Man accused of duct taping estranged wife; police say he buried her alive

Police in Washington said a man kidnapped his estranged wife but she was able to escape.

Police said they were called to a home in Lacey, Washington, with dispatch telling officers that they could hear “muffled screaming and sounds of a struggle.”

When the police got there, no one was home, but the garage door was open. Eventually, the children of Young An and her estranged husband Chae An came home. The children told the officers that their parents were at the house when they left for the store about 30 minutes before, KIRO reported.

Police said they did find used duct tape at the house.

Young An had a domestic violence protection from abuse order against Chae An, Lacey Police said in a news release.

A person was awakened by a woman pounding on his door asking for help. The woman was Young An who alleged that her husband was trying to kill her, KIRO reported.

According to court documents, Young An still had duct tape on her neck, face and ankles when she went to the stranger’s home, NBC News reported. She also had bruises on her legs, arms and head and dirt covering her hair and clothing.

Police said in court documents that Chae An secured his wife’s hands behind her back and duct taped her eyes, thighs and ankles. She had called 911 using her Apple watch before she was taken from their house. She also sent an emergency notification from the device before her husband allegedly broke the watch, smashing it with a hammer, NBC News reported.

Police said in the probable cause affidavit that Chae An drove his wife out of their neighborhood in their van to the wooded area and placed her on the ground. She said she heard him digging, then Chae AN stabbed her in the chest and then dragged her to a hole. She told police her husband then placed a heavy tree on top of her and shoveled dirt on top.

The authorities said that Young An got out of a shallow grave after what she said felt like hours of having trouble breathing, according to NBC News.

She was able to get out of the duct tape securing her hands and ripped off the tape from her eyes, before escaping the scene and running through the woods for help.

The person who Young An ask for help called the police.

Police said that Young An had non-life-threatening injuries. Young An told police that her husband kidnapped her from their home and drove into the woods.

A separate person who was out walking the trails found the vehicle that police said Chae An drove to the site.

When police investigated the scene, they said they found a hole that appeared freshly dug, and nearby, a piece of duct tape, NBC News reported.