(WHDH) — An 80-year-old Illinois woman is crediting a popular word game with saving her life.
Police say a naked man broke into Denyse Holt’s home while she was asleep last weekend and held her hostage at scissor-point for hours.
Her daughter, Meredith Holt-Caldwell, lives hundreds of miles away in Seattle but noticed something was wrong when her mom hadn’t played Wordle that day.
“I didn’t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning and that was disconcerting to her,” Holt said.
“I’m across the country and I noticed this,” Holt-Caldwell said.
It was because she didn’t get that Wordle update that Holt-Caldwell called the police.
The family said the SWAT team shot a stun gun through a hole in the door to subdue the suspect after the 17-hour ordeal.
“I can’t say enough good things,” Holt said. “They were beyond wonderful.”
The woman’s family said this terrifying incident highlights the importance of staying in touch with loved ones.
“I never thought in a million years this is what was happening, but it was,” Holt-Caldwell said.
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