Missouri gas station clerk helps kidnapped woman escape alleged captor

ST. LOUIS, Missouri -- An alleged kidnapping victim is lucky to be alive after a gas station clerk sprang to her aid.

Russell DeShields, 36, is facing charges after he was accused of taking the woman's keys, breaking her cell phone and then forcing her into a vehicle.

Investigators said DeShields took the woman on a harrowing 30-minute ride before she convinced her alleged captor to stop at a BP gas station for cigarettes.

The clerk, who does not want to be identified, said she could tell something was immediately off, KMOV-TV reports.

"He was very close to her. You could not even get a hand between them," the clerk said. "I noticed it and watched them through the whole thing."

Deputies say the woman went into the gas station with DeShields, but then approached the clerk to ask which cigarettes were on sale.

"I told her and she just kind of mumbled to me and said, 'Help me,' really low," the clerk said. "I was like, 'Okay?' She goes, 'He is trying to kill me.'"

The clerk said she didn't know what the accused kidnapper might do, "but knew we had to get her to safety."

She rushed the woman into the gas station office, and that is where the woman alleged that DeShields threatened to drive the vehicle off the bridge if she didn't cooperate.

"You can tell it was true because she had black marks on her hand and her arm," said the clerk.

When the clerk returned to the counter, DeShields ran from the store and took off.

Deputies caught up with DeShields and took him into custody. He's now being held on a $100,000 cash only bond.