81-year-old left handwritten plea in mailbox for police to save him

An 81-year-old Florida man called for help in an unusual way - by leaving a handwritten note in his mailbox.

A mail carrier spotted it and alerted police, who arrived at his Lantana home on December 29, WPBF 25 News reports.

Authorities say the note led them to a troubling scene. The man told officers that his caregiver, Denise Williams, had become angry the previous day over his bathroom’s condition, shouting at him and seizing his phone when he tried to call for help.

Williams allegedly scratched him, took his cell and landline phones, confiscated his car keys, and locked the items in her bedroom. The man reportedly sustained a hand injury during the struggle.

With no way to contact anyone, he reportedly wrote the note and left it in his mailbox, hoping someone would notice.

Investigators say she had the man’s debit card and checkbook and allegedly admitted to taking his phones and injuring him.

Police later found Williams at a nearby gas station. She was arrested on charges including battery on a person over 65 and robbery and remains in Palm Beach County Jail.