Online game Wordle saves 80-year-old woman from hostage situation
What's the story
Popular Twitter word game Wordle recently saved the life of an 80-year-old woman in the United States. Denyse Holt, a resident of Chicago was in her bed when a stranger snuck into the room and held her hostage for 17 hours. Her daughter alerted the police after the mother failed to text her the day's Wordle answers, WBBM-TV reported. Holt was eventually rescued.
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What happened on the day of crime?
The 32-year-old intruder, identified as James H. Davis III, on February 5, reportedly broke in carried a pair of scissors and injured himself while entering through the window. Holt was shocked and tried to remain calm during the incident to save her life. "I was trying to survive that's all. He said I won't harm you or molest you," said Holt.
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How was the police informed?
Holt further said that he dragged her throughout her house, disconnected the phones, and took a few knives from the kitchen before dragging her to a basement bathroom that he blocked with a chair. Meredith Holt-Caldwell, Holt's daughter who resides in Seattle, eventually realized that her mother had not texted her about 'Wordle' which she does very often and informed the police.
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'Never thought this is what was happening'
"I didn't send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning — and that was disconcerting to her," said Holt. The family decided to inform the local authorities who rescued Holt from Davis. "I never thought in a million years this is what was happening, but it was," Holt-Caldwell told WBBM. Reportedly, Davis is suffering from mental illness and faces several charges.
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History of Wordle
Josh Wardle, a software engineer from Brooklyn, came up with the idea of the game for his partner who was fond of word games. Wardle released the game in October 2021 after it became an instant hit in their household. By November 2021, the game had roughly 90 players. Wordle reached over 3,00,000 users within only two months.