we shared a team and from his years living on the streets," Carmichael says.

Everyone had presumed Charles Thomas was dead, including his family. Carmichael called one of his sons, Carlos. "When I told him, he almost hung up on me. He didn't believe it. He thought it was a scam. Carlos is a strong, intelligent man. I gave him the number, and 20 minutes later, he called me back and said he thought it was his father, but he spent the next few days checking it out. He's his family. I'm not sure how you deal with that 40 years later," he says.

After journalist Marc Mundet broke the storyCarlos Jiménez launched a comprehensive investigation that has resulted in a documentary produced by 3Cat in collaboration with El Terrat (The Mediapro Studio), which will be released in theaters by A Contracorriente Films. "The story had been sealed for 46 years, but after some incredible news, it has been reopened," says Jiménez.

Time-out It tells the true story of Charles Thomas, a successful American basketball player from the 1960s who played for San José de Badalona, ​​​​Barça, and Baloncesto Manresa. After being the top scorer in the Spanish basketball league during the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons, he disappeared overnight without a trace. At precisely the peak of his career. "The story hides six twists worthy of a movie script," confesses Fèlix Colomer, the director of the documentary.

When Charles Thomas reappeared, he was missing both of his legs, amputated as a result of his hard life, but that's not the most surprising thing. The documentary reveals how the former basketball player abused his wife, Linda, who had to take refuge in the basement of their house.

Carlitos, as he was known during his time in Spain, and who was not yet 10 when his father disappeared, was almost in a state of shock when he reappeared. "Carlos is a good boy. We've kept in touch all these years, and we talk a couple of times a month. Now he's trying to come to terms with all of this... It's very hard to know your father is alive after having thought him dead. I haven't spoken to Linda... Charles abandoned them. I can forgive him, because I'm his friend, I have the utmost."

A devastating injury

In November 1974, the event that changed Charles Thomas's life occurred and marked the beginning of his descent into hell. In a match against Real Madrid, Thomas fell on his knee and shattered his kneecap. Barça loaned him to Manresa, but the injury ultimately ruined him as a player.

Manolo Flores met Thomas in his early days at Barça. "I was very young, but I had a relationship with him and his family. Charles learned Spanish quite quickly. He wasn't particularly talkative, but he could make out phrases. His wife, Linda, on the other hand, was very sociable. I kept in touch with her for a while," he recalls. Aíto García Reneses was also a teammate of Charles Thomas at Barça: "I remember him as a special player. He had a leap that we hadn't seen anyone else achieve with such power up until that point. Then the problems came. I retired as a player and he continued playing for Barça for another year. No one else had him, and he contacted me. She avoided talking about Charles at all times, and I didn't bring up the subject either because we thought he was dead. She was mainly interested in life in Barcelona," he explains in a report published by the magazine. Barça.