Washington Woman Escapes After Estranged Husband Allegedly Kidnapped, Stabbed And Buried Her Alive

Court documents revealed that a 42-year-old woman escaped after her estranged husband allegedly kidnapped her from her Lacey house. He allegedly stabbed the Washington state woman and buried her alive in the woods earlier this month.

The Lacey Police Department said in a statement that cops responded to the house of Young An on Rossberg Street on Oct. 16 afternoon. They responded after a dispatcher answered a call and overheard "muffled screaming and sounds of a struggle," reported Fox News.

According to court documents, there was just constant screaming, and "it was unknown if it was medical or not." Banging and a barking dog was also overheard by the dispatcher. But then it got quiet.

According to a probable cause statement, later police were told that the woman dialled 911 from her Apple watch after her hands were bound behind her back with duct tape. Young said that her estranged husband, Chae An, eventually smashed her watch with a hammer. Then he dragged her out of the house.

Police said that responding officers arrived at an empty house. They found the garage door open. The couple’s children turned up a few minutes later. They told the cops that their parents had been there 30 minutes earlier. A friend also reached the scene and told police that she had got an "emergency text notification" from Young's phone.

As per court records, Young and her husband are in the middle of divorce proceedings. Authorities shared that Young previously had a domestic violence protection order against her husband, 53. But the order against Chae had been rescinded. He visited the house once a week to do laundry.

Cops found "used duct tape" at the scene. Due to the circumstances, they issued an endangered missing person alert to state law enforcement. They also sent an emergency blast to cellphones throughout Thurston and Pierce counties. Investigators found a video showing Chae had left moments before police arrived.

Then around 1 a.m. on Oct. 17, Young reappeared. She was seen banging on a door on Stedman Road. It was about 7 miles away from her home. She said that her ex was trying to kill her and begged the residents for help. The residents called police, and she told them that Chae had driven her into the woods. He placed a "heavy tree" over her and threw dirt over her. She waited hours for a chance to escape. Then she clawed her way out of her bindings and the shallow hole. She stumbled through the woods for about a half-hour. Then she banged on a residential door.

She had "extensive" bruising all over her body. She was covered in dirt, had duct tape hanging from her face, neck and ankles, and had been stabbed multiple times in the breasts.

After sunrise, a hiker saw Chae's vehicle parked nearby. The person called police, who subsequently arrested the suspect at the scene.

Chae, who is being held at the Thurston County Jail without bail, faces charges of attempted first-degree murder. He also faces charges of first-degree domestic violence kidnapping and first-degree domestic violence assault.