An 80-year-old woman was taken hostage in her home this week, and her family was alerted that something was wrong after she didn’t read text messages or share her score on the popular word game Wordle.
Denyse Holt woke up in her home in Lincolnwood, Illinois, in the early hours of Sunday morning and saw a naked man holding scissors. The man allegedly threatened to cut her if she screamed and got into bed with her, according to multiple reports.
He later locked her in a bathroom in her basement. Holt told The Washington Post she was cold, hungry and in pain while trapped, as the man allegedly would not bring her food or medicine.
The Lincolnwood Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY that the suspect, identified as James H. Davis III, allegedly discarded his clothing early Sunday during a “mental health crisis” before breaking into the woman’s home. He collected the phones in the home and secured the door to the woman’s bathroom with a chair.
USA TODAY has reached out to Holt’s daughters for additional information.
While Holt was trapped and worried for her safety, her oldest daughter in California was growing concerned that her mom had not texted her Wordle score, a daily word game that gives players six tries to guess a secret five-letter word, according to multiple reports. Her other daughter, who also lives on the West Coast, noticed her mother had not responded to text messages.
What is Wordle?: The popular word game, explained
“I didn’t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning. And that was disconcerting to her,” Holt told CBS2, the outlet that first reported Holt’s story.
The women eventually asked police to do a wellness check, and officers discovered a broken window on the first floor of Holt’s home at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Sunday. They freed her from the bathroom and notified the regional SWAT team. Law enforcement officials apprehended the man at approximately 3 a.m. Monday.
Davis has been charged with home invasion with a dangerous weapon, aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon and two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wordle puzzle helps lead police to Illinois woman held hostage
