Springfield, Illinois- A 36-year-old woman escaped from a hotel room this morning after a 35-year-old man attempted to take her life. Sadly, no one at the hotel would help her while she begged for help.
(People are commenting about the text saying which hospital she is at. She is no longer at that hospital, so no worries there.)
Heather Lowe was staying at the The Mainstay Suites Hotel on Dirksen Parkway with an employee at the hotel named Kevin Elkins.
On Saturday night, and early this morning, Heather found herself fighting for her life. We interviewed Heather's daughter as Heather is telling her daughter all of the information to get her story out, although she is having great difficulty speaking due to her injuries.
Heather shared that she was sitting in the hotel room when Kevin stated he was going to leave briefly to get cigarettes. He was out for much longer than Heather expected. According to Heather, when Kevin returned, he had a bloody nose and he was acting differently. Heather and Kevin had not been seeing each other long.
Heather reportedly asked Kevin if he was bleeding from his nose because he had used drugs while he was out.
This reportedly enraged Kevin. He suddenly began physically attacking her. Heather tried to fight him off but to no avail. Heather stated that while she was being str@ngled by Kevin, she almost lost consciousness. Heather said that she did not see him grab the knife while she was being str@ngled and she didn't know he had cut her so deep or severely until she was able to see herself in the bathroom mirror. She believes adrenaline prevented her from feeling it fully.
Kevin "allowed" her to go to the bathroom where she saw that she was losing blood at a fast rate from a very large gash from the middle of her chin to the middle of her neck.
Heather knew that she had to act swiftly because of the blood loss. She has some training as a paramedic because when she was much younger she actually took classes to become a paramedic but did not finish. She knew she had to apply pressure fast. She grabbed a towel and held the slash on her neck.
Heather ran from the room as the bathroom was near the door. She ran to the elevator. She was scared he was coming to finish her off so she hit the emergency stop button while inside of the elevator. She was hopeful that the front desk would come and see why the emergency stop button was hit but instead the elevator began moving again down to the lobby.
Heather was terrified to see that Kevin had somehow already made his way down to the lobby. He had taken her keys so she couldn't leave earlier during the fight. He allegedly handed her keys to her and told her to get out of there. He then fled the immediate area.
Heather grabbed her keys and stated that she asked other employees to help her but they told her that "she was not a guest and she needed to go outside". After trying a few more times to get help from the other employees, asking them to call 911, they told her to go outside again and wouldn't let her come back inside. She realized her voice was very weak and hard to understand but she was able to call 911 and keep conscious during the call.
Heather told her daughter, "The employees are scared of him, I think they were too scared to help while he was trying to find somewhere to hide."
The Springfield Police Department arrived with first responders. Police could not find Kevin Elkins. They were familiar with Kevin as he has been arrested for methamphetamine charges, obstruction, and charges involving domestic violence and harassment in Sangamon County. He was also charged for trying to prevent and interfering with a woman trying to report him for violence.
Heather Lowe suffered internal neck injuries from the str@ngulation as well as injuries to the interior of her mouth that have had to be stitched shut. These injuries have made it difficult for her to speak. She also had to have the wound on her chin and neck stitched. She remains in an unidentified hospital.
Her daughter wants justice for her mother and she hopes that if anyone sees Kevin, they will call the Springfield Police Department as they are actively looking for him right now. She also stated, "When my mom texted me and told me that he tried to k*ll her, my heart sank. I'm just happy that she is still alive and we know who did this so hopefully she can get Justice. it breaks my heart to know she sat out there, by herself, holding her neck, calling 911, because nobody would sit with her or help her or even let her stay indoors. She can hardly talk. it's heartbreaking. My mom is like my sister, like my best friend. She is always there for me. She loves to joke around and she is just the friendliest person. She did not deserve this. I know they had barely been seeing each other for any amount of time at all and I'm sure she was shocked when this happened. We're all shocked. You never think this is going to happen to your mom or anyone you know."
If you see Kevin, please call the Springfield Police Department at 1-217-788-8311.
We will be updating the story this week.
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Kevin is pictured in a mugshot below from an arrest in April of last year. It definitely is not the best picture but it's the only one we have right now. I've included the text that Heather sent to her daughter after she arrived at the hospital.
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