List of kidnappings
Encyclopedia
Famous kidnappings
- Mary JemisonMary JemisonMary Jemison was an American frontierswoman and an adopted Seneca. When she was in her teens, she was captured in what is now Adams County, Pennsylvania, from her home along Marsh Creek, and later chose to remain a Seneca....
(1758), a 12-year-old caucasian child taken in 1758 from her family by Seneca warriors. The only one not massacred in her family, Mary was adopted into the Seneca tribe and lived the remainder of her life with the natives.
- Cynthia Ann ParkerCynthia Ann ParkerCynthia Ann Parker, or Naduah , was an American woman of old colonial stock of Scots-Irish descent who was captured and kidnapped at the age of nine by a American Indian band which massacred her family and...
(1836), a nine-year old caucasian child taken in 1836 from her family by Comanches raiding their home at Fort Parker, Texas, in which she would live 24 years among the Comanche and marry war chief Peta NoconaPeta NoconaPeta Nocona was a chief of the Comanche band Noconi. He led his tribe during the extensive Indian Wars in Texas from the 1830s to 1860. He was the son of the Comanche chief Iron Jacket and father of chief Quanah Parker. His band Noconis, or Wanderers, or travellers were named after him...
and give birth to three children, including the last war chief of the Comanche, Quanah ParkerQuanah ParkerQuanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...
.
- Edgardo MortaraEdgardo MortaraEdgardo Levi Mortara was a Roman Catholic priest who was born and raised Jewish. Fr. Mortara became the center of an international controversy when he was removed from his Jewish parents by authorities of the Papal States and raised as a Catholic...
(1858), a six-year-old Jewish child taken from his family by Pope Pius IXPope Pius IXBlessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
in 1858 because a housekeeper had secretly baptized him. The child was never returned to his parents notwithstanding the humanitarian pleas of President Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, Emperor Franz JosefFranz Joseph I of AustriaFranz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
, and Napoleon III. At age 18 he decided to remain Catholic, becoming an Augustinian priest and taking the name Pius.
- Larcena PenningtonLarcena PenningtonLarcena Pennington Page, or Larcena Ann Pennington Page Scott, was a member of a well known family of American pioneers. She is most remembered for her kidnapping by hostile Apache natives in Arizona. Larcena was captured on March 16, 1860, with her young student, near Madera Canyon and left for...
and 21-year-old Mercedes Sais Quiroz (1860), abducted by Apaches
- Charley RossCharley RossCharles Brewster Ross was the primary victim of the first kidnapping for ransom in America to receive widespread attention from the media.-Abduction:...
(1874), the first American to be kidnapped for ransom that received wide public attention.
- Ion PerdicarisIon PerdicarisIon Hanford Perdicaris was a Greek-American playboy who was the centre of a notable kidnapping known as the Perdicaris incident, which aroused international conflict in 1904.-Family life:...
and his stepson Cromwell Varley (1904) were kidnapped by Mulai Ahmed er RaisuliMulai Ahmed er RaisuliMulai Ahmed er Raisuni was the Sharif of the Jebala tribe in Morocco at the turn of the 20th Century, and considered by many to be the rightful heir to the throne of Morocco...
in MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, causing US Secretary of State John HayJohn HayJohn Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
to declare "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead."
- Bobby DunbarBobby DunbarBobby Dunbar was a 4-year old child whose disappearance and apparent recovery was widely reported in newspapers across the United States in 1912 and 1913. After an eight-month nationwide search, investigators believed that they had found the child in the hands of William Cantwell Walters of...
(1912) was a child who disappeared near Swayze Lake in St. Landry Parish, LouisianaSt. Landry Parish, LouisianaSt. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas. According to the 2010 census, the population of St. Landry Parish is 83,384.St...
, on 23 August 1912. After an eight-month nationwide search, investigators found a child, claimed by Lessie and Percy Dunbar as their son, in the hands of William Cantwell Walters of MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, who was convicted of kidnapping. In 2004, further investigation by Dunbar's granddaughter led to conclusive DNA proofGenetic fingerprintingDNA profiling is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used as the person's identifier...
that the child in Walters' custody was not the Dunbar's son and that Walters had been wrongfully convicted.
- Marion Parker (1927). On 14 December 1927, William Hickman kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Marion Parker, the daughter of a Los Angeles banker. A few days after being paid a small ransom, Hickman was arrested and tried. On 19 October 1928, Hickman became the first American kidnapper to be executed for his crime.
- Mary McElroyMary McElroy (kidnapping victim)Mary McElroy was an American kidnapping victim. She was the daughter of Henry F. 'Judge' McElroy, City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri. The 1996 Robert Altman film Kansas City was based loosely on the kidnapping.-Kidnapping:...
(1933), the daughter of City Manager Henry McElroy of Kansas City, was kidnapped on May 27, 1933 and held for ransom. She was released unharmed after the ransom was paid and the four kidnappers were later apprehended and given life sentences.
- Brooke HartBrooke HartBrooke Hart was the oldest son of Alexander Hart, the owner of L. Hart and Son Department Store in San Jose, California. His kidnapping and murder was reported throughout the United States, and the lynching of his alleged murderers, Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M...
(1933), the son of a San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
businessman, was kidnapped on November 9, 1933, and murdered thereafter. His kidnappers were lynchLynchingLynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
ed by a mob (last public lynching in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
).
- June RoblesJune RoblesJune Robles was a notable victim of kidnapping from Tucson, Arizona. She was the daughter of Fernando Robles, owner of the Robles Electric Company. Her grandfather, Bernabe Robles, was one of Tucson's wealthiest citizens. Her mother was Helen Robles, and she had one other sister who was not named...
(1934), a six-year-old resident of Tucson, Arizona, abducted on April 25, 1934. After ransom negotiations between her parents and her captors, Robles was found unharmed on a highway after nineteen days in captivity. Only one arrest was made in connection with her abduction.
- Chiang Kai Shek (1936), Leader of China, was kidnapped by a warlordWarlordA warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
on December 12, 1936, in an affair known as the Xi'an IncidentXi'an IncidentThe Xi'an Incident of December 1936 is an important episode of Chinese modern history, taking place in the city of Xi'an during the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War...
.
- Evgeny Miller (1937), an anti-bolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
Russian general was kidnapped from ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
by NKVD agents. The NKVDNKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
successfully smuggled General Miller back to MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, where he was tortured and subsequently shot nineteen months later, in 1939.
- North Korean abductions of South KoreansNorth Korean abductions of South KoreansAn estimated 84,532 South Koreans were taken to North Korea during the Korean War. In addition, South Korean statistics claim that, since the Korean Armistice in 1953, about 3,800 people have been abducted in North Korea , 480 of whom are still being held by North Korea.- Two types of Abductees...
(began in 1950)
- Robert (Bobby) Cosgrove Greenlease Jr.Bobby GreenleaseRobert C. "Bobby" Greenlease was the son of multi-millionaire automobile dealer Robert Cosgrove Greenlease, Sr., of Kansas City, Missouri. He was the victim of a kidnapping in September 1953 that led to the largest ransom payout in U.S. history at the time; however, Bobby Greenlease's abductors...
