Woman Hands Box With Secret Message To UPS Driver, SWAT Storm Her House

He Was Worried

When he pulled up the driveway, he noticed that the house appeared empty – there was no people there. However, he rang the doorbell, and Mrs. Jordan gave him the parcel. He was oblivious at first.

However, as he walked to the car to put the package away, he spotted something on the corner of the box. There, on the side, the written words sent a horrible feeling of worry sweeping over him.

Trained Eye 

Charles Gordon was a navy veteran, and he knew something wasn’t right when he saw it. His keen eye for detail had been honed in all his years of training to pick up on the subtler details that most men wouldn’t notice.

However, that day he would have to face a situation that would put him to the test. Not many men would have been able to react with the diligence and expertise he displayed right on the spot.

Navy Seal

Gordon had been deployed to Afghanistan in the middle of the conflict’s peak, at its most vicious moment. He had seen things that had shaped the way he saw life in an irreversible way.

He had seen some of his comrades lose their lives; others had never been the same after coming back home. As far as Gordon knew, about half the people who served with him suffered from some form of PTSD now.

He Was Lucky

He was among the few lucky ones that had made it home without any major setbacks or trauma. However, his expression still darkened every time the topic came up.

Now at age 55, he was a UPS driver, and he enjoyed his work and the gentle pace that came with it, driving from home to home and making deliveries. It was a far cry from when he had served in the Navy. Little did he know, all that was about to change.

He Knew Them, And They Knew Him 

Charles had built quite a reputation in Missouri. His work took him across the county, where he made many acquaintances on his travels. He prided himself on building a special relationship with all of his packages’ recipients – he knew their names, and they knew his.

However, there was something about Charles that his clients didn’t know until a fateful day would uncover the truth.

Destined To Be A Hero

Missouri’s residents weren’t aware that the UPS driver had the skills and expertise to save them from any threat or danger, even putting his own life on the line if the situation required it.

They never knew just how lucky they were that the ex-U.S. Navy seal was looking out for them – until it was almost too late.

Not An Ordinary Pickup

When Charles received the call to fetch a package from a home in Franklin County, he didn’t understand just what he was getting himself into. He knew that house, and he knew the couple who lived there.

On the surface, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan seemed like a normal couple. Only, one day, their behavior struck him as a little… odd. 

A Strange Day

Right after the unnerving incident happened, he remembered another occasion when he delivered a package to the Jordans’ house a couple of months ago.

He remembered getting out of his truck, walking to their door, and knocking with the package in his hands. There was something about the package that immediately caught his attention and piqued his curiosity.

Anonymous

The package was anonymous: there wasn’t any sender’s name or address on it. Normally, UPS doesn’t allow anonymous shipping; most of the packages they deal with are collected from the sender’s home and require a return address.

However, you can cross states and leave the package you want to send at a UPS depot if you don’t want the recipient, or even UPS, to know who sent the package in question. But why would anyone do that?

Suspicious Package

Also, the package was suspiciously stocky. Charles normally never concerned himself with what was inside people’s packages, but this time things seemed too weird. 

He shook the package in his hands, trying to guess its content. It felt like there was something bulky and compact inside, but he couldn’t tell what it was. And right then, the Jordans’ door opened.

Mr. Jordan

A man opened the door; it was Mr. Jordan. Immediately, Charles tried to keep his composure, hiding the fact that he had been trying to guess the content of the package. That had been quite unprofessional of him.

He handed the package to Mr. Jordan. The man looked at both sides of the street before taking the package like he didn’t want to be seen. Then, he rapidly grabbed it with both hands and disappeared behind the closed door.

Puzzling

Now, what was that about? The whole episode made Charles feel like there had to be something fishy about that package. But what could it be?

Well, it was done. He just hoped he wouldn’t get into trouble. After some weeks, he completely forgot about that incident, but he remembered again as soon as he saw he had to deliver another package to the Jordans’ house.

A Quiet Morning

It had started out as a quiet, cold morning for Charles. He hummed as he plotted his route and wound his way through Franklin County, picking up and delivering the parcels he had been assigned.

When he reached the Jordan residence, he pulled up into the drive like he always did and walked up the front steps. He had no idea that he was walking into a living nightmare.

Waiting 

Charles knocked on the door three times and waited the cursory five minutes before knocking again. Stomping his feet to keep warm, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Mr. Jordan’s pickup truck in the parking bay.

But he got no response. He didn’t hear a peep from inside the house either. What could be going on?

Silence

“Hello?” he yelled, “UPS.” Perhaps nobody was home after all. He scanned the porch for the parcel he was meant to be picking up. No package. Maybe they had called him by mistake?

But Charles was starting to feel uneasy. He could tell that something was very wrong. He was just about to turn and leave when he heard the front door unlatch. 

