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Online dating safety: Houston man arrested after holding Bumble date hostage for 5 days
Zachary Kent Mills is charged with first-degree aggravated kidnapping after holding a woman he met on Bumble hostage for 5 days when she denied his sexual advances. Court documents stated that when she denied Mills, he immediately began to physically assault her and would bite her on the neck and face. FOX 26's Shelby Rose reports more on the case and shares ways to stay safe when online dating.
HOUSTON - Late last month, a Houston-area man was charged with aggravated kidnapping after a woman claims she was held captive for nearly a week. The pair met on Bumble, a popular dating app.
21-year-old Zachary Mills is now out on a $50,000 bond.
"She did nothing wrong," said Chau Nguyen, a trauma therapist at Gem Wellness and Counseling. "She met somebody online. She went on a date with somebody she thought she could trust. Obviously, it didn’t turn out that way."
BACKGROUND: Bumble kidnapping: Zachary Mills accused of starving, beating woman in Harris Co.
Meeting someone through an app such as Bumble is more common now than ever. Over recent years, the popularity of dating apps has risen dramatically. Nguyen adds, "It is here to stay. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. One in five people have a dating app on their phones."
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Nguyen says stories like this shouldn’t deter you from looking for a partner online, but there are ways to stay safe while doing so.
"Don’t meet for the first time and have somebody pick you up," she said. "Meet at a public place. Don’t give out your information so readily. Maybe decide to use an alternate phone number."
You should also share your GPS location with multiple loved ones before you go out on a date letting them know where you’re planning to meet.
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Nguyen also encourages you to do your homework on your potential suitor, adding, "10 percent of all people who online date are registered sex offenders. There are simple ways to do background checks, to check their social media pages, to make sure the people you’re going on an online date with is safe because at the end of the day you want to stay safe and look for love."
Fox 26 has reached out to the attorney representing Mills and has yet to hear back.