(1953). The six-year-old boy was kidnapped and immediately murdered 28 September 1953 in Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
by Bonnie Heady and Carl A. Hall. They then demanded and were paid a $600,000 ransom by the boy's father, a wealthy automobile dealer. Notable in the case was that more than half of the ransom money was stolen by a corrupt police officer and never recovered.
- Peter Weinberger (1956), one month old, taken from his home in Westbury, New YorkWestbury, New YorkWestbury incorporated in 1932 as a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 15,146 at the 2010 census.The Village of Westbury is in the Town of North Hempstead....
on Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
on July 4, 1956. Angelo LaMarca took the baby for a $2,000 ransom. LaMarca told investigators he went to the first drop site the day after the kidnapping—with the baby in the car—but he was scared away by all of the press and police in the area. He drove away, abandoned the baby alive in some heavy brush just off a highway exit, and went home. A search of the area by Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) agents and Nassau County Police DepartmentNassau County Police DepartmentThe Nassau County Police Department is the law enforcement agency of Nassau County, New York.-History:In 1925, concerned about rising crime rates, the County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Nassau County Police Department, replacing a scattered system of constables and town and village...
ensued. An FBI agent spotted a diaper pin—then the decomposed remains of Peter Weinberger. The Weinberger case also resulted in new legislation — signed by President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
— that reduced the FBI's waiting period in kidnapping cases from 7 days to 24 hours.
- Graeme ThorneGraeme Thorne kidnappingThe Graeme Thorne kidnapping is the name given to the 1960 kidnapping and murder of Graeme Thorne for money that his father, Bazil Thorne, had won in a lottery. A crime which caused massive shock at the time and gathered huge publicity, it was the first known kidnapping for ransom in Australian...
(1960), aged eight. His parents Basil and Freda Thorne won the £100,000 Opera House Lottery (at that time, the names of winners were published). Five weeks later, on 7 July 1960, Stephen Leslie Bradley abducted Graeme and demanded a ransom. Thorne was killed and dumped, the partially decomposed body being discovered on 16 August. The case led to tighter rules about the publication of the names of lottery winners.
- Joseph BonannoJoseph BonannoJoseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
(1964). The crime family leader and his lawyer were kidnapped by Bonanno's own enforcer. Forced to make economic and retirement agreements with other mafia bosses, he and his lawyer were let go alive.
- North Korean abductions of JapaneseNorth Korean abductions of JapaneseThe abductions of Japanese citizens from Japan by agents of the North Korean government happened during a period of six years from 1977 to 1983. Although only 17 Japanese are officially recognized by the Japanese government as having been abducted, there may have been as many as 70 to 80...
(1970s – 1980s)
- James CrossJames CrossJames Richard Cross, CMG was a British diplomat in Canada who was kidnapped by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group during the October Crisis of October 1970....
, British diplomat, and Pierre LaportePierre LaportePierre Laporte was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and killed by members of the group Front de libération du Québec during the October Crisis. Mr...
, Quebec provincial politician (1970). Their kidnappings by the Front de libération du QuébecFront de libération du QuébecThe Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action...
set off the 1970 October CrisisOctober CrisisThe October Crisis was a series of events triggered by two kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec during October 1970 in the province of Quebec, mainly in the Montreal metropolitan area.The circumstances ultimately culminated in the only peacetime use...
. Cross was released; Laporte was murdered.
- Steven StaynerSteven StaynerSteven Gregory Stayner was an American kidnap victim. Stayner was abducted from the Northern California city and county of Merced, California at the age of seven and held until he was 14, when he escaped and rescued another victim, Timothy White, in 1980...
(1972) was kidnapped on his way home from school in 1972 in Merced, CaliforniaMerced, CaliforniaMerced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 78,958. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government...
and found alive in 1980. He died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident.
- Lesley Whittle (1974), 17-year-old woman kidnapped by the so-called Black PantherBlack Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
Donald Neilson in January 1974.
- Peter LorenzPeter LorenzPeter Lorenz was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union .In 1975 Lorenz was a candidate for mayor of West Berlin. He was kidnapped by the militant Movement 2 June group three days before the elections on 27 February...
(1975), German conservative politician and candidate for the mayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of West-Berlin, kidnapped in February 1975, only days before the elections. Lorenz was released unharmed after a week in exchange for five imprisoned leftist extremists, who were flown out to South Yemen. He won the majority of the votes while being abducted.
- Colleen StanColleen StanColleen Stan is an American woman who was kidnapped and held as a sex slave by Cameron and Janice Hooker in Red Bluff, California, for over seven years between 1977 and 1984...
(1977) was kidnapped by Cameron Hooker on May 19, 1977 and held for seven years as a sex slave.
- Hanns-Martin Schleyer (1977), a German manager, was kidnapped by the extreme-left militant organisation Red Army FactionRed Army FactionThe radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
on 5 September 1977. He was taken from BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and hidden in a high-rise in ErftstadtErftstadtErftstadt is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river which flows through it, the Erft...
. After the imprisoned RAF members were found dead in their prison cells in Stammheim PrisonStammheim PrisonStammheim Prison is a prison in Stuttgart, Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the northern boundaries of Stuttgart in the city district of Stuttgart-Stammheim — right between fields and apartment blocks on the fringes of Stammheim...
, he was killed on 18 October 1977. His body was found in a car in MulhouseMulhouseMulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
.
- Aldo MoroAldo MoroAldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
(1978), former Italian Prime Minister, captured on March 16, 1978, and killed almost two months later.
- Lee Kim LaiLee Kim LaiLee Kim Lai was a police officer who was murdered on 25 April 1978 for his service revolver by three men. A serving Police National Serviceman, he was performing police sentry duty at the Police Reserve Unit 1 base of the Singapore Police Force at Mount Vernon when he was abducted from...
(1978), 18-year-old SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
police officerPolice officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
who was kidnapped from a sentry post and killed for his gun on April 25, 1978.
- Marcuse and Jeremiah Treanor (1980) were kidnapped from their mother's home 3 March 1980 at the age of 7½ years old. Jeremiah was discovered three years later in a Child Prostitution sting by Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. His brother had been murdered only a week before rescue. Twelve young boys in all were recovered, though unfortunately 38 kidnappings were linked to the group. This case was credited with being the impetus for the first child crimes unit in Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. In trial, it was discovered that the Russian Mafia was linked to the ring. The three children who testified in the trial were put into witness protection.
- Adam Walsh (1981) was the 6-year-old son of John WalshJohn WalshJohn Edward Walsh is an American television personality, criminal investigator, human and victim rights advocate and formerly the host, as well as creator, of America's Most Wanted...
(who later became the host of America's Most WantedAmerica's Most WantedAmerica's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
) and his wife, Revé. He was abducted on 27 July 1981, from a Sears department store at the Hollywood Mall in Hollywood, Florida, and later found murdered.
- James Lee DozierJames L. DozierJames Lee Dozier is a retired US Army general officer. In December 1981, he was kidnapped by the leftist Italian Red Brigades Marxist terrorist group. He was rescued by Italian anti-terrorist forces after 42 days of captivity. General Dozier was the deputy Chief of Staff at NATO's Southern...
(1981), a US general working for NATO in Italy. He and his wife were kidnapped by the Red BrigadesRed BrigadesThe Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
on 17 December 1981, and freed by a NOCSNucleo Operativo Centrale di SicurezzaThe Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza is a special operations division of the Italian state police.-History:In 1974 the Chief of the Polizia di Stato Anti-Terrorism Bureau, Emilio Santillo, announced the necessity to establish a tactical unit with the capability to arrest known terrorists and...
commando on 28 January 1982.
- Nina von Gallwitz (1981), an eight-year-old German girl, was kidnapped on her way to school in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
on 18 December 1981, her parents paid a ransomRansomRansom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
of 1.5 million German markGerman markThe Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
. Nina was freed on 15 May 1982, at the rest areaRest areaA rest area, travel plaza, rest stop, or service area is a public facility, located next to a large thoroughfare such as a highway, expressway, or freeway at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting on to secondary roads...
‘Ohligser Heide’ after 149 days.
- Edith Rosenkranz (1984), wife of Dr. George RosenkranzGeorge RosenkranzGeorge Rosenkranz is a Mexican scientist in steroid research and a professional bridge player. He was born in Hungary, educated in Switzerland and lived in Mexico for 66 years...
, a wealthy Mexico City businessman (founder of the Syntex Corporation, a developer of the birth control pill), was kidnapped at gunpoint on July 19, 1984 from the Washington-Sheraton Hotel in Washington, D.C. during an American Contract Bridge League national tournament. She was returned unharmed two days later, after her husband paid a $1 million ransom. The ransom money was recovered and the two kidnappers, Glenn I Wright and Dennis Moss, were later convicted and sentenced, as was a third defendant, Orland D. Tolden.
- Enrique CamarenaEnrique CamarenaEnrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico July 26, 1947 - c. (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, February 9, 1985) was an undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration who was abducted on...
(1985), Mexican AmericanMexican AmericanMexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
DEA official, found dead.
- Anthonette Cayedito (1986) was a nine year old Navajo girl kidnapped from her home in April 1986 from Gallup, New Mexico. She was profiled on Unsolved Mysteries a few years after her disappearance. It is believed that she phoned 911 a year after her kidnapping in a desperate attempt to be rescued. She may have also been seen by a waitress in Las Vegas a few years later. The waitress stated that a girl that looked like Anthonette's age-progression image entered the restaurant with a rather unkempt male and female and kept dropping her silverware on the floor and squeezing the waitress' hand really hard when she placed it back on the table. The girl also left a note written on a napkin underneath the plate that read "Help me. Call the police." The girl was never located.
- Mordechai VanunuMordechai VanunuMordechai Vanunu ; is a former Israeli nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by a Mossad agent, where he was drugged and kidnapped by...
(1986), IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i nuclear whistleblowerWhistleblowerA whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
, was last seen in London on September 30, 1986, before being abducted by MossadMossadThe Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
in Italy and brought back to IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where he was convicted of treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
and espionageEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, and served 18 years in prisonPrisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, 11 years in solitary confinementSolitary confinementSolitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
.
- Carlina White (1987) was 19 days old when taken from a hospital in Harlem on August 4, 1987 and was reunited with her family 23 years later, in the longest known abduction by someone other than a parent.
- Gerrit Jan HeijnGerrit Jan HeijnGerrit Jan Heijn was a Dutch businessman, who was a top manager of Ahold until his death in 1987. His grandfather was Albert Heijn, who originally founded the family business, and his older brother was also named Albert Heijn, who was the founder of Ahold...
(1987), DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
captain of industryCaptain of industry"Captain of industry" was a term originally used in the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution describing a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way....
and top executive of AholdAholdAhold is a major international supermarket operator based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ahold is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.-History:...
, Holland's largest retailer, brother of Albert Heijn; was kidnapped on September 9, 1987 and killed in the same year by Ferry E. The kidnapper pretended that his victim was still alive and asked for and received ransom; he was caught after spending one of the banknotes of the ransom, of which the numbers had been recorded. He served a prison sentence and is now free. It was observed with scorn that after his release he received over €300,000 back-payment of disability benefits for the time he was in prison (rules have since been changed, such payments are no longer possible).
- Tara CalicoTara CalicoTara Leigh Calico disappeared near her home in Belen, New Mexico on September 20, 1988. Her case, believed to be a kidnapping, received extensive coverage on A Current Affair , Unsolved Mysteries, and America's Most Wanted. It was also profiled on The Oprah Winfrey Show and 48 Hours...
(1988), disappeared near her home, Belen, New MexicoBelen, New MexicoBelen is a city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem, and over time has gained the nickname "Hub City" because of the Belen Cutoff of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Cutoff made it possible for many more trains to travel east and west across...
, after taking her usual bike ride. Several witnesses claimed she was being followed by a 1953-1954 Ford Pickup and was never heard from again. No sign of Tara was found until On June 15, 1989 when a woman found a PolaroidPolaroid CorporationPolaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
photo of an unidentified young girl and boy, both bound and gagged, in the parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida. The girl in the Polaroid is believed to be Tara, but this has not been confirmed. Two other Polaroid photographs, possibly of Tara, have surfaced over the years, but they have yet to be released to the public. After twenty years, it's still debated whether or not Tara has been murdered or still remains alive.
- Paul Vanden BoeynantsPaul Vanden BoeynantsPaul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants was a Belgian politician. He served as the 41st Prime Minister of Belgium for two brief periods ....
(1989), Belgian politician, kidnapped on 14 January 1989 and released one month later after a ransom was paid.
- Jacob WetterlingJacob WetterlingJacob Erwin Wetterling is a boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota who was kidnapped from his hometown at the age of 11 on Sunday, October 22, 1989...
(1989) was an 11-year-old boy kidnapped on his way home by a masked gunman on October 22, 1989. His case has remained unsolved.
- Humberto Alvarez-Machain (1990), suspect in the murder of Enrique Camarena, kidnapped, allegedly by Americans, on April 2, 1990 to bring him to trial in the United States.
- Sano FusakoSano Fusakois a Japanese woman who was kidnapped at age nine by Nobuyuki Satō , and held in captivity for nine years and two months from November 13, 1990 to January 28, 2000...
(1990), a girl kidnapped in NiigataNiigata Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
, Japan, on 13 November 1990 at age ten and held captive for nine years, two months. She was found alive on 28 January 2000.
- Jaycee Lee Dugard (1991) was kidnapped on June 10, 1991, at the age of 11. She was found alive 18 years later, in August 2009. She gave birth to two children fathered by the man who kidnapped her, the first when she was just fourteen years old. Her children believed her to be their sister.
- Ben Needham (1991) was a 21-month-old British child who disappeared from the Greek island of KosKosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
on 24 July 1991. It is presumed he was abducted and sold for illegal adoption.
- Carrie Lawson (1991), a young lawyer in Jasper, AlabamaJasper, AlabamaJasper is a city in Walker County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 14,659. As of 2011 the population had was 13,857. The city is the county seat of Walker County, and once ranked among the world's leading producers of coal....
