Mother Saves Herself and Children From Hostage Situation Using Pizza App

A woman in Florida was being held hostage on Monday and managed to get help by using a  Pizza Hut smartphone app and the employees recognized her order.

The order included a comment that said a mother and her children were being held by a man.

Manager Candy Hamilton printed the order, according to WTSP news.

"It said 'Please help! Get 911 to me.' And she placed a pizza order and then down here it said, '911 hostage help,' " said Hamilton, of the Pizza Hut in Avon Park, Fla. Avon Park is 84 miles southeast of Tampa.

The victim, Cheryl Treadway, ordered the pizza online and typed her urgent plea in the comment box.

Cheryl Treadway says her boyfriend, Ethan Nickerson, used a knife to keep her and her three children inside the home.

Police say Nickerson initially took Treadway's phone, but she managed to get it back under the pretense of ordering a pizza.

Deputies arrived at her home minutes later. She ran out with one of her kids and explained two more were still inside with their father, Nickerson.

Nickerson was charged by police with aggravated assault with a weapon, battery, false imprisonment, and obstructing justice by depriving communication to law enforcement, NBC News reports.

"We've never seen that before," store manager Candy Hamilton told WFLA. "I've been here 28 years and never, never seen nothing like that come through."