A woman who was allegedly kidnapped at a car dealership in Phoenix was rescued at a gas station in northern Arizona after she passed a note to a customer asking for help, police said.
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) said in anews releaseon social media Wednesday that the incident happened on Tuesday around 5 p.m. The woman had signaled to another customer at a Chevron in Seligman, located 170 miles north of Phoenix, and then passed a note with her name and instructions for the customer to call 911, writing that she had been abducted.
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
After the woman left, the customer called 911, telling officers that the van with the woman had just left westbound on I-40. The customer also provided details such as the clothing the woman and her alleged kidnapper were wearing, according to authorities.
Jacob Wilhoit who was arrested and charged in relation to an alleged kidnapping in Arizona this week.Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
The YCSO said they “immediately” responded to the scene and with the help of the Department of Public Safety, were able to locate the van just past the Mile Post 116 on I-40.
The YCSO statement detailed how investigators learned that Wilhoit — who had reportedly been wearing a wig — allegedly posed as an Uber driver and abducted the woman from a car dealership in the Phoenix area on Monday at approximately 7 a.m.
“He ended up taking her into his minivan, putting zip ties on her, and abducting her,” YCSO spokesperson Kristin Greene told Fox 10 Phoenix. Police also said in their statement that the alleged kidnapper and the woman “spent the night at a Lake Mead park.”
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The YSCO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment and an attorney for Wilhoit has not yet been listed.
The sheriff’s office praised the victim in their news release for her “extraordinary action in passing the note” and the customer who called 911 for their “willingness to assist.”
“The victim is still shaken up, but I think she did an amazing job and ended up doing everything right,” Greene told Fox 10 Phoenix.
source: people.com
