A note left in a Flomaton bathroom helped law enforcement find a woman and two children who had been kidnapped from Louisiana, state troopers said.

Escambia County sheriff’s officials told troopers at about 3 p.m. Wednesday that a note had been found in the women’s bathroom at a Flomaton gas station. The note stated that a woman and two children had been kidnapped and were en route to Atlanta with their abductor. Law enforcement had information about the type of vehicle and license plate.

According to a state troopers news release, a trooper in Butler County spotted the vehicle traveling north on Interstate 65. He stopped the vehicle at the 107 exit of 65 (the Grace/Garland exit) and asked the four occupants — male driver and female passenger and two children — to exit the vehicle. The trooper found a .45 caliber handgun in the door of the vehicle. The woman, Latasha Hill of Jefferson, La., confirmed she and her two children had been kidnapped by the driver. Driver Therral Hatfield, 25, of Jefferson, was taken into custody and charged with giving false information and carrying a pistol without a permit.