GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An unexpected call to the Brown County Dispatch Center Sunday afternoon is what helped save the life of a young woman being held captive more than 2,000 miles away.
For the dispatcher working on the call, it was an unsettling situation. There were even some thoughts the caller was making it up.
“That went out of my mind very quickly and it was very apparent that she needed our help and that is was a real call,” said Dispatch Supervisor Tracy Ertl.
Ertl said the girl told her she had met a man online and had flown from Green Bay to the Dominican Republic to meet him. But when she got there, she was held inside a house with chains on it and had a hard time calling for help.
She said she was afraid and abused. Her items were taken from her, her passport, and she said she had to keep earning back her items,” she added.
But luckily, the woman was able to escape to a local market where she called the Brown County non-emergency line using wi-fi and an app on a device. Ertl was then able to get in contact with the U.S. Embassy overseas to help locate her.
Hours later, immigration officers found the woman and brought her to safety. Ertl credits her dispatch staff’s quick response and the Green Bay police officers who got involved.
“We hope that a call like that doesn’t come, but at least citizens know we are ready to take those calls if they come,” she said.
Officials have not said when the woman will be heading back to Green Bay, and there is no word on if the man who held her captive has been arrested.
