Woman Held Hostage For Days Escapes From House, Suspect Found Dead

By Zuri Anderson

November 21, 2023

Cropped view of police officer
Photo: kali9 / E+ / Getty Images

An investigation is underway after a 27-year-old woman was held against her will for several days and managed to escape a house in Washington State. The injured victim fled to a nearby home in the 10800 block of Sehmel Drive in Gig Harbor around 10 a.m. Saturday (November 18), according to the city's police department.

When officers responded to the scene, she told police an older man beat her before she managed to escape the residence. The woman also claims the man picked her up from "an unknown location either in King or Thurston County." The victim said she didn't previously know the man and confessed to recently using drugs.

Police later located the house the woman described and spotted blood on the outside porch area. Officers obtained a search warrant for the residence and found a 66-year-old man dead from "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound." Authorities also discovered evidence of someone trying to start a fire inside the home.

Officials said nobody else was involved in the incident, and the investigation is ongoing. As for the 27-year-old woman, she was taken to a local hospital after suffering "several deep lacerations to the head," police wrote. They haven't released the identity of the deceased man.

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