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Woman making pitstop thwarted kidnapping after victim passed her a frantic note

The note was in broken English but the message was clear.

KSL News Screenshots

Woman who stopped to use gas station bathroom stops kidnapping.

Pop culture jokes about "girl code" but there's truth to that positive stereotype. Women often look out for other women and are conditioned from a young age to do so. Everything from alerting a stranger if you saw their date slip something in their drink to passing toilet paper to the woman in the next stall are all unspoken parts of girl code. But there are some situations that put this protective layer of community to the test.

Recently in Utah an anonymous woman made a pitstop at a local gas station on her way home. The woman planned to pop in to use the bathroom quickly, but it turned into a situation where she came face to face with what could be a life threatening situation. Upon walking into the bathroom, another woman frantically opened the bathroom stall door, visibly terrified, and handed our anonymous hero a note written in broken English.

"Help [redacted]. Equinox 2017 white. My number [redacted]. He have my phone. Give to police," the handwritten note on torn cardboard reads on the front. The back of the note says, "we come from Vegas he goin Salt Lake."

gif of woman talkingSmall Town Ff GIF by Cruel SummerGiphy

The woman who only stopped to use the restroom asked the frightened woman if she was in trouble, to which the woman replied, "Yes." Instead of passing the information along to a store clerk and going about her way, the woman took it upon herself to help the stranger in distress. Turns out the distraught woman was kidnapped by her boyfriend who was waiting just feet outside the bathroom door, likely in an effort to ensure she didn't get away or call for help.

He didn't count on her finding something to write on and slipping it to a fellow woman in the bathroom. But thanks to her quick thinking along with the stranger's determination to intervene, help would soon be on the way. The anonymous woman didn't want to alert anyone for fear she might tip off the kidnapper, so she patiently waited for the woman and her captor outside before making her move.

gif of an animated policeman answering the phoneseason 13 hello GIFGiphy

When she saw the kidnapper leave the gas station with the victim, the woman pretended to be on the phone but was secretly recording the suspect. Not only did she get a clear video of his face along with the woman's face, she continued recording until she was able to get a visual on the license plate. It was then that she called the police to report what happened.

"As soon as I got the license plate number I called 911. I just said, there's a lady here that needs help," the anonymous woman told KSL News Utah.

The call didn't end the helpful stranger's pursuit of making sure the woman was safe. She hopped in her car and followed the pair at a safe distance while on the phone with dispatch until officers were able to pull the suspect over. The man was apprehended and charged with aggravated kidnapping, assault, and providing false information to a police officer. Thanks to the quick-thinking and determination of both women, the victim was saved from an unknown fate.

"It was kind of wild but I'm glad I was there. You know, it's good to be aware and try to help people in those situations," the anonymous woman tells the news station.

No one ever expects to be in this type of situation and hopefully anyone would do exactly what the anonymous hero did by helping a fellow person escape serious danger.

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Man who kidnapped 11-yr-old girl chased down by heroic citizens who spotted her in the backseat

Massachusetts State Police/Facebook (left), Amanda Disley/Facebook (right)

Most of us have few opportunities in our lives to become real-life heroes, but that's exactly what happened to Amanda Disley when she discovered a kidnapped girl in the backseat of a car.

Massachusetts State Police had issued an Amber Alert on January 15, informing citizens that 11-year-old Charlotte Moccia had reportedly been forced into a car shortly after getting off the school bus in the town of Springfield. "Preliminary investigation suggests that a white or Hispanic male was walking behind CHARLOTTE and forced her into the back of an older model (believed to be 2001-2005), dark blue or black Honda, possibly a Civic, with an unknown plate," the alert stated. "The vehicle has distinctive aftermarket rims and a moonroof."

According to TB Daily News, Amber Disley was driving around Springfield when she noticed someone being pushed down in the backseat of a Honda Civic and thought it looked suspicious. She and her husband weren't sure if it was the car described in the Amber Alert, but they had a "gut feeling" based on the rims and "the funny movements in the car." They called the police and started filming themselves following the car. Disley stayed on the phone with the dispatch describing what was happening and where they were.

The car appeared to go behind a building, but then came back around beside Disley's car. At one point, the Civic was reportedly traveling 100mph through the city, blasting through a red light, while Disley and her husband tried to stay behind and keep their eyes on the car.

While dangerous and certainly not recommended to follow a speeding car through red lights, the heroic actions of this couple paid off. State Troopers knew where to look for the car and were able to stop the driver on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Police report that Charlotte Moccia was recovered safely with no apparent physical injuries. The kidnapper, 24-year-old Miguel Rodriguez of Springfield, was arrested and taken into custody.

