Abducted woman rescued after 11 days

An abducted 22-year-old Polson woman was rescued in Billings Tuesday afternoon after she was able to make a phone call 11 days after she was captured, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Her alleged abductor, Terrance Tyrell Edwards, is being held in the Yellowstone County jail without bail and faces a charge of promoting prostitution.

John Barnes of the Montana Attorney General’s Office told the Associated Press that Edwards, who was born in 1982, was arrested in an investigation into possible human trafficking. Barnes said the investigation is in its early stages and additional charges could be filed.

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said in a press release that the Polson woman met Edwards over the internet and was lured to Missoula with the promise of a well-paying job. Edwards allegedly seized the woman in Missoula and held her against her will and headed to Billings.

The woman’s family contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after they were worried when she “was not acting like herself” and turned off her phone.

The woman eventually was able to call her mother from a burner phone, according to Bell’s news release.

Her mom was at the Sheriff’s Office when her daughter called. Lake County sheriff’s officers were able to get key information that led to the woman’s location and shared the information with the Billings Police Department.

At roughly 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Billings Police officers rescued the woman and arrest Edwards.

In 2012, Edwards was given a five-year suspended sentence for forcing his girlfriend into prostitution.