, was kidnapped September 11, 1991 in possibly the most infamously bungled case in FBI history. A ransom demand of $300,000 was made, which was paid by the family. The FBI inserted tracking devices in the money bag and on the delivery person, but both were on the same frequency and the FBI tracked the delivery person, leaving the money drop by mistake. After later getting a break in the case, the FBI went to the home of suspect Jerry Bland, who refused entry, and while retrieving a search warrant left in the car, the suspect retreated inside and shot himself, taking any information on her whereabouts to his grave. Neither she nor her remains were ever found. The ransom money was mostly recovered from the suspect's attic and vehicle.
- Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-BraganzaPrince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-BraganzaPrince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza is a member of the Brazilian Imperial Family. According to the claims of the Petrópolis branch, he is the current Prince Imperial of Brazil and therefore first in line of succession to the defunct Brazilian throne.-Biography:He was born in Petrópolis the son...
(1992) was kidnapped on 26 May 1992 while on his way to school in Petrópolis, Brazil at the age of 13. He was rescued by police a week later from the house in a Rio suburb where he was being held.
- Sara Ann Wood (1993) was a 12-year-old girl who disappeared on a quiet road near her Frankfort, New York, home on August 18, 1993. Lewis Lent, a janitor from MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and killing Sara, but he refused to say where he buried her body. Lent had also pled guilty to the 1990 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Pittsfield, MassachusettsPittsfield, MassachusettsPittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
native Jimmy Bernardo. Lent abducted Jimmy from the Pittsfield movie theater where Lent worked as a janitor. He was sentenced to life without parole for the Bernardo murder and sentenced to 25 years-to-life for the Wood murder. He is currently in prison in Massachusetts. Lent is also suspected in a number of other child kidnapping cases. Lent recanted his confession and refuses to disclose the location of Sara's body. Lent has said that he can't say where her body is because she is not buried alone. It has been speculated that Lent did not act on his own and that his accomplice(s) are still at large.
- Polly KlaasPolly KlaasPolly Hannah Klaas was an American murder victim whose case gained national attention. At the age of twelve, she was kidnapped at knife point from her mother's home during a slumber party in Petaluma, California, on October 1, 1993. She was later strangled...
(1993) was kidnapped by Richard Allen DavisRichard Allen DavisRichard Allen Davis is a convicted murderer, whose criminal record fueled support for passage of California's "Three strikes law" for repeat offenders...
in Petaluma, CaliforniaPetaluma, CaliforniaPetaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
, on October 1, 1993, and later strangled by the criminal. Davis's car got stuck in the mud a few miles from Polly's house. A helpful local police officer pulled him out of the mud but did not query his license number with the police computer system, nor did he hear the BOLO (be on the lookout) broadcast to all CHP radios reporting that Davis was wanted for a parole violation. Davis has been convicted of kidnapping and first-degree murder and sentenced to death. BOLOs are now broadcast to all police radios: state, county, and municipal.
- Mindy Tran (1994) was eight years old when she disappeared from her neighbourhood in August 1994, just after supper. She rode her bike down her quiet Kelowna, B.C.KelownaKelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
street and vanished. Hundreds of people searched for the girl but her body wasn't found until six weeks later when a man with a divining rod led police to a shallow grave near her parents' home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
- Morgan NickMorgan NickMorgan Chauntel Nick was an American girl who was abducted at a Little League Baseball game. Her mother is known for creating the Morgan Nick Foundation, which helps people find their missing children.- Disappearance :...
(1995) was a six year old girl who disappeared on June 9, 1995, while she was at a baseball game with her mother in Alma, ArkansasAlma, ArkansasAlma is a city in Crawford County located in the western part of U.S. state of Arkansas, along I-40 about 13 miles from the Oklahoma border. Alma's population is 4,734, making it the sixth largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. She was last seen at her car after catching fireflies with her friends, and she was also seen talking to a man who police believe was her abductor. She has not been found, but her mother started a foundation to help families with missing children.
- Amber HagermanAmber HagermanAmber Rene Hagerman was a young girl who became a victim of an abduction and murder. On January 13, 1996, she was riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington, Texas, and was kidnapped soon thereafter...
(1996) was kidnapped on January 13, 1996, in Texas while riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington Texas. She was found four days later by a hiker and his dog, naked in a creek bed. An autopsy revealed she had been alive two days, was raped and then her throat was slit. Although a $75,000 reward was offered for information leading to Amber's killer, he was never found. The task force investigating Amber's murder was dissolved in June 1997. Her murder inspired the creation of the AMBER AlertAMBER AlertAn AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
system.
- Sabine DardenneSabine DardenneSabine Dardenne is a Belgian woman who was kidnapped at the age of twelve by pedophile and serial killer Marc Dutroux. Dardenne was one of Dutroux's last two victims...
(1996) is a Belgian woman who was kidnapped and raped at age 12 by serial killer Marc DutrouxMarc DutrouxMarc Dutroux is a Belgian serial killer and child molester, convicted of having kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls during 1995 and 1996, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom he murdered. He was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein,...
on 28 May 1996 while on her way to school. She was rescued after 80 days, on 15 August 1996 together with 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez, who had also been kidnapped.
- Laetitia Delhez (1996) is a Belgian woman who was kidnapped and raped at age fourteen by serial killer Marc DutrouxMarc DutrouxMarc Dutroux is a Belgian serial killer and child molester, convicted of having kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls during 1995 and 1996, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom he murdered. He was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein,...
on 9 August 1996 in BertrixBertrixBertrix is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg.On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 137.7 km², had 8,164 inhabitants, giving a population density of 59.3 inhabitants per km²....
. Another of his victims, Sabine Dardenne, had requested a companion because she felt so alone. They were rescued on 15 August 1996.
- Walter KwokWalter KwokKwok Ping-sheung, Walter JP is the eldest son of Kwok Tak Seng and Kwong Siu-hing...
(1997) was kidnapped by the notorious gangster "Big Spender" Cheung Chi KeungCheung Chi KeungCheung Tze-keung was a notorious Hong Kong gangster also known as "the Big Spender" . He was a kidnapper, robber, arms smuggler and was wanted for murder...
on September 30, 1997 and was released seven days later without police intervention. Following his arrest in Guangzhou in 1998, Cheung confessed that he had put Kwok in a wooden container blindfolded for four days, and fed him regular meals of roast pork with rice, until the ransom of some HK$600 million was paid.
- Delimar Vera Cuevas (1997) was a ten-day-old baby when she disappeared around a fire outbreak on December 15, 1997. Six years later, her mother was very surprised to discover her at a birthday party. The accused kidnapper Carolyn Correa gave her the child.
- Natascha KampuschNatascha KampuschNatascha Maria Kampusch is an Austrian television hostess mostly known for her abduction at the age of 10 on 2 March 1998. Kampusch was held in a secret cellar by her kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil for more than eight years, until she escaped on 23 August 2006...
(1998) is an AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n television hostess mostly known for her abduction at the age of ten on 2 March 1998. Kampusch was held in a secret cellar by her kidnapper Wolfgang PriklopilWolfgang PriklopilWolfgang Priklopil was an Austrian communications technician. In 1998, he kidnapped 10-year-old Natascha Kampusch and held her for eight years, committing suicide after she escaped....
for more than eight years, until she escaped on 23 August 2006.
