An 80-year-old woman was rescued from a 17-hour hostage situation in her own Chicago home after police were called when she failed to send...
An 80-year-old woman was rescued from a 17-hour hostage situation in her own Chicago home after police were called when she failed to send her daughter her completed Wordle.
Denyse Holt, who lives in the Lincolnwood neighborhood of Chicago, was asleep on February 5 when a mentally ill naked man broke into her home.
'I didn't think I was going to live,' she told CBS News. 'I was in shock. I was trying to survive.'
The 32-year-old man, cut from breaking the glass in her windows to get into her house, pointed scissors at Holt, then got into bed with her.
'He said he wouldn't hurt me or molest me,' she said, explaining that she tried to remain calm.
Denyse Holt, 80, has told of the horrific February 5 break-in at her Chicago home - and being rescued after her daughter noticed she had not completed her daily Wordle
Police are seen on February 6 outside Holt's house in the Lincolnwood district of Chicago
The man then dragged her in her nightgown into the shower with him, but said he was not warm enough, so made them both get in the bath.
He then yanked her out and, dripping wet, went through the house - collecting two kitchen knives, disconnecting phones - before locking her in a basement bathroom.
Holt did exercises to try and keep warm inside the bathroom, which had no windows, and which was barricaded shut with a chair.
'I was doing marching and stretching as much as I could,' she said.
Holt's eldest daughter Meredith Holt-Caldwell, who lives in Seattle, noticed that her mother was not responding to text messages and had not sent her daily Wordle - something she never missed.
Meredith Holt-Caldwell, who lives in Seattle, noticed that her mother was not responding to her texts - and hadn't sent her daily Wordle
Holt failed to send her daily Wordle to her daughter, which raised alarm and pushed Holt-Caldwell to call the police
'I'm across the country and I noticed this,' said Holt-Caldwell.
'I never thought in a million years that this was happening, but it was.'
Police were called and an hours-long standoff ensued, with the officers eventually using a stun gun through a hole in the door to subdue and arrest the man.
Holt was full of praise for the police, thanking them for rescuing her.
The man is being detained pending mental health evaluation.
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