A 14-year-old girl was managed to save herself from being killed after texting a friend to call 911.
A 47-year-old man named Gary Love reportedly kept the teenager and her mother, Robin Denman, tied up in their North Carolina home for two days.
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Local media outlets have stated that Love and Denman knew each other from working together years ago when the two lived in New York.
When Love fell asleep, the teenager managed to retrieve her phone and text her 13-year-old friend named Savannah Evans on the morning after Christmas. Evans shared the text with Channel 9, which read: “…call 911 me and my mom need help FAST!!”
The text was sent around 5:30 a.m., but Evans wasn’t able to respond until two hours later. “OMG ARE YOU OKAY IM SO SORRY I WAS SLEEPING,” she wrote.
Evans and her grandmother then proceeded to inform the Sheriff’s department about the alarming text. Law enforcement officers were then dispatched to Robin Denman’s home in the 700 block of Cool Springs Road.
When the police arrived, Gary Love answered the door. He allegedly told the cops that Denman and her daughter were at a funeral, according to Daily Mail.
Love then attempted to evade the police by making a break for the back door. The police arrested him shortly after the failed escape attempt.
The teenager explained to the police that she did not know where her mother was, and that she had been held captive since Christmas eve. Denman’s body was later discovered by the police in another room.
Autopsy results have not yet been released to determine Robin Denman’s cause of death.
The police arrested Love for the crimes on Monday. The Wadsworth, Ohio man is facing a murder charge, and is being held without bail.
Darren Campbell, the Iredell County Sheriff, characterized the crime as “demonic” in the way the two were violently assaulted.
The name of the teenager has not been released, but the authorities are expecting that Love will face sexual abuse charges. There was also evidence that the teenager was likely raped.
What was your reaction after reading about this horrific crime?
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[H/T Daily Mail]