Boyfriend forces Missouri woman to swallow cell phone

January 1, 2006

Blue Springs, Missouri police say a woman they thought had tried to swallow her cell phone may have been the victim of assault. The cell phone was caught in the woman's throat when police arrived. Her boyfriend claimed she had swallowed it to keep it away from him.

Melinda Abell required emergency surgery to remove the phone from her throat. Police have now charged the boyfriend, Marlon Brandon Gill, 23, with assault.

Police Sgt. Allen Kintz told the Associated Press that "Our initial press release was that she had swallowed a cell phone. Subsequent investigation found that she didn't swallow the cell phone voluntarily. That was what we were told initially."