Saved by Wordle: Woman rescued by police after hostage situation

After they asked a neighbour to check in on her who got no answer, they knew something was not right. They soon reached out to the local police to seek help.

When the police turned up at the woman’s residence they found a broken window with blood on the scene, suggesting a break-in. Using the neighbour’s key, they entered the home, only to find her locked in a basement bathroom, Chicago Tribune reported.

According to the police, a naked man broke through a window to enter Holt’s home at around 1 am Sunday. “He took away Holt’s phones, then forced her to stay in the basement bathroom, barricading her inside with a chair,” the police were quoted.

Speaking to CBS 2, Holt said she tried her best to remain calm to stop the situation from aggravating. “I was trying to survive that’s all,” Holt said. “He said ‘I won’t harm you or molest you.’”

The woman recalled that the man dragged her around the house, disconnecting all phones and taking two knives from the kitchen, “He told me he liked those,” she said. He then locked her in the bathroom with no windows, in darkness.

“I didn’t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning. And that was disconcerting to her,” Holt told the news channel explaining what concerned her children.

Even though she tried not to raise an alarm, fear creeped in. She told The Washington Post that she tried to rally herself and did exercises to keep herself going. “I don’t want to die like this, and I don’t want my kids to hear that their mother was murdered,” she told the daily.

Finally, a SWAT team used a stun gun to overpower the man after hours-long standoff. The intruder was arrested and has been charged with three felonies: home invasion with a dangerous weapon; aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon; and aggravated assault against a peace officer, CNET reported.