On Tuesday, a woman was freed from her home in Robertsville, Missouri, after a UPS driver saw the note she had scrawled on a scheduled package pick up that read, “Call 911.”
The woman was being held by her husband, a man named James Tyler Jordan. Fox News reports that court documents state the woman was beaten and forced to strip by Jordan, who then sexually assaulted her. She alleges that he held a gun to her head and threatened to kill both of them. Their three-year-old was locked in the bedroom without food or water during the fifteen-hour ordeal.
Jordan reportedly stood behind his wife with a gun to her back as she handed over the package to the UPS driver, and she somehow managed to scrawl a plea for help during the interaction. The driver called the police, who then arrested Jordan. The story focuses more on the UPS driver’s call to authorities than the woman’s bravery and quick thinking, sharing the company’s praise of their employee:
“We are grateful this UPS driver with more than a decade of service followed protocol when he saw a customer in distress and contacted authorities after he saw her message to contact 9-1-1,” the company said in a statement.
“Our drivers are very familiar with their routes, and are trained to be aware of their surroundings and respond to requests for assistance.”
The Washington Post reports that Jordan has been arrested for assault before, and he was initially uncooperative, closing the door on police sent to check on the 911 call. The SWAT team was called, but Jordan surrendered before they arrived. Jordan is being held on a $100,000 bond, and is being charged with “domestic assault, sodomy without consent, felonious restraint, unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child.”