81-year-old man’s mailbox note leads to his caregivers arrest
By Rachael Perry
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LANTANA, Florida (WPBF) — A short note with an urgent message led police to the home of an 81-year-old man, who they say was battered by his caretaker.
According to the police report, officers with the Lantana Police Department were called to a home on Dec. 29, 2025, by a mail carrier after finding a note in the elderly man’s mailbox that read “call the police.”
WPBF 25 News Reporter Rachael Perry sat down with the victim, who asked to remain anonymous.
The 81-year-old said his now former caretaker, Denise Williams, had gotten upset with him the day before police arrived over his bathroom being messy. He said she began screaming at him, so he reached for his phone to call for help.
“She jumped on my chest as I was lying down, trying to get my phone, and she jumped on my chest and started grabbing it. She finally got it, scratched me, as you saw, and then she grabbed my phone, and the two house phones, the landline phones, and my car keys. She dumped them in her room and locked the door,” he said.
He said he tried defending himself but eventually gave up.
“She almost violently grabbed my full hand, and finally I couldn’t stand the pain, because she was really squeezing it hard, so I let go of it, and then I started to call on the house phone, and she grabbed those and took them away,” he said.
The man said he had no other way of calling for help, but he found a piece of paper and quickly got an idea.
“So I wrote the little note, put it in the mailbox,” he said.
The note read “Call the police” and was discovered the next day by his mailman, who did just that.
The victim said police arrived and interviewed him, where he gave them the make and model of Williams’ car. She was found a short time later at a nearby gas station. The police report shows Williams had the victim’s debit card and checkbook.
According to police, Williams admitted to taking the victim’s cellphone and causing the injury to his hand. Detectives note Williams also admitted to disconnecting both landline telephones and hiding all three phones in her bedroom.
Officers searched the locked bedroom where they say they found the two landline phones with the modems attached, along with a cellphone.
Williams was arrested on several charges, including battery on a person 65 years of age or older, along with robbery. She’s being held in the Palm Beach County Jail.
The victim said he acknowledges all the good she’s done for him in the past, noting that Williams has saved his life four times. However, he said her behavior has shifted over the last few months.
“Every month, every day, she got a little bit worse,” he said.
The 81-year-old said he’s now on his own as he searches for a new caregiver.
“I got a hold of a VA, and I may get a hold of somebody else because I really need a live-in. I’ve been getting worse and worse and worse off and worse off,” he said.
In the meantime, he’s thankful his hand has started to heal.
WPBF 25 News reached out to both the United States Postal Service and the Lantana Police Department for an interview, but did not hear back.
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