The mother of former Major League Baseball pitcher Victor Zambrano was rescued after a three-day kidnapping ordeal, Venezuelan authorities said on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Mendez Zambrano, 56, was rescued late on Tuesday during a “commando-style operation” in the central state of Aragua, federal police chief Wilmer Flores Trosel said.
Zambrano, who enjoyed a seven-year Major League career to 2007, said having his mother alongside him again was a “great joy.”
“I never thought we could be together again so soon,” he told reporters.
Trosel said Mendez Zambrano was held in a makeshift dwelling near a highway, where she was only once offered food.
Three men have been detained, including two brothers and one man wanted for homicide, Trosel said.
He said a fourth suspect has been identified, a 24-year-old man wanted nationally for homicide and robbery.
Police said seven armed men burst into Mendez Zambrano’s home at her son’s farm near Maracay on Sunday morning and kidnapped her because they didn’t find large amounts of cash and jewelry.
Zambrano’s mother was abducted nine days after the former big league pitcher’s cousin, Richard Mendez Zambrano, was kidnapped and later killed. Police have declined to comment on whether the two incidents were related.
Crime is rampant in Venezuela and the families of wealthy athletes are periodically targeted by criminals.
Another former MLB player, Jose Castillo, was attacked by armed men on motorcycles as he left his luxury hotel in a taxi on Tuesday.
“They stopped the car and those accompanying them entered with two guns, and pointed them at me so that I’d give them my gold chain and wedding ring,” Castillo said.
Castillo, who played in the MLB from 2004 until last year, plays for the Caracas Lions.
In June, Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s son and brother-in-law were kidnapped and released a day later.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite