What could have ended in tragedy turned into a dramatic rescue after a Washington store co-owner trusted her instincts, called police, and followed a suspected kidnapper for miles.
On Jan. 16, 2002, 12-year-old Megan Van Cleave was walking home from school in Clarkston, Washington, when Brian L. Nollette Jr., 25, approached her, displayed a gun, and forced her into his Ford Crown Victoria, authorities said.
Kim Heimgartner, then 33, happened to be driving past and saw the girl get into the vehicle. She didn’t see the gun — but she later described a feeling that something was wrong: “In my gut, it just didn’t seem right.”
Heimgartner immediately began following the car, dialing police as she drove along winding, sparsely traveled roads. The chase was later described as “an eight-mile game of cat and mouse,” with Heimgartner staying on the vehicle’s trail long enough for officers to close in.
Inside the car, Van Cleave tried to ask what Nollette planned to do, but she said she got no clear answers. She told him it was her sister’s birthday the next day and said she wanted to buy balloons.
Heimgartner, a mother herself, kept her focus on the vehicle ahead, remaining on the phone with authorities as officers moved in.
When police activated their lights, Nollette stopped. Van Cleave later recalled that he told her he would make her “a deal” and let her go, saying, “Since tomorrow’s your sister’s birthday, get out and get away as fast as you can.”
“I ran like crazy,” Van Cleave said later.
After Nollette was arrested, officers reported finding what they “identified as a torture kit.” Court documents described items recovered during the search, including “a suicide note on the dashboard, a black rucksack on the front passenger seat, and a set of chef’s knives in a carrying case on the floor behind the passenger seat.” Inside the rucksack, authorities said they found ammunition, two disposable cameras, duct tape, wire cutters, candy, breath mints, dice, and black plastic ties.
Nollette was later convicted of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault.
In the aftermath, Van Cleave’s father pointed to the moment Heimgartner decided to act: “What would have happened if Kim hadn’t listened to her gut?”
Heimgartner brushed off the praise at the time, summing up her decision simply: “I’m nosy. But this time it paid off.”
