“Call 911”: How Note To Gas Station Customer Saved Kidnapped US Woman

The suspect was identified as 41-year-old Jacob Wilhoit.

A kidnapped US woman was rescued after she passed a note to a gas station customer that said to call the cops, the Arizona Police said in a Facebook post. 

According to Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, the woman was allegedly kidnapped from a car dealership in Phoenix on Monday by a man “wearing a wig and pretending to be an Uber driver”. The man allegedly restrained the woman with zip ties as they drove toward Las Vegas, spending Monday night at a Lake Mead park. 

On Tuesday evening, the woman, while at a gas station in Arizona, slipped a note to another customer that said “help” and “call 911” and also included a description of the van she was travelling in, where they were headed and a phone number. 

The customer called the cops and provided them with a description of the woman and man she was with and the direction they were travelling on Interstate 40, authorities said. The deputies then alerted the Arizona Department of Public Safety to assist in locating the vehicle. 

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The officials said that the van was subsequently found with the victim and man. The suspect was identified as 41-year-old Jacob Wilhoit. He was detained without incident and multiple firearms were found in his vehicle “in plain view,” the sheriff’s office said. Mr Wilhoit was booked on charges including kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault, the authorities added. 

“During this time, YCSO 911 Dispatchers determined that the victim had been reported missing by her mother and entered as missing/endangered earlier that afternoon. The entry mentioned Jacob Wilhoit by name as a person of interest,” the Facebook post read. 

According to ABC News, the woman and Mr Wilhoit knew each other, however, a motive for the alleged kidnapping was not provided by authorities. 

Meanwhile, 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”.