Family members of the accused told MassLive that Rodriguez has schizophrenia and has often exhibited bizarre behavior. According to police, Rodriguez had threatened to stab Moccia if she screamed or tried to get out of the car, but in a brief court appearance, he pleaded not guilty to aggravated kidnapping, intimidation of a witness, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Amber Alerts may be easy to ignore, but this story shows how the system can work when citizens are alerted to reported abductions. Who knows what may have happened to Charlotte Moccia if this couple hadn't spotted the kidnapper's car and followed it. Thankfully, we'll never have to find out.

We'd love to end the story there, but the nature of the internet compels us to add this note: Some scammers have set up a GoFundMe claiming to be raising money for Disley, and she is very clear on the fact that she and her husband did not set it up and don't know who did. She posted an emotional video to Facebook explaining that any GoFundMe is not associated with them, and that they hope whoever is collecting money off of this incident will send the money to the girl who was kidnapped.

Unfortunately, with internet notoriety comes inevitable negativity and opportunists. Don't let it get you down, Amanda. You helped save a girl from who-knows-what kind of trauma, and for that you should be proud.

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How thousands of truck drivers are combatting human trafficking, one truck stop at a time.

Meet the Truckers Against Trafficking.

Note: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence.

When Beth Jacobs was 16, she was drugged, kidnapped, and forced into prostitution.

She says that her captor took her to a truck stop and forced her to have sex with a man who asked for a discount afterward because she “cried too much.”

Photo by Ira Gelb/Flickr.

This traumatizing experience was the first of many during her six years as a sex slave.

While the world is a dark place for the approximately 4.5 million people currently trapped in the human trafficking industry in forced sexual exploitation, this is also a story of redemption and heroes.

In 1983 — six years after she was kidnapped — Jacobs was arrested on prostitution charges for what she said felt like the hundredth time. A friend bailed her out, but instead of returning to her pimp, she fled. Jacobs eventually ended up at a battered women’s shelter, where she found the resources she needed to get her life back in order.

Now, she has made it her mission to combat the illegal sex trade and save others like her.

In fact, she’s helping to build an army of folks who want to help fight the sex trade every day … an army that could be almost 3.4 million strong.

Jacobs works as a trainer for Truckers Against Trafficking, or TAT, a nonprofit organization rallying America’s 3.4 million truck drivers to combat trafficking.

Beth Jacobs conducts a training for TAT. Image via Truckers Against Trafficking, used with permission.

She trains the drivers to spot traffickers so they can report their suspicions to the authorities. "If [these drivers] had been around [when I was a sex slave], I truly believe someone would have helped me," Jacobs said.

"The first thing truckers say when they hear about TAT is that they have daughters, they have granddaughters. They want to help," Truckers Against Trafficking’s executive director, Kendis Paris, said.

She’s been amazed by the sweeping acceptance of the program so far: There are over 214,000 people trained by TAT, and she has partnered with hundreds of companies in the trucking industry, including Walmart Transportation and UPS.

Image via Truckers Against Trafficking, used with permission.

Although truck stops can have bad reputations, the people running them often want to put a stop to human trafficking as much as anyone.

According to The Polaris Project, truck stops aren’t even on the top of the list for trafficking venues, though; in 2015, truck stops accounted for 1.5% of sex trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. But many of the venues of choice for sex traffickers — hotels, motels, bars — are also frequented by truckers, too. "They’re the eyes and ears of the country." she said.

The first organization to take a chance and partner with TAT was the truck stop TA and Petro Stopping Centers.

Since TAT’s first partnership with TA/Petro, they have since teamed up with multiple law enforcement agencies, trucking companies and nonprofits. Law enforcement in Kansas is the most recent of 22 state agencies that have partnered with TAT throughout the U.S., and the state highway patrol in Ohio provides information and training from TAT to everyone who obtains a commercial driver's license. Eventually, Paris hopes that it will be mandatory training in every state.

And by the numbers, it looks like TAT’s plan is working. Though calls to NHRTC hotline are anonymous, calls from truck drivers have skyrocketed since TAT came onto the scene. The hotline has received 1,371 calls from truck drivers since 2007, which involved 744 victims — 249 of which were minors.

The TAT driver training is free, and it only takes a short time.

Basic training for truck drivers is a 26-minute DVD designed to give the basics of what to look for and what to do in case they come across suspected sex traffickers.

Some of the warning signals TAT trains for are tattoos (for branding purposes), recreational vehicles with different people coming in and out, and cars flashing their lights on and off. If a trucker is suspicious, they’re instructed who to call the authorities or the NHTRC hotline. Truck drivers are told not to engage with suspected sex traffickers.

Drivers are also given a wallet card that bullet-points their training, and they’re encouraged to display posters that let victims of human trafficking know they have options, too.

Photo by Truckers Against Trafficking, used with permission.

While the drivers certainly can’t identify every victim of trafficking, the more eyes and ears we have out there, the better.

Human trafficking is a global problem, and it’s going to take a united effort to put a stop to it. But if the testimonials on TAT’s website are any indication, people are ready to fight.

"There’s a place for everyone," Paris said. "We provide the pathways for those who want to help."

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