Woman who rang doorbell in the middle of the night reveals details of terrifying ordeal

The Montgomery, Texas, woman who was caught on video ringing neighbors’ doorbells in the middle of the night joined Inside Edition and described the horrific events that led to that haunting video. Lauren, whose last name was withheld, was living with her boyfriend of four months, Dennis Collins, when she awoke to find him attacking her.

“I woke up and he was kneeling on my chest, and stuffing some sort of cloth in my mouth, and wrapping duct tape around my head,” Lauren said.

Collins also bound Lauren’s hands and feet, and sexually assaulted her. After that, Lauren saw a chance to escape. “My throat hurt really bad from screaming, so he let me go into the kitchen to get a drink,” Lauren said. “He turned around and walked out to go to the bedroom, and that’s when I ran out the front door.”

Lauren — wearing just a T-shirt and with shackles still on her wrists — tried to flag down a passing car. When that failed, she tried waking up her neighbors. One neighbor said her doorbell must have rung 20 or 30 times, but when her husband got to the door, no one was around.

“I just wanted someone to lay eyes on me,” Lauren said. “I felt like if someone saw me, then I would be safe.”

The video of Lauren ringing a doorbell, which quickly went viral, was taken around 3:20 a.m. on Aug. 24. Five days later, Collins, who in 2000 pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault, was found dead in his house of an apparent suicide. Lauren credits the video for saving her life.

Lauren said, “I worry that if this video hadn’t come out, and if he were not gone, that I eventually would be.”

For more information, check out insideedition.com.

Check out why Sean Penn is ‘very suspicious’ of the #MeToo movement:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.