- Leszli KálliLeszli KálliLeszli Kálli is a Colombian-born author who was kidnapped and held for slightly more than a year by Colombian leftist guerrillas. The diary she kept to record her experiences was published in February, 2007.-Biography:...
(1999), a ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n-born author who was kidnapped on 12 April 1999, by virtue of the hijacking of the plane she was on. She was held for slightly more than a year by Colombian leftistLeft-wing politicsIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
guerrillas together with her father and the other passengers. She eventually published a novel about her experiences.
- Hans van de KimmenadeHans van de KimmenadeJoannes Rafaël Maria van de Kimmenade is from the Dutch Van de Kimmenade family. This family is well known for their holdings in the textile industry....
(1999). A group of at least four armed (allegedly Arabian) men kidnapped the 18-year-old son of wealthy industrials from his estate in HelmondHelmondHelmond is a municipality and a city in the province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands.- Quarters and Neighbourhoods :*Quarter 11 Inner City**Neighbourhood 0 Centrum**Neighbourhood 2 Leonardus**Neighbourhood 3 Heipoort...
(the Netherlands) on May 3, 1999. After the case received much media attention, Van de Kimmenade was dropped off at a waterschap within 48 hours. No reason was given for his release. After months of research, the case appeared unsolvable.
- Rolandito Salas Jusino (1999), playing, allegedly unsupervised, in a community park next to his house's backyard in the city of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, disappeared on July 7, 1999. He was never found.
- Anne Sluti (2001), an American teenager from Nebraska, was kidnapped from a mall parking lot in April 2001, by Anthony Steven "Tony Zappa" Wright, taken out of state and raped for six days before being rescued.
- Ingrid BetancourtÍngrid BetancourtIngrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist.Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on 23 February 2002 and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008...
(2002), ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n presidential candidate, was kidnapped on 23 February 2002 by the FARCRevolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaThe Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
movement. She was freed in 2008.
- Elizabeth SmartElizabeth Smart kidnappingThe kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart occurred on June 5, 2002, when 14-year-old American girl Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah, bedroom...
(2002) was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City bedroom on 5 June 2002 and was found alive nine months later in a suburb of Salt Lake City on 12 March 2003.
- Arjan ErkelArjan ErkelPeter-Arjan Erkel is a Dutch medical aid worker and was head of the relief mission for Médecins Sans Frontières in Dagestan, a constituent republic of Russia....
(2002), a then-32-year-old medical aid worker for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), was kidnapped in ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
on 12 August 2002. Twenty months later he was released after the Dutch government paid a ransom of €1,000,000.
- Shawn Hornbeck (2002) was abducted at age eleven on October 6, 2002 when he was kidnapped while riding his bicycle near his home in Richwoods, Missouri. He was missing for over four years before found alive at the age of 15 on 12 January 2007. 13-year-old Ben Ownby was found with him after having been missing for five days.
- Daniel MorcombeDaniel MorcombeDaniel James Morcombe was a 13-year-old Australian boy who was abducted from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, on 7 December 2003. In August 2011 Brett Peter Cowan, a former Sunshine Coast resident, was charged with Morcombe's murder...
(2003) was abducted at the age of 13 on December 7, 2003 while waiting to catch a bus under an overpassOverpassAn overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
in Sunshine Coast, QueenslandSunshine Coast, QueenslandThe Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. A man was charged in August 2011 for Daniel's abduction and murder before search teams began searching remote bushlands near the Glass House Mountains for his body. Skeletal remains were eventually found and DNA tests confirmed that the bones belonged to Daniel.
- James BrandonJames BrandonJames Brandon is a British journalist, most recently working in Iraq freelance on assignment from the Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman, covering the occupation and insurgency...
(2004) was kidnapped in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 2004, and released a few days later.
- RahulRahul Missing CaseRahul Missing case concerns a seven year old boy, who went missing on 18 May 2005, while playing with friends in his neighborhood near Alappuzha in Kerala, India...
(2005), a seven-year-old boy, disappeared on 18 May 2005 in AlappuzhaAlappuzhaAlappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
, KeralaKeralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India. The local police and the CBICentral Bureau of InvestigationThe Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
have not found any tangible evidence.
- Claudia MelchersClaudia MelchersClaudia Melchers is the Dutch head of a cooking company called CMC Catering. She is the daughter of Hans Melchers a wealthy Dutch businessman....
(2005), in the Netherlands. A group of armed men broke into her house on September 12, 2005, tying up her husband and children before taking Claudia with them. The motive is unknown, although it is suspected that it was done to demand a large ransom, as her father Hans MelchersHans MelchersHans Daniel Melchers is a Dutch businessman. Melchers founded Melchemie Holland BV, and is major shareholder in HAL Investments BV. With a total capital of Euro 460 million, Melchers reached a 36th spot in the 2005 edition of the Quote 500-list of the most wealthy Dutch. His daughter, Claudia,...
is one of the richest citizens of The Netherlands.
- Taylor BehlTaylor BehlTaylor Marie Behl was a 17 year-old college freshman from Vienna, Virginia. She moved to Richmond, Virginia, in August 2005 to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. About two weeks later on Labor Day, September 5, 2005, Behl disappeared. Acting on a tip one month later, VCU police located her...
(2005), a 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
freshman found dead on 5 October 2005, in Mathews County, VirginiaMathews County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2010, there were 8,978 people, 3,932 households, and 2,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 108 people per square mile . There were 5,333 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
, after having gone missing on 5 September 2005
- Cristina Rios Valladares and her two children (2005) were kidnapped on October 19, 2005 and freed after 52 days. Florence CassezFlorence CassezFlorence Marie Louise Cassez Crepin is a French woman convicted in Mexico of belonging to the kidnapping gang Los Zodiaco . She is currently serving a 60-year sentence for the crimes of kidnapping, organized crime, and illegal possession of firearms...
is currently serving a 61-year sentence for this abduction, although some people in France believe she was innocent.
- Madeleine McCannDisappearance of Madeleine McCannMadeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007. She was on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The British girl went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luz, a few days before her fourth...
(2007), a British girl that disappeared in May 2007 (aged three years and eleven months) from a holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal. Her parents were out eating at a bar with friends leaving Madeleine and her two younger siblings alone in the apartment. She has not been found yet.
- Sergio GomezSergio GómezPaulo Sergio Gómez Sánchez , better known as Sergio Gómez, was a Mexican singer who was the founder and lead vocalist of the duranguense group K-Paz de la Sierra.-Biography:...
(2007) was kidnapped on December 2, 2007, by two businessmen and murdered the next day.
- Khan Kakama (2008) was kidnapped from Bugolobi, an affluent suburb in UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
's capital KampalaKampalaKampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, in 2008, and murdered in June 2010. He was handed to the kidnappers by Molly Nabasa, his Nanny. His parents, Sven and Naome Karekaho are middle class citizens working for Uganda Revenue Authority and National Environmental Management Authority Respectiively. Godwin Tumusiime, Brian Sajjabi and Molly Nabasa are currently facing trial for His murder and kidnap.
- Naga VaishnaviNaga VaishnaviNaga Vaishnavi , was the daughter of Palagani Prabhakara Rao, a noted businessman in Andhra Pradesh, and his second wife Narmada. Vaishnavi was kidnapped on January 30, 2010, and murdered by her kidnappers on February 2 of that same year. That incident caused tremendous shock for her father,...
