Man Arrested After Woman in Metal Collar Flees Home

She said Missouri man Timothy Haslett held her captive for a month
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 11, 2022 4:43 PM CDT
Man Arrested After Woman in Metal Collar Flees Home
Police tape blocks off the Excelsior Springs residence of Timothy M. Haslett Jr., Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Excelsior Springs, Mo.   (Bill Lukitsch/The Kansas City Star via AP)

A Missouri man was arrested Friday after a malnourished woman wearing a metal collar with a lock on the front ran from his home and begged neighbors for help. Timothy Haslett, 39, has been charged with kidnapping and rape and investigators are trying to determine whether there were other victims, the Kansas City Star reports. The woman told police that Haslett had kept her captive in a small room in the basement of his home in Excelsior Springs, about 30 miles northeast of Kansas City, since early September. She said she had been whipped and frequently raped during her time in captivity.

"He kept her restrained in handcuffs on her wrists and ankles. She was able to get free when he took his child to school," a probable cause statement from a detective said, per the AP. Police said the woman was found wearing latex lingerie and a collar that was restricting her breathing. The Star reports that Haslett's home was extensively searched over the weekend, with investigators removing large bags of evidence from the property and cadaver dogs searching the yard and Haslett's truck. Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull said Sunday that detectives are looking for evidence of "other crimes."

Ciara Tharp tells KSHB that her grandmother heard the woman screaming and knocking on her door around 7:45am Friday. "My grandma could tell she was weak," Tharp says. "She didn't have a whole lot of clothes on. She said she had a metal dog collar around her neck and could see the ligature marks around her wrists." Lisa Johnson, another neighbor, said the woman came to her home and told her she had been held captive by a man up the street, but ran next door after she went to grab a phone to call 911. "It frightened her," Johnson says. "She told me if I called the cops he'd kill us both." She says the woman appeared extremely malnourished and had apparently pulled down duct tape that had been covering her mouth. (More kidnapping stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X