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Authorities say that Lockwood was kept confined to a makeshift cage in the trailer
POSEY CO., Ind.—The two people arrested in the possible abduction and certain confinement of a woman missing for nearly two months kept the woman restrained and in a “makeshift cage,” according to sheriff’s department authorities.
Joelle Lockwood, 30, who had been missing since early July when she was last seen intoxicated and stumbling down an Evansville street, was rescued from a trailer in Posey County, Indiana on Saturday by Ron Higgs, a man who could easily be declared a hero for his actions.
Below is a screencap of Evansville channel 14 WFIE‘s exclusive coverage of the cage being removed from the trailer in Posey County as provided by evansvillewatch:
Rick R. House, Jr., 37, and Kendra S. Tooley, 44, are scheduled to appear in Posey County Court this morning in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, to hear charges against them that amount to rape and criminal confinement after holding Lockwood against her will since early July.
Rick House, Jr.
Kendra Tooley
Posey County Sheriff Gregory Oeth tells media that Higgs, visiting House and Tooley at the trailer where they were allegedly keeping Lockwood, actually spoke to Lockwood on the night before, and, apparently trying to keep cool and be patient about it, came back and effectively rescued her from the conditions she was being kept in.
Higgs is Tooley’s ex-husband.
Authorities say that Lockwood was kept restrained and in a makeshift cage in the single-wide trailer…and that the couple allegedly repeatedly raped her. Multiple accounts have it that there was a belt around Lockwood’s neck that had to be undone before Higgs could get her out of the trailer. Higgs told authorities he couldn’t do it the night before because he “had guns pointed at him” at that time.
Details of how Higgs came back Saturday, September 6, to rescue Lockwood haven’t been as explicit, but information on how the freaky couple reacted when Oeth’s officers came to arrest them was: He told media that the two were emotionless and went quietly with police.
Lockwood was reunited with her family on Saturday.
The search for another southwestern Indiana woman, Kristy Kelley, continues. Authorities have given no indication that House and Tooley have been involved in any way with Kelley’s disappearance, nor with that of anyone else who might be missing from the Tri-State area.