Who is Jacob Wilhoit? Fake Uber driver arrested for kidnapping woman who pleaded for help from gas station customer
PHOENIX, ARIZONA: A man posing as an Uber driver was arrested by the authorities after he abducted an Arizona woman at a car dealership in Phoenix on Tuesday, August 22, at around 5 pm.
Jacob Wilhoit, 41, is charged with threatening, aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping, and other crimes, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office (YCSO) said in a news release on Wednesday.
According to the reports of Fox 10 Phoenix, authorities said that the victim and Wilhoit knew each other but a motive for the kidnapping has not yet been revealed.
"He was wearing a wig and pretending to be an Uber driver,” the sheriff’s office said. “Wilhoit restrained her as they drove to Las Vegas and spent the night at a Lake Mead park.”
What did the woman do after she was kidnapped?
The quick-thinking woman was rescued at a gas station in northern Arizona after she passed a note to a customer seeking help, authorities said.
The victim, whose name has not yet been disclosed, used her presence of mind and signaled to another customer at a Chevron in Seligman, located 170 miles north of Phoenix, passing a note with her name and instructions for the customer to call 911 mentioning that she was kidnapped.
The note also included details about the car she was in, a phone number and the direction where they were headed, which was Kingman, Arizona and Las Vegas.
NBC News obtained a photo of the yellow sticky note which showed the words, "Help... Call 911... Blue Honda Van..."
How was the woman rescued?
The customer dialed 911 after she left and informed the officers that the van with the woman had just left westbound on I-40.
Besides, the customer also provided information such as the clothing the woman and her alleged kidnapper were wearing, according to authorities.
The YCSO said they “immediately” responded to the scene and with the assistance of the Department of Public Safety, they were able to trace the van just past the Mile Post 116 on I-40.
Several firearms were discovered in plain view in the suspect’s van, authorities said.
"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," YCSO said in their news release.
They also mentioned that Jacob Wilhoit had been named within the missing person's entry “as a person of interest."
"He ended up taking her into his minivan, putting zip ties on her, and abducting her," YCSO spokesperson Kristin Greene told Fox 10 Phoenix.
In the statement, police also said that the alleged kidnapper and the woman "spent the night at a Lake Mead park."
The victim was praised by the sheriff's office in their news release for her “extraordinary action in passing the note” and the samaritan 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 the outlet.
