Indiana Woman Locked In Cage, Forced By Couple To Cook And Clean

An Indiana couple is due to appear in court on Monday after they allegedly locked a woman in a cage and sexually assaulted her, WFIE reported.

Ricky Roy House Jr., 37, and Kendra Tooley, 44, allegedly kidnapped the victim in July and locked her in a small cage at their Posey County trailer. Forced to wear a "dog collar"-like belt around her neck, the woman was raped and ordered to cook and clean until she was rescued by Tooley's ex-husband on Saturday.

"He took it upon himself to get her out of the residence and took her back to Evansville," Posey County Sheriff Greg Oeth told WFIE. "She's going to be returned to her family so we're very, very happy of the outcome from those circumstances."

Ron Higgs, Tooley's ex-husband, found the victim last Thursday when he went to stay with the couple after Tooley asked him for financial help. The couple showed Higgs the cage where the victim was locked up.

"She had a t-shirt on, and that was it," Higgs told the station. "She had a leather belt, like a dog collar on. Every night, they locked her in there. No food. No water."

The woman told him she was held captive and was forced to cook and clean. She begged Higgs not to leave without her.

"And I promised her, if I have to give my life to get you out of here I will."

Higgs tried everything to free her, at one point even offering to buy her from House and Tooley. By Saturday he was able to make up a story that convinced the couple into letting her leave, the nature of which is not clear.

"Everybody's calling me a hero," Higgs told WFIE. "I'm just a purebred American that believes in freedom."

Tooley and House now face charges of criminal confinement and rape.