An Arizona woman who was allegedly kidnapped by a man posing as an Uber driver was rescued after she handed a note to a stranger at a gas station pleading for help.
The quick-thinking woman entered a Chevron off Interstate 40 in Seligman, about 170 miles north of Phoenix, at 5 p.m. Tuesday and slipped a yellow slip of paper to a customer, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Please,” she wrote on the note, adding her name and phone number. “Call 911. Blue Honda van … headed for Kingman Las Vegas.”
The alerted motorist who was given the note immediately called 911, with deputies racing to the area, the sheriff’s office said.
“The customer advised that the van had just left westbound on I-40, and provided a description of the clothing for the female and male occupants,” the sheriff’s office said.
Accused kidnapper Jacob Wilhoit, 41, was busted after a woman he allegedly kidnapped handed a “Help” note to a stranger at a gas station.YSCO
Police found the vehicle and arrested Jacob Wilhoit, 41, who had already been named a person of interest when the woman was allegedly kidnapped from a Phoenix-area car dealership the previous morning, the statement said.
“He wore a wig and pretended to be an Uber driver,” the sheriff’s office said. “Wilhoit stopped her as they drove to Las Vegas and spent the night at Lake Mead park.”
Several firearms were found in the suspect’s van, according to authorities.
The kidnapped woman handed the note to an unknown person, the sheriff’s office said. YSCO
Wilhoit is charged with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, aggravated assault, harassment, threats and intimidation.
“The incredible act of the victim sending the note, the customer’s willingness to help, and the swift action [law enforcement] rescued the victim from his captors and allowed him to return home to his family,” the sheriff’s office said.
The victim has not been identified, and it is unclear why he was targeted or how he managed to get into the gas station to deliver the note that saved him.
The stranger at the gas station immediately informed the police about the situation. Google Maps
He is still traumatized by the ordeal, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kristin Green told Arizona Family.
“We are confident that he will come through. And obviously he wants to see this guy put away. He’s still in shock about all of this,” Green said, according to the outlet.
He praised customers for jumping in to help.
“It’s absolutely no problem to take the person seriously and call 911. If it turns out to be some kind of scam, no harm, no foul. But don’t just discount it automatically,” said Green.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
