Toe typer dismisses skeptics, makes media rounds

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By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Amy Windom's "MacGyver moment" has attracted a fair share of skeptics, many of whom can't understand how she managed to unlock her laptop after being tied up by an armed intruder early Tuesday morning in her Grant Park home.

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Amy Windom, shown at left with her boyfriend John Hilton, demonstrates how she typed a message for help on her computer during an ABC News interview.

ABC News Amy Windom, shown at left with her boyfriend John Hilton, demonstrates how she typed a message for help on her computer during an ABC News interview.

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"It's kind of a family joke," Windom told the AJC. "I have really long toes. My sister used to tease me about it all the time."

Windom, along with boyfriend John Hilton, made the rounds on the network morning shows Wednesday, repeating her fantastic story and, at one point, demonstrating her magic digits for a disbelieving talking head. But there's one question the cynics can't seem to answer: Why would she make it up?

"I guess some people think I'm doing it for attention, like I can predict the whims of the media," she said. "Don't worry, I won't be writing a book about it. But I'm grateful that I'm OK and can tell the story."

A quick recap: Windom was home early Tuesday when a thief broke into her home in the 700 block of Glenwood Avenue. He struck her on the head with his handgun, then tied Windom to the bed where she had been sleeping. She struggled in vain for more than five hours before "a light bulb went off."

"You'd be amazed at what you're capable of after being tied up half the night," the 39-year-old AT&T consultant said.

Windom had talked the intruder out of stealing her laptop, telling him it contained a tracking device. She was able to wriggle her toes to open up the computer, using one of her elongated digits to hit the "Ctrl" and "Alt" keys. With another toe, she was able to grasp the laptop's power cord, which she used as a makeshift mouse to plunk "Delete."

Once online, she messaged her boyfriend, typing "HELP" and "CALL 911″ to Hilton, who summoned police to her rescue. For the record, Atlanta police spokesman Curtis Davenport said officers "have no reason to believe" Windom's complaint is illegitimate.

Investigators already have recovered her 2009 Acura TSX. They've also identified a potential suspect responsible for a similar incident in July just a couple of miles away from Windom's residence.

"It wasn't like this the last time my home got broken into," she said.

It was last New Year's Eve and Windom's mother was visiting. She was home alone while Windom and Hilton celebrated the onset of 2010.

"They didn't think anyone was home, and as soon as they saw her, they ran," Windom recalled. They took off in her car, which was recovered, stripped bare, three weeks later. The intruder was never caught.

Windom said she was disappointed with the police response; "They didn't even dust for prints," she said.

So when the media came calling after Tuesday's incident, Windom didn't hesitate. Her boyfriend wasn't so sure.

"I'm just doing what she wants," said the unassuming CNN web developer. "I was reluctant, but I'm more concerned with her being OK. I didn't want to be part of any circus."

Windom said she resents any implication that she's milking, or manufacturing, her ordeal.

"If people want to think it's fishy, that's fine," she said. "I understand, what with the balloon boy story and all that. But it's upsetting, as a victim of a crime, to have my motives questioned."

She hasn't returned home yet and isn't yet ready.

"I definitely want to get a new security system," Windom said.

Nearby residents told the AJC that the neighborhood has been plagued by more than a half-dozen break-ins in recent months.