Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office News Release • May 13, 2024 • Lt. K. Suthard, PIO
(Wentworth, NC) – On Sunday, May 12, 2024, at around 10:40 p.m., Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputies were alerted to be on the lookout for a Beige Infinity SVU with a female in the front passenger seat of the vehicle who was claiming to have been kidnapped.
The vehicle was reported traveling on N.C. 14 when the alert was dispatched. Deputy Steven Harris was in the area and located a vehicle matching that description with a female passenger in the front seat while traveling on N.C. 14 near New Heights Baptist Church and attempted a traffic stop. The vehicle stopped at Murphy’s USA Gas Station at the Reidsville Walmart, and the female passenger, appearing to be in distress, quickly exited the vehicle.
During the investigation, Deputy Harris learned that the driver, GARRETT WADE WHEELER, and the female victim had been on a date, but WHEELER had refused to return her home, instead passing by it and continuing to drive, refusing to stop. WHEELER continued to refuse to let her out of the vehicle despite her repeated pleas for him to do so. Due to his continued refusal to release her from the vehicle, the female victim called 9-1-1 on her cell phone for help.
The distance WHEELER traveled with the victim in the vehicle while refusing to release her is estimated to be around 12 miles. The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office will not release the name and other identifying information about the female victim at this time due to safety concerns.
GARRETT WADE WHEELER, 44, of 116 Wil-O-Pat Rd. Reidsville, N.C., was arrested for Second Degree Kidnapping and False Imprisonment. He was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under NO BOND.
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