Police officials said the woman who had been reported missing was found alive. The woman was discovered after a person reported hearing cries coming from a shed. Once the police arrived, they found 30-year-old Jennifer trapped in a hole inside of a backyard shed. The hole was described as about 40 inches deep and 2 feet wide. It was covered with wood to conceal the hole, and there were heavy objects found on top of the wood so that the victim could not escape. Police described the area in which the victim Jennifer Elliott was being held captive as extremely tight quarters.
The victim’s mother reported her missing at around 1 a.m., and a couple of hours later, at approximately 3 a.m., the local police department received the call about the cries coming from backyard. Once discovered, the victim was taken to a hospital and has since been released.
The owner of the shed is 45-year-old Denis. He was arrested on a kidnapping charge and taken to jail. According to the New York Times, the woman was likely trapped inside of the shed for 2 or 3 hours before being discovered by police. Denis pleaded no contest to felonious assault after kidnapping his neighbor and placing her in a pit in his backyard, court documents say.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping, but was released 2 years later after the judge ordered a new trial. The defendant maintained his rights were violated due to “ineffective assistance of trial counsel” according to documents filed with the court, and he raised questions as to whether his attorney failed to use evidence to demonstrate Jennifer’s lack of credibility and her denial of involvement in planning the incident.
