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Police: Woman Escapes Naked after Captivity, Beating in Pottsville Apartment

POTTSVILLE — A business in Pottsville had something very unusual happen Tuesday morning: a woman with no clothes on ran into the business and said she had...
holly ann rhode

POTTSVILLE -- A business in Pottsville had something very unusual happen Tuesday morning: a woman with no clothes on ran into the business and said she had been held captive for three days.

The woman also said she was beaten with everything from baseball bats to fire extinguishers.

Police in Pottsville are just releasing the details of what happened Tuesday morning and confirm one person has been charged.

We spoke to employees at the business who got quite the shock when a naked woman came in, screaming for help.

Holly Ann Rhode, 47, of Pottsville is now the one locked up and behind bars, accused of holding another woman captive for three days.

Police said Rhode beat her inside an apartment on South Centre Street with chairs, a fire extinguisher, and a bat until, witnesses say, the victim made a run for it Tuesday morning and escaped.

"That's amazing," said Jerry Vrabel.  "I've lived here for 15 years. I never heard of anything like that ever happening."

The battered woman, allegedly being held captive escaped from an apartment and ran across the street completely naked, screaming, "help me" to people inside a business.

"Thank God our big garage door was open, because that's the way she came in, because what if it wasn't? Maybe she wouldn't have gotten away. You know, it is scary," said Diane Hess.

Hess had just started her morning, working at Atlantic Bingo Supply when the woman came running in for help.

Hess can't get the image out of her head, remembering there wasn't an inch of the battered and naked woman's body that wasn't bruised.

"Oh, my gosh, my heart just broke," said Hess. "She was totally bruised, she had a big gash on her head. She had a little blanket she was holding over her. It was absolutely horrible."

As horrible as this incident sounds, some have doubts such terrifying events went on.

"I was here Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I walked into the house and there was nothing going on," said Harry Haughney.

Police are still investigating this case and have not released a motive for why Rhode held the other woman captive. But police add, they found evidence to substantiate the victim's account of what happened -- enough to charge Holly Ann Rhode with aggravated assault and unlawful restraint.

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