When you were young, you probably had a secret code that only you and your friends understood.
It’s all fun and games until you learn that some cryptic codes have actually brought lucky people
to safety! Don’t believe us? Here are 9 SECRET MESSAGES Sent by Hostages That Saved Their Lives!
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Stay tuned for our number 1 pick because this one looked like a scene straight out of Netflix!
Fair warning: this video mentions domestic abuse and rape among other things.
Let’s get decoding!
#9: Pizza App
Who would’ve thought you can order more than just food with a delivery app!
Here’s a mother who ordered a slice of rescue.
In May 2015, Florida mom Cheryl Treadway
got into a heated argument with her partner Ethan Nickerson,
that escalated into Ethan holding Cheryl and their three kids at knife point! Ethan held them hostage
all day, until Cheryl was able to convince Ethan to let her order pizza for the kids.
When Cheryl managed to order via the Pizza Hut app,
aside from a small pepperoni pizza, she slipped in this call for help.
The Pizza hut employees who received her order quickly notified the local authorities, who then
arrived on the scene. After negotiating with Ethan, the cops were able to apprehend him
and charge the man with kidnapping, aggravated assault, and obstruction of justice.
All thanks to Cheryl who thought outside the box—outside the pizza box to be exact.
Keep watching because our number 1 pick is a serious nail-biter!
But before that, here’s another pizza-related rescue story!
#8: 30 Minutes or it’s Free(dom)
Delivery guys never get enough credit for being our savior in times of great
hunger. But this guy proved to be a lifesaver in more ways than one.
October 2, 2018 was a typical day for Domino’s delivery guy Joseph Grundl. Or so he thought.
You see, that night, while he was delivering pizza to a house in Waldo, Wisconsin,
a woman who was standing behind the man who received his delivery was signaling to Joseph
to get help. She was pointing to her black eye and was mouthing “help me” and “call the police.”
This prompted Joseph to call 911. When authorities responded to the scene, it turned out that the
55-yer-old man who received the pizza, named Dean Hoffman, went barging into the woman’s house
earlier that day in a fit of rage, manhandled the poor lady and hog tied her with a power cord!
The woman must have tipped the delivery guy handsomely after that.
#7: Taxi Driver from Hell
This next story should serve as a warning to all of us
to let our loved ones know of our whereabouts, especially at night.
In December 2019, while Mexican woman Karen Espindola was on a cab ride home
coming from a job interview, she noticed something strange about her taxi driver.
She quickly sent these messages to her mom which say that her driver looks suspicious and gross.
However, when her mom told her to get out of it and get another cab, Karen wasn’t able to respond.
Karen’s family immediately notified the authorities about her disappearance.
Her brother, Daniel, even posted the text exchange on his Facebook to crowdsource information.
After 16 hours, the local police was finally able to rescue Karen and bring her safely back home.
#6: Saved by Snapchat
In January 2020, a 14-year-old girl from Northern California met 55 year-old Albert
Thomas Vasquez who gave the teenage girl drugs and quickly rendered her
immobile. Vasquez then called two other men,
Antonio Quirino Salvador and Hediberto Gonzales Averenga, to help him move the girl to his car.
The three men brought the girl to a motel in San Jose where they sexually
assaulted the helpless victim. While in the motel, the girl managed to use her Snapchat
to let her friends know she had been kidnapped. Luckily,
the friends determined her location through the app and immediately called 911.
When the police arrived, they were able to quickly arrest the suspects.
Vasquez was charged with rape, while his cohorts were charged with kidnaping and conspiracy.
#5: 911 Pizza
Now, this story didn’t involve a pizza guy but
it will go down in history as one of the most ingenious 911 phone calls ever made.
In November 2019, 911 dispatcher Tim TenEyck thought he received
a wrong call when the woman on the other line ordered… pizza.
911: Oregon 911
Woman: I would like to order a pizza at… 911: You called 911 to order a pizza?
Woman: Yeah, apartment… 911: This is the wrong number to call for a pizza
Woman: No, no, no, you’re not understanding 911: I’m getting you now.
