A 20-year-old British woman has been rescued by Queensland police after being held captive by a mentally unstable man in a car throughout the early hours of Monday morning.
The backpacker sent a series of text messages and a Google Maps location pin to her father in England, asking him to contact the Australian police.
Trouble began for Mary Kate Heys when she was awoken at approximately 4.30am in her Sunshine Coast hostel by a man in a “manic state” who asked her to go on a road trip with him immediately. Fearing he was on drugs and wanting to help, Heys agreed.
Mary Kate Heys texted her dad in the UK for help. Source: Today.Within moments of entering the car, however, it became clear to Heys she was in serious danger. When she asked to exit the car, the man refused.
“He kept talking about how ‘they’ (aliens) were coming to get us and we had to get to Cairns to escape,” Heys told The Courier-Mail following her rescue.
“I was so scared and I thought I was going to die.”
Trying to remain calm, Heys began texting her father instructions.
"Dad are you awake," the texts begin.
"I need you to call the Australian police. I've been taken by a man ... please hurry," they continued before she sent him a Google Maps location.
“I said ‘don’t worry’ but I knew getting a message like that would be a parent’s worst nightmare,” Heys said following the ordeal.
Heys was eventually rescued in Gympie, almost an hour and a half away from where the pair set off when police pulled the man's car over.
The 22-year-old man, who is yet to be named, was taken to a psychiatric ward.
Heys has said she does not plan to press charges because she believes the man needs medical help, rather than jail time.
Top Comments
Why the heck did she get in the car in the first place??
Whether or not charges are actually pressed against this man, bravo to this woman for her quick thinking. I also think its wonderful that she has such a sense of compassion and empathy for the man who kidnapped her. To realize that he is mentally ill and wishes him no harm speaks volumes as to the kind of person she is. We should all be this way!
I would be calling the police and an ambulance, not getting into a car with a strange man under influence of drugs on a manic state while in a foreign country! My own personal risk assessment of this situation is that this is not a good choice. She put herself at great risk unnecessarily.
Good old fashioned compassion. She clearly saw that he was in distress and was compelled to help. It could have ended differently but it didnt. That poor man may just get the help he clearly needs now.
This whole world would be a lot better off if people showed more compassion instead of just assuming the worst in every situation.
Well sit there and hold his hand and talk to him while you call an ambulance or a doctor!