A text message from a hostage to her friend helped police free a 26-year-old Williams Lake woman who was being kidnapped by her violent boyfriend on Monday night.
The woman secretly texted her friend from her cellphone, saying her boyfriend was holding her in a transport truck he was driving from Williams Lake to Kitimat. She texted the friend that her boyfriend had become violent and stopped her from going to work for a week, and was threatening to harm her.
“She was extremely brave, taking opportunities to text her friend and let her know she was in trouble,” said Const. Lesley Smith, spokeswoman for the RCMP’s North District 911 dispatch centre.
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Smith said the woman texted that her boyfriend wouldn’t let her leave the truck and threatened to kill her if he saw police.
The dispatch centre picked up a 911 call from the victim’s friend at 10 p.m. on Monday and by 11:40 p.m., police had stopped the transport truck just outside Smithers, arrested a suspect and freed the young woman.
Smith said police contacted the trucking company and learned the route the 24-year-old driver was taking. They also learned the driver was known to police. An alert was issued to RCMP detachments to watch for the vehicle. Dispatchers contacted the cellphone service providers for both the victim’s and the driver’s phones and used GPS co-ordinates to track the truck’s progress. The “pings” showed the truck was southwest of Smithers and officers acted quickly to set up a roadblock on the highway.
“Officers pulled over the truck, and the driver was taken into custody without incident,” Smith said. “The victim was in the passenger seat, safe but scared to death.”
The suspect is in police custody facing a number of charges including assault, forcible confinement and uttering threats. He is expected to appear in court this week.
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