Talk about thinking outside the box!

A quick-thinking Florida woman managed to alert authorities to the fact that she was being held hostage... through an online ordering app for Pizza Hut.

Highlands County Sheriff's Office investigators said that at 3:40 p.m. on Monday, May 4th, an online pizza order was received by an Avon Park outlet of the popular chain.

Under the "comments" section there was a message asking them to send help and call 911 as the customer was being held hostage.

WFLA reports that employees recognised the order, which came from a frequent customer, so they called the Sheriff's Office to investigate and deputies responded to the delivery location.

When they arrived at the house, Ms Treadway, who was carrying a baby in her arms, told them that her boyfriend Ethan Nickerson was in the home. She said that he was armed with a knife and that her other two children were with him.

She was escorted to safety and after twenty minutes of tense negotiations through the closed door, Nickerson agreed to leave peacefully. Ms Treadway's other children were also unharmed.

It's believed that Nickerson was under the influence of drugs at the time. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a weapon without intent to kill, battery, false imprisonment and obstructing justice by depriving communication to law enforcement.