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Mom in hostage situation with her three kids used 6-word instruction on Pizza Hut app to save her family

Cops who helped save the mom's life were impressed by her brilliant idea of calling for help without raising any suspicion.

BY RADHIKA AGARWAL

PUBLISHED 1 DAY AGO

(L) A scared woman sitting with her head down in a corner of a room. (R) A Pizza Hut application is open on a mobile phone. (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | (L) Mart Production; (R) appshunter)

Trigger warning: This story contains themes of violence that some readers may find distressing.

Being in an unsafe situation in your own home can be quite challenging for anyone. However, a mom, Cheryl Treadway, who was being held hostage by her boyfriend, Ethan Nickerson, came up with a brilliant solution to get help. Nickerson had taken her phone away, but she managed to notify the police with the help of a pizza delivery app. Her quick thinking saved her along with her three children, per ABC News. Treadway was held at knifepoint by her boyfriend for a whole day.

A pepperoni pizza with some eaten slices in a box. Representative Image Source: Pexels | Pixabay

"She was held hostage by him all day," Nell Hays, Public Information Officer, revealed. The couple had three young children, and all of them were present at the time of the incident. The issue escalated as the couple got into an argument. Nickerson took away Treadway's phone, so she could not reach out to anyone. She even attempted to leave the house to go and pick up her children at first, per CBC News. But Nickerson took her smartphone, grabbed her and accompanied her to pick their children up from school. However, Treadway managed to convince him to let her order pizza from Pizza Hut's ordering app for the kids from her phone. She ordered the pizza, and he immediately took the phone from her.

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Nonetheless, Treadway managed to slip in a call for help in the comments section of her order. "She told him, 'The kids are hungry. Let's order a pizza. Let's get them some food," Hays said. Treadway ordered a small, classic pepperoni pizza and added her call for help, which read, "Please help. Get 911 to me." She also added, "911hostage help!" Pizza Hut employees immediately notified the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, who then went to Treadway's house to help her. "I've been with the company for 28 years, and I've never seen anything like that ever. We didn't even question it, we immediately called 911," Candy Hamilton, Pizza Hut manager, recounted.

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Deputies and Lt. Curtis Ludden reached the place on time. "Lt. Ludden happens to be a negotiator and is the head of our crisis negotiator team. He just happened to be the one on duty that night," Hays explained. Deputies went to both Pizza Hut and the delivery location. Treadway came out with one child in her arms and told the officials that her other two children were still at home with Nickerson. The lieutenant talked to him on the home phone for 20 minutes to convince him to come out peacefully and let the officers remove the children.

Police officers standing on the road and looking at something. Representative Image Source: Pexels | Darya Sannikova

"His first words were, of course, 'I'm not coming out because I know I'm going to jail,'" Lt. Curtis Ludden. However, he managed to talk Nickerson into coming outside in peace. The lieutenant was very impressed by Treadway for finding a way to get out of such a situation without compromising her safety. "I don't know if I ever would have thought of it. I mean, it's just something that she did so naturally. The boyfriend never knew about it until he saw us coming around the corner," he shared. Not only that, Nickerson also faced some gruesome charges, such as "aggravated assault with a weapon, battery, kidnapping and obstruction of justice." Also, he was being held on a $45,000 bond at the time. However, in 2019, it was reported he died due to unforeseen circumstances, per Robert Family Funeral Home.