Woman rescued from kidnapping by fake Uber driver in US after writing note for help

PHOENIX – An Arizona woman who was kidnapped on Monday was rescued after passing a note asking for help to a bystander, local authorities said.

The woman, who has not been named by police, got into a blue Honda van that she believed to be her Uber ride on Monday morning at a Phoenix-area car dealership, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

But the van was driven by Jacob Wilhoit, 41, of Arizona, who is suspected of posing as an Uber driver, wearing a wig, to kidnap her.

The two were acquainted, police said, but she did not immediately recognise him. She had a restraining order against him after he started visiting her home unannounced, according to a probable cause statement.

Wilhoit has never been an Uber driver, according to a spokesman for the company.

According to the police, he restrained the woman using duct tape and zip ties. He drove about 483km north-west to Las Vegas and spent the night at a park near Lake Mead, about 32km east of the city.

On Tuesday, police said, Wilhoit drove an additional 241km east to a petrol station in Seligman, Arizona, where the woman was able to pass a note asking for help to a customer. The note included a description of the van and a phone number and said they were headed to Kingman, Arizona, and Las Vegas.

The customer called 911 and told law enforcement the direction in which they were travelling and provided descriptions of their clothing.

Dispatchers discovered that the victim’s mother had reported her as a missing and endangered person that afternoon. Wilhoit was named as a person of interest in the missing person’s report.

Law enforcement officials found him and the victim on Tuesday after conducting a traffic stop near Seligman. They also found firearms in the car.

Wilhoit was taken into custody and charged with felony harassment, threatening and intimidating, aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and kidnapping, and several other assault charges.

Kidnappings involving ride-hailing services are not unprecedented.

In 2019, a college student was killed in Columbia, South Carolina, after she got into a car she mistook for her Uber ride. In Chicago in 2017, prosecutors said a man who posed as an Uber driver sexually assaulted five women by climbing into the back seat and pinning them down.

As a safety precaution, Uber suggests that riders check the make and model of the car, the driver’s photo and the licence plate before getting in. It recommends that riders confirm their names by asking drivers, “Who are you here to pick up?”. NYTIMES