On August 22nd at 5 p.m. a woman at a Chevron in Seligman signaled another customer and passed a note that gave her name and asked the customer to call 911 saying she had been kidnapped. The note included a description of the van the woman was in, a phone number, and said that they were going to Kingman and Las Vegas.
The customer called 911 and YCSO Deputies responded immediately. The customer relayed that the van had just left westbound on I-40, and provided descriptions of the clothing for both the woman and the man with whom she was traveling. YCSO alerted the Department of Public Safety to assist in locating the van, which they were able to do at Mile Post 116 on I-40. The adult female victim and a 41-year-old male Jacob Wilhoit were detained without incident.
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.
Detectives learned that Wilhoit had abducted her from a car dealership in the Phoenix area on Monday morning at approximately 7 a.m. He was wearing a wig and pretending to be an Uber driver. Wilhoit restrained her as they drove to Las Vegas and spent the night at a Lake Mead park.
Multiple firearms were found in WIlhoit’s car in plain view. Wilhoit was ultimately booked on charges of Harassment, Threatening, and Intimidating, Aggravated Assault, Unlawful Imprisonment, Kidnapping, along with several other Assault charges.
The victim’s extraordinary action in passing the note, the customer’s willingness to assist, and the quick actions of YCSO and DPS saved the victim from her kidnapper and allowed her to return home with her family.
