Season 2, Episode 10: Are You There Alone?

“9-1-1, What’s your emergency?”

Dispatchers never know what they are going to hear when they say those words. On June 20th, 2001, a dispatcher in Houston, Texas, answered a call from a woman named Andrea Yates. She wouldn’t tell the dispatcher what had happened, just that she needed a police officer to come to her house. After asking more questions and finding out that Andrea had 5 young children, the dispatcher sent Officer David Knapp to the home on Beachcomber Lane in south Houston. Andrea met him at the door when he arrived and told him that she had just killed her children. Her husband Rusty arrived minutes later. She had called him at work to tell him that he needed to come home. Rusty was worried that Andrea may have tried to kill herself again. He had no idea of the devastation he was coming home to.

Please check these resources if you or someone you know needs assistance with a mental health issue.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 800-273-8255

Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.

Psychology Today

Cumberland Counseling Centers

@alexandrathompson_lcsw