Sandy, Utah- A Utah woman has been rescued from a harrowing hostage situation after police say friends were alerted to the situation following a Facebook status update.
The woman, who has not been named, posted to the social network that she and her baby son, also unnamed, would be “dead by Christmas.” The two were held for five days, and the captive woman managed to sneak a laptop- evading the notice of her assailant- into a closet to post her plea for help to the site.
When police arrived on the scene, they found the woman along with suspect Troy Critchfield, 33, and their toddler son. The woman is also reportedly the mother of a disabled Iraqi war veteran, but it is unclear whether he was present at the Sandy residence. The victim appeared visibly battered, with bruises of varying age on her face. Police say that each time she attempted to flee with her son, Critchfield would choke and assault her, preventing her from leaving the home.
Sandy Police Department Sgt. Jon Arnold says:
“You could see the dating of the brusing, multiple colors of bruising.”
Alarmingly, Critchfield was involved in a similar hostage situation just last year, and required a SWAT team to extract him from the home. That incident occurred just thirteen months ago, and Critchfield served only 120 days in jail before he was freed.
The victim is now recovering at home, and Critchfield has been charged with numerous offenses, including sodomy, sexual assault and child abuse. He is still on probation for the incident last November.