Desiree Dell is thankful for her Facebook app, after she was able to alert her friends to a hostage situation in her home at 4:30 am Saturday morning, and they dialed 911 on her behalf, saving both Dell’s life and also the life of a male friend.

Using the social media messenger service offered through Facebook, Dell quickly messaged a friend, asking that they call authorities and give them directions to her home, as an intruder with a gun held her hostage. She feared that she would be unable to make the call herself, so she quickly messaged her friend and deleted it so that the intruder could not see the message if he asked to see her phone. Both measures were quick thinking on Dell’s part, as the intruder did ask to see the device after seeing her pickup the phone.

[x_blockquote cite=”Desiree Dell” type=”center”]”I had no way to get up and go towards the phone without him seeing and attempting to do something about it.”[/x_blockquote]

Her friend, who lived nearly 2,000 miles away, was able to alert the authorities to the situation, and give them the general location of Dell’s residence. From there, they tracked down Dell’s mother, who gave them the specific address.

Upon arrival, the intruder, Jorge Gutierrez-Sanabria, attempted to dismantle and hide the pieces to his gun. Sanabria was quickly apprehended, all parts of the gun were found, and he was charged with possession of a stolen firearm and issuing a death threat to Dell.

The incident took place in Grandview, Missouri and a spokesperson for the Monroe Police Department, Debbie Willis, had the following to say on behalf of the authorities,

[x_blockquote cite=”Debbie Willis” type=”center”]”It’s the first case (like this) that I can recollect. We prefer people to call 911 but she did not feel she could make that call in front of (the suspect). Thankfully we had a caring friend on the other end of that Facebook message.”[/x_blockquote]

The reason for Sanabria’s intrusion into the home has not been released. To think, Facebook saves lives, not just ruin relationships.