Tulsa Woman Uses Facebook To Call For Help During Home Burglary

A Tulsa woman hid in a basement and used Facebook to call for help when men broke into her home early Monday.

The incident happened near 51st and Harvard. Melissa was watching a movie and checking Facebook about 3 a.m., when she heard men break into the house upstairs.

She didn't have her phone, but posted a cry for help on Facebook. It was heard all the way in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Her heart was pounding ,and her only avenue of help was her laptop.

"Somebody please help me. Here's my address. Call 911. Call the police. There's people in my house," Melissa said of her Facebook post.

She was downstairs with her two big dogs, who were barking their heads off.

She says she could hear what sounded like two or three men, walking around upstairs, talking and rummaging through things.

"Opened up everything, scattered about, clothes everywhere, cedar chest open, pictures out, things were disheveled," she said. 

Since she couldn't escape, she turned off the lights and the TV and hoped someone would see her cry for help.

"My heart was pounding. I didn't have a phone to call, I was just waiting, please, please, be up at 3:30 or 4 a.m.," Melissa said.

It just so happened, Michael Higginbotham in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was awakened at that very moment by the hurricane winds and saw her post. He got on the phone to 911.

Lori Fullbright, News On 6: "Don't you think it's wild you were sound asleep and happened to wake up at the exact moment she needed help?"
Michael Higginbotham: "I think it was the hand of God, I really do."

Tulsa's 911 operators told him what questions to ask and he typed them to Melissa, then relayed the answers back to dispatchers. He stayed on the phone until officers got to her house and made sure she was safe.

"Oh my gosh, so grateful, so happy, because otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do," Melissa said of his help.

The burglars had already left by the time officers arrived, but Melissa is so thankful for the quick actions of a relative stranger. She friended him because they had a number of friends in common, but now they have a special bond. 

Lori Fullbright, News On 6: "You had to feel pretty good she's safe and sound."
Michael Higginbotham: "Oh my gosh, I was so relieved for her. Have you ever prayed and typed a the same time? It's tough."

One other person, a retired police officer in Chattanooga, Tennessee also saw and responded to Melissa's post and was on the phone with Tulsa's 911 dispatchers at the same time Michael was.

Michael says if you ever see something like that, take it seriously, because you just never know when you'll be saving a life.