A woman saved herself from her own kidnapping Tuesday while passing through Seligman. At around 5 p.m., a woman in a Chevron signaled and handed a note to another customer, asking them to call 911 and listing her full name, a description of the van, where they were headed and a phone number. The customer then called 911 and the Yavapai County Sheriff’s office was able to respond immediately. YCSO alerted the Department of Public Safety, which located the van at milepost 116 on Interstate-40. The victim and 41-year-old Jacob Wilhoit were both detained without incident. During this time, dispatchers discovered the woman had been reported as missing by her mother that afternoon and Wilhoit was named as a person of interest. Additionally, authorities learned that Wilhoit had abducted the victim from a car dealership in Phoenix while dressed in a disguise and pretending to be an Uber driver. Wilhoit then restrained the victim while driving toward Las Vegas. Wilhoit has been booked on charges of harassment, threatening and intimidating, aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping and several other assault charges. The victim returned home with family. 

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Daisy Johnston