Elderly woman held hostage saved by Wordle

eurogamer.net:

An elderly woman who was held hostage in her home has said she was saved by Wordle, after she failed to send her daughter her usual attempt at the daily puzzle.

A 32-year-old man from Lincolnwood, Illinois was arrested by police after they were called to do a wellness check at the woman's home.

Warning: the following details are disturbing.

As reported by CBS Chicago, 80-year-old Denyse Holt was awakened in the night by a bloody naked man — James H. Davis III, who is now facing charges of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault against a peace officer.

The man got into bed next to Holt, though she remained calm. «I was trying to survive that's all,» said Holt. «He said 'I won't harm you or molest you.'»

He ordered her to take a shower with him, but then changed his mind and ordered her to take a bath with him as he wasn't warm enough.

Following that he dragged her around the house, disconnecting phones, and leaving trails of blood from gashes from the broken window he'd used to enter Holt's home.

He then barricaded himself and Holt in her basement bathroom for 17 hours.

Holt's friends and family noticed something was off as texts weren't being read. Holt sends her daily Wordle puzzle to her daughter each morning, but on this particular day nothing was sent.

This prompted Holt's daughter to call the police who performed a wellness check. An hours-long standoff ensued, eventually leading to a SWAT team using a stun gun to subdue the man.

Holt was taken to safety and determined physically unharmed. Davis, who has been deemed mentally unwell, is in policy custody.

Said Holt: «I'm very lucky».