A woman in Washington state escaped a harrowing near-deadly ordeal after her estranged husband allegedly buried her alive.
Thurston County deputies responded to a home on Tuesday at around 1 a.m., where the 42-year-old woman pounded on the residents' door asking for help as her husband “was trying to kill her,” according to a news release from Lacey Police Department (LPD).
“After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her,” according to a declaration of probable cause filed Wednesday in Thurston County Superior Court,according toNBC News.
After waiting for it to get dark, she struggled free to escape, she walked for 20 to 30 minutes until finding help.
Lacey Police Department
“She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles,” the declaration read, according to the outlet. “There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.”
The 53-year-old is charged with first-degreeassault/domestic violence, kidnapping/domestic violence and attempted murder, according to Thurston County Correction Facility’s inmate database. He is being held without bail.
It is not clear if he has engaged legal representation to comment on her behalf.
LPD said in the department’s release that officers previously responded to a call from the woman’s home on Monday afternoon, during which dispatch could hear “muffled screaming and sounds of a struggle.”
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Upon their arrival, officers did not locate anyone but found the garage door open and duct tape in the home, which they believed was used on the victim, according to the LPD release. A neighbor also provided surveillance footage that allegedly shows Chae pulling his van into the garage and briefly closing the door before behind him and leaving again just before the police arrived.
Shortly after, the woman’s children returned home, where they said both of their parents were before the kids left for the store about an hour prior, the LPD said.
Officials subsequently issued an Endangered Missing Persons Alert for the woman, who had a domestic violence protection order against Chae, in addition to providing a description of Chae’s vehicle.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
