Brace yourself for a whole lot of terrible, scary shit.
According to police, a couple kidnapped and raped a woman at their mobile home in an Indiana trailer park and kept her locked in a dog cage. Ricky Roy House Jr., 37, and Kendra Tooley, 44, were charged with rape, kidnapping and other crimes for the horrific abuse committed against Joelle Lockwood.
Lockwood, an Evansville resident, had been missing for nearly two months. Police said she told them she went to visit House and Tooley, who were acquaintances of hers. She said when she got up to leave, House used chloroform to knock her out, according to NBC News:
For the next 59 days, prosecutors said, House locked the woman in places throughout the home, including the cage. She was forced to wear a red dog collar and leash, and restrained at times with bungee cords and zip ties, the prosecutors said.
The woman told police that she was repeatedly raped and beaten, and forced to have sex with both House and Tooley. Tooley told police that House was trying to get the woman pregnant "because she was old and unable to have children of her own."
There is no telling how long her ordeal could have lasted for or if she would have ever made it out alive were it not for the couple having a visitor over. That's right—while they kept a woman as a sex slave in their home, they invited company over.
Ron Higgs is Tooley's ex-husband. He told police Tolley asked him over because she needed financial help. Not wanting to go at first, Higgs told WFIE something convinced him he needed to go to the home. That's when he discovered Lockwood:
After helping Ricky House run some errands, he was shown the cage where Joelle Lockwood had been held captive. "She had a t-shirt on, and that was it," says Higgs. "She had a leather belt, like a dog collar on. Every night, they locked her in there. No food, no water."
He says both House and Higg's ex-wife, Kendra Tooley, forced Lockwood to cook and clean. Higgs says, at first, he didn't understand what was going on.
According to ABC, Higgs tried to help free her but was threatened by House:
When Higgs came back the next day, [police] said Higgs offered House additional money if he could take the woman, but House put a shotgun to Higgs' chin and threatened to kill him.
"She told me on the second night with tears running down her eyes, 'please, do not leave here with out me,'" Higgs said. "And I promised her, if I have to give my life to get you out of here, I will."
Higgs said he finally "made up a story" and convinced the couple to let him take Lockwood with him, promising not call police. Higgs told authorities that once he got her out of the house, she asked to phone her mother before calling the police to let her know she was alright. Then the pair contacted authorities, which led to the arrest of House and Tooley.
Here are they being led into court today:
A $500,000 bond was set for House and a $150,000 was set for Tooley. House and Tooley will appear again in court on Oct. 1.
Screencap via WFIE.