Gas station surveillance photo, Middlebury, Ind.
LAGRANGE, Ind. – FOX 17 News has obtained the 911 call to police from the woman who investigators say was kidnapped by Michigan fugitive Michael Elliot. She made the call from inside the car-jacked vehicle in Middlebury, Ind., while the fugitive was inside paying for gas.
As of midday Monday, there was a nation-wide search for Elliot, who escaped from the Ionia Correctional Facility Sunday night.
“I’m hostage to an escaped convict from the Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan. He’s in paying for gas,” she told the 911 dispatcher .
While Elliot was paying for gas, the dispatcher asked the kidnapped woman if there was any way she could stay on the phone, then go inside and tell Elliot she needed to use the restroom. The victim said yes.
Elliot told the victim he just wanted to get someplace far from Ionia. He said to the woman that he was in prison for murder.
During the call, you can hear a knock at the door. The victim said, “Yes. Occupied.” There is a mumble then the victim said, “I’m sorry but it’s taking me longer than I thought.” The dispatcher asked if it “was him?” The victim said, “yes.”
During the call, the dispatcher can be heard talking to another dispatcher saying, “He’s knocking on the bathroom door, saying let’s go.”
After the victim said it was the fugitive knocking on the door, the dispatcher said to stay on the phone but stay quiet. That way Elliot wouldn’t find out a call was being made.
The woman whispered, “I’ve got to be going back.”
“You need to stay in the bathroom. Do not leave the bathroom,” the dispatcher said.
The victim told the 911 operator that she was outside of an address on West Main Street in Ionia Sunday night, then he forced his way into her vehicle. The victim said she was parked outside of the address and was going there for work, according to the caller. Elliot was armed with a hammer and box cutter.
During the 911 call, the victim tells the dispatcher that Elliot was wearing her cargo pants. “He’s got my black cargo pants on now.”
There seemed to be some confusion about which gas station the victim was hiding inside.
“Can you go ask the clerk the exact address?” the dispatcher asks to the victim. During the call, the dispatcher says her partner is on the phone with Middlebury Police trying to figure out which gas station she is located.
