The parents of a Winnipeg teen say their son, who has intellectual disabilities, was attacked and left in a dumpster for hours in freezing temperatures.

Jean-Michael Morrissette, 13, doesn't like to talk about what happened to him after school last Thursday.

"He hasn't told us the whole entire story all at one," his mother, Marie Kinnear, told CTV Winnipeg.

"It has been piece-by-piece."

But his parents say their son was on his way home from school, in the city's North End, when he was approached by two men who beat him up and threw him in a trash bin in an alley near Flora Avenue and Parr Street, just blocks from their home.

Morrissette spent hours in the dumpster, despite the fact that the temperature was -15 C outside.

The 13-year-old was eventually found by Nicole Langlois. Langlois initially heard faint cries for help from the alley Thursday evening, but didn't know where they were coming from.

However, she returned a few hours later and decided to check inside the dumpster.

"I just had this gut feeling to turn around and look," said Langlois.

Langlois found Morrissette up to his chest in garbage and unable to climb out.

"All he kept saying was: 'Help. They pushed me in here,'" Langlois recalled.

"I kept trying to talk to him and ask him who, and he didn't talk back to me."

After Langlois helped him out, she says the teen ran off.

Morrissette's parents say their son doesn't have any injuries, and they're grateful for Langlois' help.

"We owe her a lot because if it wasn't for her finding him that night, it could've been a lot worse," said Kinnear.

After hearing about what happened to his son, Morrissette's father, John, was enraged.

"I wanted to go out and find the guys that did this to my son, and hurt them the same way," said John Morrissette.

The family filed a report with police on Wednesday, and are asking anyone with information or security video to report to authorities.

"I hope they find who did this to my son," said his father, John Morrissette.

In light of the incident, Morrissette has been taking a cab to and from school.

But the family hopes they can find another arrangement that they're comfortable with and that's safe for their son.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Michelle Gerwing