(July 15) -- An elderly Virginia couple who were held hostage in their own home said their faith helped them survive the nine-hour ordeal.
Robert and Frances Belote had just finished their lunch on July 10 when a man burst into their Leesburg home, demanding money and threatening them with a gun, The Washington Post reported.
Skip over this content
Marcus Yam, The Washington Post / AP
Robert and Frances Belote were held hostage for nine hours July 10 by a man allegedly at the end of the crime spree. In a Tuesday interview, the Belotes said their faith helped them remain calm and treat their captor with kindness.
Watch Video: Couple Recount Hostage Experience
The intruder tied 83-year-old Robert Belote's hands behind his back and directed the couple into their windowless bathroom, police said. Authorities said the man, William Spencer, 49, had been on a crime spree before he invaded the Belotes' home.
"I said to myself, 'This is the end. This is it,'" Frances Belote, 82, said in the interview with WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington. "But God was here. We felt his presence, and it gave us peace, and we were able to be calm."
After three hours, as the intruder rummaged through other parts of the house, Frances Belote locked the bathroom door and dialed the police on the cell phone she had in her pocket. The man overheard the end of the conversation and beat the door down.
"When he busted the door open, I was afraid he was going to do us in at that moment," said Robert Belote.
Spencer attempted to flee, but when he spotted a police officer outside the house, he fired a single bullet into the wall of the house, then went back inside and barricaded himself in with the Belotes, authorities said.
"I put my hand on [Spencer's] shoulder and told him that he'd gotten himself in a heck of a mess," Robert Belote said. "He said, 'I know.'"
The Belotes, who are Baptists, said they appealed to Spencer on religious terms. Frances Belotes also gave Spencer some cereal to eat and a pitcher of iced tea.
Before the intruder ultimately surrendered to police, with the encouragement of the Belotes, he gave the couple $140 from his pocket. They turned the money over to the police.
Skip over this content
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=359138&pid=359137&uts=1248732010
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Survival Stories
Jamie Neale, a British teenager who was rescued in Australia after being missing for 12 days, said he was a "total idiot" to go hiking in the Blue Mountains unprepared. Neale, 19, told Australian TV he left for the hike on July 3 with only two bread rolls and a small bottle of water.
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
The Belotes said they do not think Spencer ever really intended to hurt them and they do not hold a grudge. "I guess I'll be a little more careful with locking my doors now," Robert Belote said.
