Telemarketing call possibly saves woman's life

LAS VEGAS, NV -- A telemarketing call from Las Vegas is being credited with saving the life of a domestic violence victim hundreds of miles away in Oregon.

Tina Garcia of Americare Health and Nutrition tells KLAS-TV that one of her employees was making a routine call when she heard something far from routine on the other end of the line.

"She said Tina, you need to hear this, I think this is no joke, something's happening, this lady is getting hit," Garcia said. "It was very, very frightening. That young lady was helpless. You could actually hear the blows as if he was hitting a punching bag and she was terrified."

The call was to a 33-year-old woman in Oregon. Her cellphone was in her back pocket and accidently answered the telemarking call while she was being attacked, police say.

Garcia kept the line open and called the Linn County Sheriff's Office in Oregon where the woman lives.

"We were not going to hang up the phone. As far as I was concerned, and as far as the people in that room were concerned, we were the only lifeline she had," Garcia said.

Deputies quickly swarmed the home and say they spotted Walter Ruck, 33, holding the woman from behind. He let her go when he saw law encforcement.

Investigators told KLAS-TV the woman had been physically assaulted, smothered with blankets and even had a gun held to her chest. The woman told deputies she believes Ruck wanted to kill himself or kill her and then himself.

Ruck is now in jail on a number of charges. Deputies credit the telemarketer for possibly saving the woman's life.