Woman Who Escaped Missouri Home Says Other Victims ‘Didn’t Make It’ As Police Investigate Alleged Kidnapping
Police are still investigating.
Excelsior Springs Police Department / EVA CARRE / Shutterstock Police officers in Missouri are investigation a kidnapping after a woman who claims she was being held against her will escaped a home and sought help from neighbors.
Authorities found the malnourished woman in a small Missouri town just northeast of Kansas City.
Timothy Haslett Jr. has been charged with kidnapping a woman in Excelsior Springs, MO.
The woman told neighbors and police that she'd escaped the home where she was held against her will and sexually assaulted.
According to KCTV, one of the neighbors, Lisa Johnson, said that she'd noticed the woman hunched over and crawling toward her.
Johnson noticed marks on her wrist, claiming it was obvious that the woman had experienced trauma.
“Her face was bound, and she had taken that off. She had some kind of collar device on,” Johnson said. “She told me that she was being held and that the person she was being held by lived up the street.”
While Johnson phoned the police, another neighbor, Ciara Tharp, and her grandmother let the woman come inside their home.
“My grandma said she had a metal collar around her neck pretty tight. It was restricting her breathing,” Tharp said.
“She had ligature marks on her wrists. She could tell she was pretty weak. She brought her inside and gave her some food and wrapped a blanket around her.”
The woman told her neighbors that the man who abducted her had "killed" her friends, and they "didn't make it."
“She was terrified. She said, ‘If somebody doesn’t let me in, he’s going to find me and he’s going to kill me,’” Tharp said. “I mean, he was not that far away. He was within a couple of minutes away.”
The woman revealed that she'd managed to escape when the man had briefly left her alone in his house.
“She made the comment that he killed my friends. They didn’t make it. He killed my friends,” Tharp added. “She just kept repeating it.”
While the woman told police that there were two other victims, authorities haven't released any details about finding additional people in the home she'd escaped from.
“We have no further victims that we are aware of at this specific moment in time. We are still processing the warrant and that all is subject to change,” Excelsior Springs Police Lt Ryan Dowdy told KCTV.
“She made mention of other victims, but there’s no signs of them at this time that we have found.”
Excelsior Springs police later arrested Timothy Haslett Jr., who has been charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, and second-degree assault.
Per KCTV, police revealed that "numerous items" had been recovered from Haslett Jr.'s home in the 300 block of Old Orchard.
"Those items will be examined this week to determine if any other crime was committed," Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull said.
According to investigators, the woman reported that she did not know the suspect who was holding her against her will.
“I’m so glad that she made it out. I hope that she can get the help she needs to deal with this,” Tharp said. “I’m so thankful that my grandma was there.”
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.