TenEyck quickly figured out that it was actually an incident of domestic violence.
911: is the other guy still there? Woman: yup. I need a large pizza.
911: how about medical, you need medical? Woman: No. With pepperoni.
When the Oregon Police arrived at the apartment, they apprehended 56-year-old Simon Ray Lopez who
had allegedly been punching and threatening the caller’s mother. Lopez was his mom’s boyfriend.
As for the quick-thinking dispatcher? Here’s to hoping he got a well-deserved raise!
#4: Flight Angel
Who says angels need to have wings? Some just work in airplanes!
Meet Shelia Fedrick, a flight attendant working for Alaska Airlines. In November 2017,
during a flight from Seattle to San Francisco,
she saw a 14-year-old girl with disheveled blonde hair seated by the window.
The teenager was travelling with a well-dressed
older man. The stark contrast between them tingled Fedrick’s spidey sense so to speak.
Adding to her growing suspicion was the fact that whenever the flight attendant tried to
talk to the girl, the older man would become so defensive and would answer on behalf of the kid.
Fedrick then left a note for the girl in the bathroom,
which later on the girl responded to with the message: “I need help.”
Fedrick immediately called the pilot and told him about the possible human trafficking situation.
When the plane finally landed, the police were already waiting in the terminal.
#3: Better Days
Full disclosure: This next secret message wasn’t sent by hostages per se
but it’s too good to not be on this list.
In the 2000s, a communist military group called FARC opposing the Colombian government held 16
kidnapped soldiers captive in the Columbian jungle.
Some had been hostages for more than 10 years.
In a bid to finally rescue his kidnapped comrades, Colonel Jose Espejo hatched
a plan to send a message over the radio that only the soldiers would understand.
What if he created a pop song that had a hidden Morse Code signal? The son was
entitled “Better Days” and the Colombian army was able to play it throughout FARC territory.
And guess what, it worked! One of the captive soldiers was able to decode the hidden message
in the song and passed it on to the other soldiers.
Here’s the message.
If you were not mind-blown by that, I don’t know what will.
#2: In a Blink of an Eye
Here’s another Morse code hack that’s’ one for the books.
In 1965, US Naval pilot Jeremiah Andrew Denton, Jr. was held captive by Hanoi at the height of
the Vietnam War. A year after he was held hostage, Denton was forced by his captors
to participate in a televised video propaganda that aired in the US.
During the interview, Denton was able to send a secret message to U.S. authorities. How,
you ask? By blinking his eyes with Morse Code. When the U.S. authorities deciphered the message,
it was later found out that the code he sent spelled out as TORTURE. It was the first time
that the US naval Intelligence confirmed that American POWs in Vietnam were being tortured,
and Denton’s excuse for his blinking at the time? That his eyes were sensitive to light.
I will never look at Morse codes the same way again.
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#1: Dutch Train Siege
On May 23, 1977, nine armed Moluccans stopped a rural train outside the village of Glinunen
in the Netherlands, and took 52 passengers hostage.
The armed activists demanded that the Dutch government
keep their promises about an independent state, and to free 21 Moluccan prisoners.
However, the government did not yield
to any of their demands. Although the whole ordeal lasted three weeks,
the hostages were convinced on the 5th day that the hijackers had no intention of actually harming
them. The hijackers even released one of the hostages who showed signs of a heart seizure.
But just like in Money Heist, there’s always an Arturito.
One of the hostages flashed a message in Morse Code using a pocket mirror that read:
“Come and help us get out.”
As soon as the government saw it, they were convinced that they had to step
in to free the hostages even if it meant the use of force.
After six Starfighter jet planes distracted the hijackers and 15,000 bullets were fired,
the authorities were able to enter the train.
Sadly, 2 hostages and 6 hijackers lost their lives during the attack.
So, do you have your own experiences with
secret messages? Tell us all about it in the comments section below!
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Are you up for more mysteries?
Then don’t miss our countdown of the 15 Amazing Secrets Hidden in Everyday Things!
‘Til then, stay clever, fact-natics! And see you in the next video!