Woman Escapes Shallow Grave After Husband Buried Her Alive

A Washington state woman escaped a near-deadly calamity after her estranged husband buried her alive.

Thurston County officers responded to a home on Tuesday at around 1 a.m., where the 42-year old woman frantically knocked on a resident’s door asking for help, telling them her husband was trying to kill her.

Lacey Police Department said, “The woman was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her husband had kidnapped her from her home and driven her into the woods, where he stabbed her and buried her alive.”

“After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her,” police continued. “The woman believes she was in the grave for hours and survived by wiggling her face around to create some air pockets. After waiting for it to get dark, she struggled free to escape, she walked for 20 to 30 minutes until finding help.”

Once she had arrived at the resident’s home seeking help, she yelled, “My husband is trying to kill me.”

The residents said, “She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles when she arrived at our home. There was lots of bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.”

The woman’s husband Chae Kyong An was arrested several hours after her rescue without incident, when a hiker spotted his 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan on a trail nearby.

The 53-year-old is charged with first-degree assault/domestic violence, kidnapping/domestic violence and attempted murder, according to Thurston County Correction Facility’s inmate database. He is being held without bail.

LPD also reported, that they had previously responded to a call from the woman’s home on Monday afternoon, which dispatch could hear muffled screaming and sounds of a struggle.

Upon their arrival, officers did not locate anyone but found the garage door open and duct tape in the home, which they believed was used on the victim.

A neighbor also provided surveillance footage that allegedly shows Chae pulling his van into the garage and briefly closing the door before behind him and leaving again just before the police arrived.

Shortly after, the woman’s children returned home, where they said both of their parents were home before they left for the store about an hour prior.

Officials subsequently issued an Endangered Missing Persons Alert for the woman, who had a domestic violence protection order against Chae, in addition to providing a description of Chae’s vehicle.