The 11-year-old son and brother-in-law of Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba have been released within hours of their kidnapping in Venezuela.
Police in Venezuela said the pair was abducted on their way to the boy’s school and that the kidnappers demanded US$466,000 in ransom. Wilmer Flores Trossel, the director of Venezuela’s federal police, said no ransom was paid.
It was not immediately clear if the kidnappers released the pair or whether they were rescued.
Flores Trossel said the two were kidnapped and released on Wednesday, but the Rockies said Torrealba learned of the abduction on Tuesday. The contradiction could not immediately be reconciled.
No arrests have been made, but Flores Trossel said investigators have identified six suspects.
Torrealba’s son, Yorvit Eduardo, turns 12 next month. The name of Torrealba’s brother-in-law wasn’t immediately released.
Torrealba left the team in Houston when he learned of the abduction and flew to Venezuela.
Rockies president Keli McGregor said the team was relieved by the outcome and was standing by Torrealba.
“Yorvit knows that he can take the time he needs and will rejoin the club when the time is right,” McGregor said in a statement.
In South American countries such as Venezuela, home to dozens of Major League Baseball players, the families of wealthy athletes are often kidnapped in hopes of getting a hefty ransom. The mother of former pitcher Ugueth Urbina spent more than five months in captivity until she was rescued in early 2005.
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