Note for help left in bathroom saves woman held hostage for months, FL cops say

The discovery of a desperate note left in a Jersey Mike’s bathroom led to the rescue of a mom who said she had been held against her will for more than six months, Florida authorities said.

Her 34-year-old boyfriend, Jordan Blake Williams, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, felony domestic violence battery, battery by strangulation and battery by touching or striking, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Law enforcement got a call May 27 when the Navarre sandwich shop employees found a “help me” note in the bathroom, not long after a couple came to pick up food, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit.

In the note, the woman asked for a welfare check at a listed address and said she was being held against her will, according to the affidavit. The woman pleaded for help, saying she wants to get home to her family and kids, deputies said.

Investigators identified the accused captor as Williams, the woman’s boyfriend of two years.

The woman’s ex-husband, who has custody of their children, has a restraining order on Williams, saying Williams had threatened to kill the children in the past and was abusive, according to the affidavit.

Deputies went to a home in the Panhandle and found the woman, who said she had written the note and that Williams had been holding her hostage and abusing her for six to eight months, according to investigators.

She recounted that her past escape attempts ended in Williams beating her, deputies said.

First responders said they found her with a black eye, a possible broken arm and hand, as well as large bumps on the back of her head.

Williams repeatedly denied hitting his girlfriend, saying he didn’t know how she had received the injuries deputies found her with, investigators wrote in the report.

Medical personnel took her to a hospital for treatment.

Williams was denied bond May 29, the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Note for help left in bathroom saves woman held hostage for months, FL cops say."