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Earlier this month, a Utah resident was rescued by a locksmith who was alerted she was being kidnapped from a message written on her hand that read “911,” CNN reports.
The locksmith was attending a call at a home in Midway, about 45 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. He’d been hired to change a front door lock but realized something was wrong when the woman showed him the writing on her hand as he passed her the invoice upon finishing the job.
He called Wasatch County Sheriff’s deputies to the property, having first spoken to a friend who worked for the FBI. According to the sheriff’s office, he said there had been a man in the house who “acted suspiciously, staying close to the female and only allowing her to have her phone with his permission.”
The locksmith, who wanted to only give his first name, Greg, told CNN that he did not know either party before his visit.
“Being a locksmith, I have been involved in some, some domestic situations, but nothing quite like this,” he said.
The sheriff’s report identified the suspect as Grant Eggertsen. Having been in a previous relationship with the woman, he’d entered the home without permission on Oct. 1.
The report notes that the woman believes Eggertsen was upset because she had moved on to another relationship, that they had argued, and had assaulted her. He refused to let her leave the house or have her phone. The locksmith had been arranged prior to Eggertsen’s arrival because she wanted to keep him out.
He was arrested by deputies, and Wasatch County Attorney’s Office charged him with aggravated kidnapping in the course of unlawful detention, criminal trespass, and assault. He was later released on bail with a $5,000 bond.
Eggertsen’s attorney had no comment when contacted by PEOPLE. It is not known if he has entered a plea at this time.
The locksmith, Greg, later told KSTU that the woman had shown him her hand twice.
“So obviously, that drew some attention from me. But I was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t mouth anything to her or anything,” He said, adding, “… I made eye contact with her, to basically let her know that yeah, I saw it.”
Despite having worked for many years, this was a first for Greg.
“The lady was pretty smart to be able to do what she did,” he told the news outlet. “And so, it’s not like I was trying to guess what was really going on. She gave me some great clues that there was an issue there.”
Greg hadn’t wanted to be left second guessing by not acting, and so after talking to his friend at the FBI, he called the sheriff’s.
After hearing what had happened, Greg told Fox13, “When found out that he had been arrested, charged and stuff, I was kind of like, ‘Okay, good. Good. That’s good.’ I’m glad that the woman, the lady, is safe and that nothing bad happened.”
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