A Florida woman who claimed to have been held against her will left a “help me” note at a local sandwich shop to alert workers and escape, according to authorities and a restaurant employee.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said that they responded to a report of “suspicious note found inside the restroom of a local business in Navarre” on May 27. The author of the note “indicated she was being held against her will” at a nearby home and “feared for her life.”
The local business was identified as a Jersey Mike’s restaurant by Alabama-based outlet WPMI that talked with the employee who reportedly found the note.
"There was this little piece of crumpled up paper that was shoved next to our toilet paper dispenser, and it looked like a piece of trash,” worker Eleanor Coffee told the outlet.
The worker detailed what was reportedly written in the note: "She was like, 'Please help me. I'm at this address in Navarre. I need you to call the police and do a wellness check.’”
Authorities said that they identified Jordan Williams, 34, as the woman’s suspected captor.
The sheriff’s office said that Williams and the woman “have a documented history with our agency of domestic violence incidents,” so they went to the home that they had on file.
When they got to the home, the woman was found and she “detailed repeated assaults, threats involving weapons, and being held in isolation by Williams for a span of several months,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The woman had “visible injuries,” and she was taken to a local hospital for treatment of “suspected broken bones and other trauma,” authorities said.
Williams was arrested on multiple felony charges, including Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Kidnap-False Imprisonment and Battery by Strangulation.
“My heart goes out to her and her family," Coffee said, adding that she’s “hopeful that really doesn't happen again."
