A Florida woman, claiming she had been confined for several months, was rescued recently after a sandwich shop employee discovered a crumpled note she had left, pleading for help.
On May 27, deputies from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office were alerted to a Jersey Mike’s Subs in Navarre, located roughly 66 miles from Panama City Beach, upon the discovery of a suspicious note in the bathroom.
According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, the note was penned by a woman stating she was being detained against her will at a nearby residence and feared for her life.
Employee Eleanor Coffee told Pensacola station WEAR-TV that she found the note in the store’s bathroom.
“There was this little piece of crumpled up paper that was shoved next to our toilet paper dispenser,” she said.
Coffee said she opened up the paper and saw the alarming 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,” Coffee told the news station.
She told her manager and they called 911. Coffee could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The woman left her name and address on the note, the sheriff’s office told the news station.
Deputies used surveillance video, former case records and witness interviews to identify the suspect as Jordan Williams. The sheriff’s office said in its news release that Williams, 34, and the unidentified victim “have a documented history with our agency of domestic violence incidents.”
A search warrant was executed at Williams’ listed address, where deputies found the victim. The woman told police that she had been abused, assaulted, threatened with a weapon, and “held in isolation by Williams for a span of several months,” the news release states.
The woman had visible injuries, authorities said, and was taken to the hospital for treatment of suspected broken bones and other trauma.
Williams was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, battery and battery by strangulation. He was booked into the county jail. It’s not clear if he has obtained an attorney.
