A trip to the gas station restroom in Utah transformed into a rescue mission for a woman who saw and understood the silent message from another woman under attack.
An anonymous woman ended her softball tournament return trip to Cedar City on March 8 at Cedar Band Travel Plaza but needed to use the restrooms.
As she exited the restroom, a second woman abruptly opened the door and slipped a note into her hand, whispering a desperate request: “Please give this to police.”
The note the fearful woman sent described herself having her phone taken by a man. Give to police.”
Her sudden concern showed when she wanted to know what danger faced the woman. When the woman answered “yes,” she knew she had to act fast.
“She said, ‘Give this to police. According to KSL-TV the bystander needed to leave because the man was waiting by the exit. “She was shaking.”
The unnamed helper stayed collected throughout the incident. She opted to wait at the gas station first to collect useful facts and updates about what happened.
The witness noticed the male partner of the woman buy a hot dog and a drink while they were together.
As she pretended to talk on her phone the woman recorded the suspect with her camera phone then took down his vehicle license plate when he and the driver got into their white SUV.
She used Interstate 15 to track the vehicle and shared its movement details with law enforcers while keeping the victim under constant sight.
Officers gathered at a precise distance from the gas station and intercepted the SUV with multiple stops to split the man and woman.
During the talking session factual information emerged about their situation for the first time.
For 25 years the woman was in a relationship with Marquez until he started behaving abnormally to her.
At that moment he claimed she was unfaithful before assaulting her physically by hitting her in the face and taking away her phone to stop her from escaping help.
He decided to move her without proper consent while driving toward Salt Lake City or Denver which made her feel endangered.
Marquez received charges for aggravated kidnapping combined with assault and wrong police information plus tampering with a communication system.
When arrested Polize discovered his real identity after he showed them identification documents from Durango Mexico. Officials determined his real identity by doing additional research.
Despite the dangerous encounter the woman survived because a witness reacted quickly and showed courage.
The bystander felt composed during the event so he shared afterwards. “I was just like, ‘I’m not gonna let this lady not be helped.’”
Our response at that moment worked perfectly by saving someone from captivity and police detained their known abductor.
The gas station stop between two people grew into a rescue mission when a visible note and a determined person worked together to save someone from a potential abduction.
Feature Image Credit: (Youtube/FOX 13 News Utah)