Woman Tied Up And Buried Alive By Estranged Husband Crawls Out Hours Later

A woman got herself out of a hole after her estranged husband buried her alive in a wooded area in Washington, police said.

The man accused of driving the woman in a van to the wooded area and burying her inside a hole was arrested and could face charges in connection with abducting the woman and attempting to murder her, KING 5 reported Wednesday.

Young An, 42, had returned from church with her two children to find her estranged husband, Chae Kyong An, at her Lacey home in the afternoon of Oct. 16.

After asking the children to leave so they could discuss their divorce and money, the estranged pair had an altercation that led to the woman asking Kyong An to leave.

The man physically assaulted her and punched her repeatedly before using duct tape to tie her up and cover her eyes, the probable cause documents said.

The victim, however, managed to use her Apple watch to contact 911 and even sent her emergency contacts a notification.

In the wee hours of Monday, the woman managed to remove the tape off her arms and escape. A resident on Stedman Road Southeast later woke up to find the victim banging on the door and asking for help.

Hours before the woman's escape, Lacey police had been dispatched to Rossberg Street Southeast at around 1 p.m. Sunday after dispatchers told officers about hearing muffled screams and what sounded like a struggle during a 911 call.

Responding officers arrived at the victim's house to find the door open, KIRO 7 News reported. The children, who said they had gone to the store, arrived at the house and told officers their parents were at home when they left.

Officers recovered neighbors' surveillance footage, which included a video of the estranged husband pulling his van into the garage and then leaving just before officers reached the house.

Young An was later located and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

She told officers she walked through the woods for about 20 to 30 minutes before finding the house and asking the resident to call 911. She kept wiggling to keep the dirt off her face while she was buried, the woman added. "She was in the ground for a few hours" but could not exactly tell how long she spent buried, the document said.

The estranged husband's vehicle was spotted Monday in the woods about 200 yards off Stedman Road. He was located the same day and taken into custody.

He could potentially be charged with attempted murder in the first degree, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, and felony harassment - threat to kill.