CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (KRON/AP) – A woman who was beaten and raped managed to gain access to a cellphone and send a message that gave investigators an electronic trail to the Louisiana hotel where she was being held, according to police.
Multiple news media outlets report 34-year-old Lee Meadows of Clarksville, Tennessee, was arrested Saturday and charged with battery by strangulation, second-degree battery, false imprisonment and forcible rape. He is being held at the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Louisiana.
Police in Slidell, Louisiana say when the attacker briefly left the room, the woman got to a phone and sent a text to her sister indicating that she was being held near New Orleans.
It’s unclear whose cellphone the woman used to send the text.
Police said Tennessee authorities were able to trace the text, leading officers to the hotel.