UPDATE:
Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call on Monday morning from a victim of an armed abduction.
Sheriff Bob Colbert said the victim, 24-year old Travis Puthoff, picked up a hitchhiker in Nowata County around 6 a.m. Monday morning. Puthoff said he was headed north on U.S. Highway 169, going to work, when he spotted the hitchhiker 1.5 miles north of Nowata.
"I was just thinking I was going to be nice and give him a head start on where he was going."
Deputies said, once inside the vehicle, the hitchhiker pulled a gun on Puthoff and ordered him to drive south.
"He said we were going to drive anywhere he wanted or he was going to shoot me," Puthoff said, "So I listened."
Puthoff turned around to go south on 169, then east on Highway 60 to Big Cabin and finally south on Highway 69. Deputies said just south of Wagoner the hitchhiker forced Puthoff into the trunk of the car. Trapped inside of the hot trunk, Puthoff said he couldn't escape his fears.
"Thoughts of my family and where they would be without me and just praying that he wasn't going to kill me."
Deputies said the suspect drove about three more miles before abandoning the Crown Victoria in Wagoner.
"When he pulled over on the side of the road I thought, this is it, I'm done, this is my last ride." That is when Puthoff picked up the cellphone and called 911 dispatchers.
"He was remarkably calm for what just happened to him," said Sheriff Bob Colbert, "He was following out instructions to the tee."
Ultimately deputies used a cell phone tower to ping Puthoff's location.
Deputies found Puthoff in the trunk of his car. Puthoff was checked out by EMSA officials but was not taken to a hospital.
A K-9 officer tracked the suspect back to U.S. Highway 69 before losing the trail.
Puthoff said he is grateful to the Wagoner and Nowata deputies for helping track him down. "I can't believe I made it, I made it," said Puthoff.
Wagoner and Nowata authorities said that the investigation is still ongoing.
Deputies say the suspect is a Hispanic or Indian male; 6’ tall with brown or black hair, medium build with a tattoo on his left bicep.
