An elderly woman in Illinois is safe after a terrifying ordeal with a man who broke into her home.
Denise Holt, 80, told WBBM in Chicago that she woke up to find the bloody stranger holding scissors next to her in bed.
“I was trying to survive. That’s all,” Holt told WBBM. “He said ‘I won’t harm you or molest you.’”
Holt said she was in shock and thought she was going to die. Somehow, she managed to stay calm -- even when he forced her to take a bath with him.
Holt told WBBM that the suspect disconnected her phones and dragged her around the house, leaving a trail of blood from cuts he got when he broke a window to get inside.
After getting two knives from her kitchen, Holt said the man locked her in a dark, windowless bathroom in the basement for 17 hours.
Across the country in Seattle, Holt's daughter grew concerned because her mom wasn't responding to her texts. Meredith Holt-Caldwell also told WBBM that Holt hadn't sent her results from the popular word puzzle Wordle that she played daily.
“I didn’t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning, and that was disconcerting to her,” Holt told the station.
Family members called police and asked them to check on Holt. That led to a SWAT standoff until officers subdued the suspect by using a stun gun through the door, according to WBBM.
They said Holt was eventually rescued and wasn't physically harmed.
“She’s amazing,” Holt-Caldwell told the Chicago Tribune of her mother. “She doesn’t really know how she was able to remain that calm."
The suspect was taken into custody and is being treated for apparent mental health issues. He was charged with aggravated kidnapping, home invasion and aggravated assault on a police officer, CNN reported.
