Child's note to bus driver leads to mom's rescue in Iowa

A first-grade student in rural Fayette County, Iowa, may have saved their mother’s life on the morning of Sept. 24 after slipping a note to a school bus driver that read "Call 911," authorities said. The driver alerted deputies, who responded to a home in Westgate and found the woman allegedly being held and seriously assaulted by 29-year-old Glenroy Stefand Miller.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said deputies discovered the victim had been abused throughout the night and was unable to summon help in Miller’s presence. According to authorities, Miller had taken the woman’s phone and prevented her from calling for assistance. A criminal complaint filed in the case alleges Miller repeatedly assaulted the victim, at one point kicking her with enough force to break two ribs and puncture a lung. The complaint also describes bruising to the woman’s face and allegations that Miller held a knife to her throat and wrists and threatened to kill her.

Deputies said Miller at one point began to take the victim to a hospital but then turned back and forced her home, continuing the abuse. The sheriff’s office characterized the incident as a domestic situation and did not specify the...