Story By: Jonathan Macias, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A New-York businessman who was kidnapped in Arizona has now been rescued from the boot of a car across the border in Mexico after an FBI hunt.
The Sonora General Attorneys Office announced on Monday on his Twitter account that Luis Rampon, no age reported, a businessman from the Dominican Republic who lives in New York, had been rescued in the city of Hermosillo in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico.
The businessman had reportedly been abducted in the city of Eloy about 50 miles northwest of Tucson in the state of Arizona in the United States and then crossed the border between the two countries in the boot of a car.
An investigation launched by the FBI on 27th October led them to ask for the collaboration of the Sonora Attorney General’s Office in Mexico.
The abductors reportedly contacted the victim’s brother to ask him for a 500,000-USD (387,307-GBP) ransom and the sibling reportedly answered he would try to raise 350,000 USD (271,115 GBP) by selling part of his assets.
The office worked with the Criminal Investigation Office (AMIC) and The Unit Specialised in Kidnapping (UECS) and they located a 2009 Honda vehicle in Hermosillo which they believe was used in the kidnapping.
The victim was found uninjured in the trunk of the vehicle where he had allegedly travelled through the Mexican-United State border.
A man identified as Jose Antonio from the Mexican city of Chihuahua in north-western Mexico was arrested as one of the alleged abductors while a .45-calibre was also found in the car.
The Sonora General Attorney’s Office launched an investigation into kidnapping and gun possession and the case was also transferred the Mexican Attorney General’s Office (FGR) which contacted the family of the victims. No more arrests have been reported.
It is unclear if the suspect has been charged.
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