DUBLIN, Ga. -- A plea for help scrawled on a bathroom wall in Tennessee led to the arrest of a truck driver at a rest stop in Georgia, where police found a woman who said she had been beaten and held against her will for six months.
Katina L. Shaddix, 24, told police she hid a marker in her sock and left more than 30 messages in restrooms from New York to Tennessee.
Maintenance worker Binford Aycock found one, saying, "Won't let me out. Beating me, this is no joke!" while cleaning the restroom at an Interstate 75 rest stop Friday night in McMinn County, Tenn. He called 911.
The message, written in ink marker, named "Cannon truck 383." Officials used a global positioning system to trace the truck to a rest area on Interstate 16 in Georgia. Deputies converged on the truck early Saturday.
Shaddix told police she met the man at a truck stop in Washington state about a year ago and began traveling with him willingly, but wanted to leave about six months ago. She said the man beat her and held her against her will, following her to the bathroom and waiting outside so she wouldn't escape.
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