Kevin Kimmel of Tavares, Fla., a driver for Con-way Truckload of Joplin, Mo., has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association.
He is being recognized for making a phone call that resulted in saving an abducted woman.
On the morning of Jan. 6, 2015, Kimmel was finished making some night deliveries and had pulled into a New Kent, Va., truck stop to sleep.
Two spots over, he noticed an RV that seemed suspicious. Kimmel noticed that the windows of the RV were blacked out, and then he saw a man walking back and forth several times between the RV and the truck stop’s convenience store.
The thought of a prostitution situation crossed Kimmel’s mind, then he saw a young girl’s face appear in the window briefly before suddenly disappearing, as if someone had yanked her away. The behavior struck him as odd.
When another tractor trailer pulled into the empty spot between Kimmel and the RV, blocking his view, he decided to ask that driver to keep his eye out. However, as he got ready for bed, he noticed the driver next to him had pulled his blinds down as if he was also going to sleep. The situation continued to bother Kimmel, so he decided to call the police.
“It was just a situation that didn’t feel right, and I figured I would either put a damper on someone’s vacation for 15 minutes, or make a difference with one phone call,” Kimmel said.