(2010) was kidnapped as a nine-year-old on January 30, and murdered on February 2, 2010, by the criminals.
- Leiby KletzkyMurder of Leiby KletzkyLeiby Kletzky was an American murder victim. The Hasidic Jewish boy was kidnapped on Monday, July 11, 2011, as he walked home from his school day camp in the Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn...
(2011) was kidnapped on his way home from day camp in the HasidicHasidic JudaismHasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
Jewish neighborhood of Boro ParkBorough Park, BrooklynBorough Park , is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States....
, New York. The alleged killer was apprehended 32 hours later; he confessed to killing the boy and dismemberingDismembermentDismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
his body, but pleaded not guilty in court. - Lisa Irwin (2011) went missing from her Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
home on October 3, 2011. The case drew large amounts of publicity because of the lack of evidence and her mother, Deborah Bradley's apparent involvement in the incident.
Modern kidnappings of celebrities or their relatives
Kidnappers interested in getting a large ransom or a political effect often target celebrities or their relatives. Here are some of the people affected by these crimes:- Beatriz Adriana: Mexican singer/actress whose son was kidnapped and found dead in TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
. There were rumors that his death was the result of his failure to pay a drug debt, but no such evidence was ever found.
- Cindy BirdsongCindy BirdsongCynthia Ann "Cindy" Birdsong , better known by her stage name, Cindy Birdsong, is an American singer, most famous for singing with the legendary soul groups Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles and The Supremes.-Early life:...
: A member of the Motown supergroup, The SupremesThe SupremesThe Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
. Birdsong was kidnapped in December 1969 at knife-point from her Hollywood apartment and escaped two hours later by jumping from the car at a freeway exit. Charles Collier, the handyman at Birdsong's apartment, was later convicted of the kidnapping.
- Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
: According to a British tabloid, Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
foiled an attempt to kidnap his four year old son in 2006 http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060118063309990019&ncid=NWS00010000000001|1.
- Jorge and Juan Born, (1974), scions of the Bunge y Born business were kidnapped in September by the MontonerosMontonerosMontoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
and only released after the payment of a $60 million ransom.
- Riddick BoweRiddick BoweRiddick Lamont Bowe is a retired American boxer. He is a two-time heavyweight champion and a former undisputed heavyweight champion...
's wife, Julie and his five kids were kidnapped for five days by Bowe himself.
- Jorge Campos (soccer player): His father was kidnapped and later found alive in AcapulcoAcapulcoAcapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Mexico.
- RajkumarRajkumarRajkumar , born as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry...
(born Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju) an actor and singer in Kannada film industry, was kidnapped on from the actor's house at Gajanur in Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
on July 30, 2000, along with his son-in-law Govindaraju and two others. He was released unharmed on November 15, 2000, after 108 days of captivity.
- Julio César ChávezJulio César ChávezJulio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer.He is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years he was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world...
received threatening calls, saying his sons would be kidnapped.
- Françoise ClaustreFrançoise ClaustreFrançoise Claustre , was a French archeologist who was taken hostage by a group of Chadian rebels, led by Hissène Habré, on 20 April 1974, at Bardaï, in the Tibesti Mountains of northern Chad. At the same time, the rebels also seized a German doctor, Christophe Staewen, and Marc Combe, who was an...
: French archaeologist who was kidnapped in ChadChadChad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
by guerillas led by Hissène HabréHissène HabréHissène Habré , also spelled Hissen Habré, was the leader of Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990.-Early life:...
. Her husband, Pierre, was the head of the French foreign aid mission in Chad and he was also taken hostage when he tried to secure her release.
- Adolph Coors IIIAdolph Coors IIIAdolph Coors III was the grandson of Adolph Coors and heir to the Coors beer empire.-Biography:He was born on January 12, 1916 and attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire...
: Heir to the Coors beer fortune. He was found dead.
- Baron Édouard-Jean EmpainÉdouard-Jean EmpainBaron Édouard-Jean Empain is a French-Belgian industrialist, mostly known by the general public for his kidnapping in 1978.Between 1969 and 1981, Baron Empain was CEO of the Schneider group....
: Industrialist who was kidnapped for ransom. His captors cut off one of his fingers in order to bring proof that they held him.
- Alejandro FernándezAlejandro FernándezAlejandro Fernández is a Mexican singer. Nicknamed as "El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Alejandro is the son of the ranchera singer Vicente Fernández. He originally specialized in traditional, earthy forms of Mexican folk music, such as...
: His brother was kidnapped (see Vicente Fernandez).
- Vicente FernandezVicente FernándezVicente Fernández Gómez is a Mexican singer, producer and actor. Known as Chente or El rey de la canción ranchera throughout the Latin world, Vicente Fernández, who started his career singing for tips on the street, has become a cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to...
: The famous Mexican singer's son, Vicente Fernandez Jr., was kidnapped and later released alive.
- John Paul Getty IIIJohn Paul Getty IIIJean Paul Getty III , also known as Paul Getty, was the eldest of the four children of John Paul Getty, Jr. and Abigail , and the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty...
, kidnapped in Italy in 1973. His grandfather, the then world's richest man, American multi-billionaire oil tycoon, J. Paul GettyJ. Paul GettyJean Paul Getty was an American industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American, whilst the 1966 Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1,200 million. At his death, he was...
, refused to pay his $3 million ransom until one of the boy's ears was cut off and sent to a newspaper.
- Eric Peugeot, kidnapped in France in 1960,grandson of French car tycoon Armand PeugeotArmand PeugeotArmand Peugeot was a French industrialist, pioneer of the automobile industry and the founder of the French firm Peugeot.-Family:...
- Susana GiménezSusana GiménezSusana Giménez, née María Susana Giménez Aubert is an Argentine actress, ex-vedette and television host....
: ArgentineArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
divaDivaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
whose boyfriend's father was kidnapped on 8 January 2004. The father was rescued by police a month later.
- Georgiy Gongadze: Prominent UkrainianUkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
journalist kidnapped and later found beheaded in 2000. His disappearance has triggered a major political and diplomatic scandal also involving United States and other Western countries. No details of the crime revealed yet.
- Cordelia Gonzalez: Well-known Puerto Rican actress who has made some Hollywood films; was kidnapped at gunpoint during July 2005. Released after paying ransom.
- Alejandra GuzmánAlejandra GuzmánAlejandra Gabriela Guzmán Pinal , better known as Alejandra Guzmán, is a Latin Grammy Award–winning Mexican rock singer and actress. She has had a dedicated fanbase throughout Latin America since the late 1980s, and is known as the "Queen of Rock" in the Hispanic world...
: The Mexican singing divaDivaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
has received several calls threatening to kidnap her ten year old daughter, because of which she has hired extra security. She always takes her daughter with her on the road.
- William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
: His granddaughter Patty HearstPatty HearstPatricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
was kidnapped by the SLASymbionese Liberation ArmyThe Symbionese Liberation Army was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army...
in 1974. Her father gave $6 million in food to the poor of the Bay Area as ransom, but she was not released. She became part of her captor's group and was later convicted on bank robbery charges.