Something Off

The door opened a crack, and an eye appeared. “Mrs. Jordan? I’m here to collect a package,” Charles explained. The door widened, and she stood there, smiling tightly. Then, Mr. Jordan stepped out from behind his wife and greeted Charles tersely.

He held his wife close and ordered her to give the UPS driver the package. But as she did, something in her eyes told Charles that something just wasn’t right.

Trying To Tell Him Something

In the brief moment when Mrs. Jordan handed him the package, she mouthed something to him, but he couldn’t quite catch it.

She looked nervously at her husband to make sure he hadn’t seen her, and then her eyes widened. She was trying to tell him something. But why couldn’t she say it in front of her husband?

The Clues

Charles took in her appearance as best he could before the door was hurriedly slammed shut again. All the clues were there. Her hair was disheveled, and she had dark rings under her tired eyes.

And her eyes… they were pleading with him to do something. She looked like a frightened animal. And the way that Mr. Jordan had held her close… There was just something he didn’t like about it.  

Brushing It Off

He was concerned at first but tried to shrug the feeling of worry off. Maybe he was being paranoid. After all, what his clients did behind closed doors wasn’t any of his business.

Maybe the couple had had an argument. That must be it, he reasoned, before walking back to his truck. But when he put the parcel in the back, he saw what she had been trying to tell him all along. 

The Message

“Call 911” was scrawled on the side of the box, on the side that she had carefully kept facing away from her husband as she handed it to him. His heart began to race, and a metallic taste crept up his throat.

He glanced back at the house and saw Mr. Jordan watching him coldly from the window. He instinctively knew that he had to act like nothing was wrong – or it would all be over.

Pretending It Was Alright

Charles climbed into his seat slowly and deliberately as if he was in no hurry to get away from that place. He felt Mr. Jordan’s eyes burning a hole in his back as he rolled away.

It took all his self-control to resist the urge to speed out the driveway. But when he rounded the corner and out of sight, he pulled out his phone and slammed the numbers in.

What’s Your Emergency?

He heard the reassuring voice on the other end of the line: “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”. Then, he explained everything to the operator… the parcel, Mr. Jordan’s behavior, and Mrs. Jordan’s frightened eyes.

The operator listened intently before sending out the sheriff’s deputies. But they had no idea what was really happening in that house. Nothing could have ever prepared them for it.

Mobilizing

The team prepared for every eventuality. They weren’t sure if they were dealing with a robbery or much worse. From the information Charles had given them, they assumed the couple were being held hostage.

But they were all so very wrong. Like a well-oiled machine, they mobilized and raced to the scene. Everyone knew that time was of the essence.

Swarming The House 

In less than 10 minutes, authorities were swarming the house on Willow Ford Road. Franklin County Sheriff’s Sgt. T.J. Wild led the operation. They stormed up the front steps and called. 

Mr. Jordan seemed like he had been taken by surprise. Now, the truth was about to come out. And it was far more unnerving than what anyone could have expected.

He Slammed The Door

But he refused to cooperate with the authorities, slamming the door in their faces. He didn’t know that this was the worst mistake he could have made. Now, it was on for real.

Now that they knew that what was going on had everything to do with Mr. Jordan, they weren’t about to take it lying down.

Calling Backup

Sheriff’s Sgt. T.J. Wild checked Mr. Jordan’s records and discovered that he had been arrested before. They also feared that he had a weapon inside the house.

Realizing that the situation may have escalated beyond their control, they decided to call backup. They weren’t going to take any risks, so they brought out the big guns. They called for the SWAT team.

Surrender

Mr. Jordan quickly realized that his best option was to surrender, which, thankfully for him, he did before the SWAT team arrived. Mrs. Jordan and her 3-year-old son were taken to a place of safety.

But it was only when officers took Mrs. Jordan’s statement that the truth about what had happened in that house came out.  

Hailed A Hero

And thanks to Charles, Mrs. Jordan was released from a harrowing situation. “We are grateful this UPS driver with more than a decade of service followed protocol when he saw a customer in distress and contacted authorities after he saw her message to contact 9-1-1,” the company said in a statement.

“Our drivers are very familiar with their routes and are trained to be aware of their surroundings and respond to requests for assistance.”

The Plan That Worked

According to Mrs. Jordan, her husband had snapped. He held her captive for 15 hours in the home they shared. When she tried to leave, he refused to let her.

He threatened her, and she had reason to believe that her life was in danger. So she did the only thing she could think of – she wrote a note on the parcel for the UPS driver.

Saved The Day

James Jordan was promptly arrested and charged. He was held in Franklin County jail with bail set at $100,000.

“The charges stemmed from actions that occurred in the home with the female victim prior to the arrival of the delivery service who noticed a message for help written on a package he was to pick up,” Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. If it weren’t for the quick-thinking UPS driver, the situation might have been a lot worse.

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.