IRON COUNTY, Utah — A man is in custody after he allegedly attempted to kidnap a woman, only to have his attempt thwarted by the victim who slipped a note to a witness at a southern Utah gas station.
Epigmenio Bustillos Marquez, 53, was arrested on Saturday and faces multiple charges, including aggravated kidnapping, assault, providing false personal information to a peace officer, and damage or interruption of a communication device.
According to court documents, Iron County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Cedar Band Travel Plaza, about seven miles southwest of Cedar City, around 1:20 p.m.
The caller told investigators that a woman had given her a handwritten note in the women's bathroom, saying she was in trouble and needed help.
The bystander-turned-Good-Samaritan gave an interview anonymously to protect her family. She said they were on their way back home from a softball tournament when she found herself at the right place at the right time.
"I could just tell from the second that she handed me the paper that said, 'Help me, call police,' I knew that she was in trouble," she told FOX 13 News on Monday. "I think she was really terrified that he was going to peek in and he would have seen us."
The witness saw the victim get into a white Chevrolet Equinox with Nevada license plates. She took photos and videos of the victim, the suspect and the vehicle. She then followed the vehicle as it got onto Interstate 15 and began traveling northbound.
"I wasn’t panicked or anything. I was just like, 'I’m not gonna let this lady not be helped,'" she said.
Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle about eight miles north of the gas station. They approached the vehicle from the passenger side. When talking to the female victim, deputies reported her not behaving normally and asked to leave the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Marquez, provided identification from Durango, Mexico with a false name and date of birth.
The victim told officers that she and Marquez had been in a relationship for 25 years. She said Marquez's behavior had recently been erratic.
The victim told police she had asked Marquez to drive her to work that morning at a hotel and casino in Las Vegas. But when he picked her up, he began accusing her of cheating in the relationship. Instead of taking the victim to work, Marquez allegedly threatened to take her to Salt Lake City or Denver.
When the victim told Marquez she wanted to get out of the vehicle, Marquez allegedly threatened that she would die if she tried due to the speed at which they were traveling. She said Marquez then took her phone so she couldn't call anyone and at one point struck her in the mouth.
Investigators searched Marquez's wallet and found another Mexican ID card with his actual name and date of birth. However, even after being shown the identification, Marquez continued to deny that it was his real identity.
He is being held without bail in the Iron County Jail.
"I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that this woman could have saved this woman’s life," said Kimmi Wolf with the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.
Wolf emphasized the importance of bystander intervention, as well as assessing the situation to avoid any further harm or escalation.
"Something as severe as domestic violence, false credentials, kidnapping — all those indicators point to a high probability of lethality, and had this person been confronted in a different type of scenario, that could have ended very badly," she said.
Wolf said this situation ended about as well as it could have, with the suspect in jail and the victim now safe with family and returning to work.
"This is a situation that happens often to many people. It’s something we need to draw attention to; it’s not some weird one-off situation," she added.
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Resources for domestic violence victims/prevention (free, 24/7, confidential):
Utah Domestic Violence Coalition
- Hotline: 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- Online help: udvc.org
National Domestic Violence Hotline
- 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
- Online live chat: thehotline.org
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.