- Jennifer HudsonJennifer HudsonJennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
: her nephew was kidnapped after her mother and brother were shot to death. He was later found dead.
- Julio IglesiasJulio IglesiasJulio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...
's father was kidnapped in 1985. Found well and alive.
- David LettermanDavid LettermanDavid Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
In 2005, FBI agents and Montana authorities foiled a kidnapping of Letterman's son from his Choteau, MontanaChoteau, MontanaChoteau is a city in and the county seat of Teton County, Montana, United States. It lies along U.S. Routes 89 and 287 about east of the Rocky Mountains, near Flathead National Forest, the Rocky Mountain Division of Lewis and Clark National Forest, and Glacier National Park. The population was...
home.
- Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
: The aviator's two-year old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped in 1932 and was killed. This was among the most famous of modern kidnappings of celebrities' relatives. See Lindbergh kidnappingLindbergh kidnappingThe kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
.
- Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau: First daughter of FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and senator, during a coup against her father. Kidnappers threatened to kill her, but she survived.
- Yoko OnoYoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
: Her second husband Anthony Cox abducted their daughter Kyoko Chan Cox in 1971. Ono and her daughter were finally reunited in 1998, Cox remains in hiding.
- Carlos PesqueraCarlos PesqueraCarlos Ignacio Pesquera Morales Ph.D. is a Puerto Rican civil engineer and former politician. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2000. He is married to Irasema Rivera, an agronomist, and has one son and one daughter...
: Former candidate for governor of Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and president of the PNP partyParty and playParty and play , also known as a chemical session, chem session, or simply as partying, is a phenomenon and subculture of recreational drug users who play together sexually, either one-on-one or in groups....
, held captive for a few hours on July 2004 in Guaynabo, Puerto RicoGuaynabo, Puerto RicoGuaynabo is a municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas; south of Cataño; east of Bayamón; and west of San Juan...
; released after paying captors 1,000 dollars.
- Eric Peugeot, son of Raymond Peugeot, an automobile industry millionaire, was kidnapped at the age of four in 1960 in Paris. He was returned after payment of a ransom, and his kidnappers arrested a few years later.
- Veruska Ramirez, former Miss Venezuela, kidnapped and released three hours later, after signing 15 autographAutographAn autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
s for her captors.
- Ruben Omar RomanoRubén Omar RomanoRubén Omar Romano Cachia is an Argentine-Mexican coach and former football player.Romano played in Argentina for Club Atlético Huracán before leaving for Mexico in 1980 to play for Club América. He played in other 7 Mexican clubs: León, Necaxa, Puebla, Querétaro, Cruz Azul and Atlante and Veracruz...
, Argentine Soccer coach, in Mexico. He was rescued two months later.
- Cesar RosasCesar RosasCésar Rosas is a singer, songwriter and guitarist for Los Lobos. Rosas also participates in the Latin supergroup Los Super Seven. Perhaps the most recognizable member of Los Lobos, Rosas is known for his trademark black sunglasses and slicked-back, black hair. His singing voice is reminiscent of...
: Member of Los LobosLos LobosLos Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
whose wife, Sandra, was kidnapped on 23 October 1999 and later found dead. Gabriel Gomez was accused and sentenced for her kidnapping and murder.
- Rubaiya Sayeed: The kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed was carried out by members of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, on 8 December 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir. Rubaiya was the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the then Home minister of India in the V. P. Singh government. The kidnappers demanded the release of five of their comrades, the government accepted their demands and freed the jailed terrorists. Rubaiya was kidnapped within five days of her father becoming the Minister for Home Affairs (India).
- Hanns-Martin Schleyer: German manager and employer representative. He was kidnapped in Köln in 1977. He was found dead in MulhouseMulhouseMulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, France.
- Frank Sinatra, Jr.Frank Sinatra, Jr.Franklin Wayne Sinatra , professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and conductor....
, son of Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, was kidnapped and released after ransom was paid.
- Karl Maria von Spret: West-Germany's ambassador to GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, was kidnapped in 1970 in Guatemala CityGuatemala CityGuatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
. He was killed.
- Johnny TapiaJohnny TapiaJohn Lee "Johnny" Tapia is a Mexican-American five-time world boxing champion.-Childhood:Johnny Tapia's life began with tragedy. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. At the age of 8, his mother Virginia was kidnapped, raped, hung, repeatedly stabbed, and...
: The world boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion saw his mother raped and kidnapped when he was 8 years old. He was hiding when he witnessed the assault. His mother's body was found on a road days later.
- ThalíaThalíaAriadna Thalía Sodi Miranda , known simply by the mononym Thalía , is a Mexican singer and actress. She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide...
: The Mexican DivaDivaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
's sisters, the also famous actress Laura ZapataLaura ZapataLaura Zapata is a Mexican telenovela actress. She has acted in Televisa productions most of her life.- Family :...
and Ernestina Sodi, were kidnapped. They were both released alive.
- Nikoloz TskitishviliNikoloz TskitishviliNikoloz Tskitishvili is a Georgian professional basketball player. He is a 7'0", 245 lb. forward-center, who was selected 5th overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA Draft.-Pro career:...
: The basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player, a star in his home country (Georgia), had strangers call to his house and threaten to kidnap his brother and mother after it became known he signed a million-dollar contract with the NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Denver NuggetsDenver NuggetsThe Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
. As a consequence, he moved all his family to DenverDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
.
- Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of the Hong Kong tycoon, Li Ka ShingLi Ka ShingSir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE, JP is a Chinese business magnate based in Hong Kong. He is the richest person of East Asian descent in the world and the eleventh richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of US$26.0 billion on 10 March 2011...
: Kidnapped by Cheung Chi KeungCheung Chi KeungCheung Tze-keung was a notorious Hong Kong gangster also known as "the Big Spender" . He was a kidnapper, robber, arms smuggler and was wanted for murder...
, AKA "Big Spender". He was released after the world recordWorld recordA world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
payment of a HK$1Billion (US$134 million) ransom in cash. Cheung was later captured and executed in GuangzhouGuangzhouGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
in 2000.
- Yuri: She was going to be kidnapped, but the plans folded when one of the would be kidnappers left the criminal band that would have committed the act, and told her cousin about the plans.
- Laura ZapataLaura ZapataLaura Zapata is a Mexican telenovela actress. She has acted in Televisa productions most of her life.- Family :...
(See Thalía).
- Jose Antonio Valdez Cazares, Mexican labor attorney kidnapped on September 2009 near his family estate in Jilotepec Estado de Mexico, by alleged members of the La Familia Michoacana cartel, he was released a week after his abduction. An investigation by both the State and Federal Police is ongoing with regards of his captors.
Also of notice is that Dominican
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
actor Andrés García
Andrés García
Andrés García is a Dominican-born Mexican actor. He is known throughout Latin America and among Hispanics in the United States....
announced he doubled his security guard numbers, afraid he and his family could get kidnapped too. On the same line, Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
, world boxing champion at the Flyweight, Jr. Featherweight and Featherweight divisions, has had to hire six security guards who constantly surround him and his family in his home country of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, after receiving kidnap threatening calls from several groups.
This crime is flourishing in poor countries.
