A US Woman Escaped A Home With A Dog Collar On & She Was Allegedly Held Captive For Weeks
Details of her dramatic escape were just shared in court.
A police cruiser. Right: Suspect Tim Haslett Jr.
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A U.S. woman escaped alive from a horrifying scenario in Missouri, where she was allegedly chained up and abused for a month before she managed to get out.
Authorities say the suspect kidnapped the woman, 22, in September and locked her up in custom-built cell in his basement, where he sexually assaulted her and whipped her times over the course of the last few weeks. The incident happened in the community of Excelsior Springs, according to court documents obtained by NBC News and others.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, managed to escape from the house last Friday morning while the suspect was dropping his kid off at school, police say. She ran to a neighbor and banged on the door until they came out to help her.
The woman was wearing a garbage bag, latex lingerie and a metal dog collar with a padlock on it when they found her, the Kansas City Star reports.
“She didn’t have much of a voice,” the neighbor, Lisa Johnson, told local broadcaster KSHB. “It was more of a light ‘help me’ than anything else.”
The woman later told police that she'd been held hostage for a month, during which time she was repeatedly raped and whipped.
Timothy Haslett Jr., 39, was arrested later that day. He faces charges of first-degree rape, aggravated sexual offense, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault, according to a complaint filed in Clay County Circuit Court.
Police searched the home for other victims but found no one else on Friday, the Star reports. They later went back with cadaver-sniffing dogs.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office urged the public to stay calm and let them do their work on Tuesday, amid a surge in interest and speculation.
"It will take time to use that information to see if the suspect in this case is connected to any more crimes. And when those things have happened, there will still be very little law enforcement can share until the case goes to court,” police wrote.
“If you want justice for victims and for people who have broken the law, that’s what has to happen.”
Haslett has pleaded not guilty and is due to appear in court on October 18.