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Trucker claims he was kidnapped, then rescued 4 days later

By Elizabeth Gentle - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

FALKVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A truck driver claimed he was hit in the head, kidnapped and locked in the back of his own rig for days.

He told police it happened at a Flying J's Truck Stop in Bessemer. Two men on their way to work in Falkville saw the man waving through a small hatch and stopped to help him.

The trucker claimed he was taken against his will. However, police investigators said they aren't sure what the trucker's story is. They said there are inconsistencies and the evidence doesn't make sense.

Stephen Trostel and his brother Chris stopped at the BP Truck Stop off Interstate 65 when something caught their attention.

"I look over and see an arm waving out of the back of a trailer, like a stick," said Stephen Trostel.

The Trostel's went inside the store, told the manager somebody was locked in the back of a big rig parked near the fence line.

"I let him out; me, my brother and the manger let him out," Stephen Trostel said. "He came crawling out and thanked us. Said he had been there since Monday. First thing he asked was, 'What day is it and where am I?'" he said.

The driver said he pulled over at the truck stop and was walking around the back of the trailer, heard a noise and before he could turn around somebody knocked him in the head and drove off with him inside.

The truck driver said he spent four days banging on the walls inside his truck yelling for help. He managed to kick open a hatch and put his hand out in hopes someone would see him.

"He saw me, started yelling, hollering. I opened the door, there he was. Sittting in there," said Chris Trostle.

The trucker appeared to be shaken up but okay.

Viriginia Pruitt helped the man out of the trailer and gave him man a cigarette and a cup of coffee. She said it's a miracle he was ever found.

"Out there trucks running you don't pay any attention to people hollering," Pruitt said.

WAFF 48 News was told the trucker was taken to Hartselle Hospital for treatment, though police said his condition is inconsistent with someone who spent four days locked without food or water in an 18-wheeler.

No charges are expected to be filed.

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