Faked kidnappings
- Fairlie Arrow, (1991) a singer in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, went missing for two days and was found tied up in a road in QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. She claimed she had been abducted by a fan but, two weeks later, admitted making up the story to boost her flagging career.
- Tawana BrawleyTawana BrawleyTawana Brawley is an African-American woman from Wappinger, New York. In 1987, at the age of 15, she received national media attention in the United States for accusing six white men, some of whom were police officers, of having raped her...
rape and kidnapping allegations
- Jules Croiset; Dutch actor faked being kidnapped by neo-nazis.
- Joanna Grenside, (1992) an aerobics teacher from HarpendenHarpendenHarpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
, England, who staged her disappearance to avoid ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
.
- Dar HeatheringtonDar HeatheringtonDarlene "Dar" Heatherington is a former Canadian politician who was forced to resign her city council seat in Lethbridge, Alberta in 2004 after being convicted of public mischief.-Reports:...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
city councillor who claimed to have been abducted in MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
- Shannon Matthews, is a BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
girl who disappeared on the afternoon of 19 February 2008 and was later found alive on the 14 March 2008. Karen Matthews, Shannon's mother,who was behind the kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
was charged with child neglectChild neglectChild neglect is defined as:# "the failure of a person responsible for a child’s care and upbringing to safeguard the child’s emotional and physical health and general well-being"...
and perverting the course of justicePerverting the course of justicePerverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
, on 8 April 2008
- Aimee Semple McPhersonAimee Semple McPhersonAimee Semple McPherson , also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles, California evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church...
, evangelist who maintained she was kidnapped while all evidence pointed to the contrary.
- Audrey Seiler, University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
student who faked her own kidnapping in the spring of 2004
- Jennifer WilbanksJennifer WilbanksThe runaway bride case was the case of Jennifer Carol Wilbanks , an American woman who ran away from home on April 26, 2005, in order to avoid her wedding with John Mason, her fiancé, on April 30. Her disappearance from Duluth, Georgia, sparked a nationwide search and intensive media coverage,...
(a.k.a. the Runaway Bride): GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
woman who alleged that she was kidnapped as an excuse for her running away from her own wedding in late April 2005.
- Michele SindonaMichele SindonaMichele Sindona was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due , a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Mafia...
Italy. Fake kidnapping organized by masonic logia P2.
Assumed kidnap conspiracies that turned out to be fake
- Victoria BeckhamVictoria BeckhamVictoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
. A member of the Spice GirlsSpice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
and wife of footballer David BeckhamDavid BeckhamDavid Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
was supposedly planned to be kidnapped on 1 November 2002.
- Jorge Ursino, the alleged illegal immigrant transporter from ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
faked his own kidnapping to collect money by making headlines.
Suspected kidnappings
- Haleigh Cummings; the child, according to news reports from CNN and other major television news sources, was being watched by the girlfriend, later wife, of her father, Ronald Cummings, when she disappeared from the mobile home in Satsuma, Florida in February 2009. Two persons of interest in the still unsolved kidnapping were implicated in a drug sting in January 2010, renewing interest in the case.
- Lady Florence DixieLady Florence DixieLady Florence Caroline Dixie , before her marriage Lady Florence Douglas, was a British traveller, war correspondent, writer and feminist.-Early life:...
- Jimmy HoffaJimmy HoffaJames Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
; many theorize that he was briefly kidnapped and then murdered.
- Helen BrachHelen BrachHelen Vorhees Brach , was an American multi-millionairess widow whose wealth had come from marrying into the E. J. Brach & Sons Candy Company fortune; she endowed the Helen V. Brach Foundation to promote animal welfare in 1974....
; one informer has claimed she was kidnapped after leaving the Mayo ClinicMayo ClinicMayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
, then murdered
- Ben Charles Padilla
- Cédrika Provencher 10 year old girl from Trois-RivièresTrois-RivièresTrois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
, Canada missing since 31 July 2007. She has not yet been found.
- Dru SjodinDru SjodinDru Katrina Sjodin , a student of the University of North Dakota and a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, was a murder victim...
. The American college student seems to have been abducted on November 22, 2003, and was found dead on 17 April 2004.
- Jiang YanyongJiang YanyongJiang Yanyong is a Chinese physician from Beijing who publicized a coverup of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic in China. Jiang was the chief physician of the 301 Military Hospital in Beijing a senior member of the Communist Party of China.-Introduction:In 1989, Dr. Jiang was the...
- Cecilia Zhang
- Hassani Campbell; 5 year-old boy with cerebral palsy went missing in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
on August 10, 2009. Hassani's foster father Louis Ross said he left Hassani waiting at the back of the shoe store where Hassani's Aunt Jennifer Campbell worked while he went around to the front of the store with Hassani's younger sister.
Kidnapping in lieu of extradition
- See main article: Extradition and abduction
- Jabez BalfourJabez BalfourJabez Spencer Balfour was a businessman, British Liberal Party politician and fraudster.-Life:He was the son of James Balfour and Clara Lucas Balfour....
from ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to the United Kingdom in 1895
- Ronnie BiggsRonnie BiggsRonald Arthur "Ronnie" Biggs is an English criminal, known for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, for his escape from prison in 1965, for living as a fugitive for 36 years and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, he voluntarily returned to the United Kingdom and...
from BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
by independent bounty hunters in 1981
- Adolf EichmannAdolf EichmannAdolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
, NaziNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
war criminal, abducted in 1960 by MossadMossadThe Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
in ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and brought back to IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to stand trial for crimes against humanity. He was convicted in 1961 and hangedHangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in 1962.
- Mir Aimal Kansi from Pakistan by the CIA in 1997
- Andrew LusterAndrew LusterAndrew Stuart Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor, Sr. and an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He grew up in Malibu, California and attended Windward School in Santa Monica. Luster had been supported by a $3.1 million trust fund as he traveled and surfed at various...
from Mexico to United States by Duane ChapmanDuane ChapmanDuane Lee "Dog" Chapman, Sr. is an American bounty hunter and a former bail bondsman. He stars in Dog the Bounty Hunter, a weekly reality television program which is broadcast on the A&E Network , FOX8 and GO! , OLN and A&E Network , MAX and RTL II .Chapman claims he has made more than 6,000...
("Dog the Bounty Hunter") in 2003
- Alvarez-Machain from Mexico by the United States Drug Enforcement AdministrationDrug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
- Martin MubangaMartin MubangaMartin Mubanga is a joint citizen of both the United Kingdom and Zambia. He was held, without charge, and interrogated at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay for 33 months....
from ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
to Guantanamo BayGuantanamo Bay detainment campThe Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
by the United States in 2002
- Hassan Mustafa Osama NasrHassan Mustafa Osama NasrHassan Mustafa Osama Nasr , also known as Abu Omar, is an Egyptian cleric. In 2003 he was living in Milan, Italy, from where he was kidnapped and allegedly later tortured in Egypt. This "Imam rapito affair" prompted a series of investigations in Italy, culminating in the criminal convictions of...
from Italy to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
by the CIA in 2005
- Morton SobellMorton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
from Mexico to the United States in 1950
- Mordechai VanunuMordechai VanunuMordechai Vanunu ; is a former Israeli nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by a Mossad agent, where he was drugged and kidnapped by...
from Italy by IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1986