Among a recent series of crimes, there has been one crime whose incidence has risen sharply lately. That area is the
kidnapping of famous people's relatives. This is because the criminals believe that celebrities have a lot of money to spend in order to random their loved ones.
This isn't a new crime: The first celebrity to have a relative kidnapped was Charles Lindbergh, whose son was kidnapped and then found dead.
Among the famous people and their relatives affected by these crimes:
- Beatriz Adriana[?]. The Mexican actress's son was kidnapped and found dead in Tijuana. While rumors abounded that her son's death was due to a drug debt, no evidence of that was ever found.
- Julio Iglesias's father was kidnapped in 1985. Found well and alive.
- Julio Cesar Chavez received threatening calls, saying his sons would be kidnapped.
- Jorge Campos[?] (soccer player). His father was kidnapped and later found alive in Acapulco, Mexico.
- Vicente Fernandez[?]. The famous Mexican singer's son, Vicente Fernandez Jr.[?], was kidnapped and later released alive.
- John Paul Getty III[?], kidnapped in Italy in 1973. His grandfather, the then world?s richest man, American multi-billionaire oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty, refused to pay his $3 million ransom until one of the boy's ears was cut off and sent to a newspaper.
- Charles Lindbergh. The aviator's two-year old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped in 1932, and was killed.
- William Randolph Hearst. His granddaughter Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the SLA 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.
- Thalia. The Mexican Diva's sister, the also famous actress Laura Zapata[?] and another unidentified sister, were kidnapped. They were both recently released.
- Laura Zapata[?] (See Thalia).
- Nikoloz Tskitishvili[?]. The basketball 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 NBA's Denver Nuggets. As a consequence, he moved all his family to Denver.
- Joseph Bonanno The crime family leader was kidnapped by his own enforcer, along with his lawyer. Forced to make economic and retirement agreements with other mafia bosses, he and his lawyer were let go alive.
- Johnny Tapia The world boxing champion saw his mother raped and kidnapped when he was 8 years old. He was hiding when he saw that. His mother's body was found on a road days later.
- Alejandra Guzman The Mexican singing diva 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.
- Yuri (singer) 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.
- Jorge and Juan Born, scions of the Bunge y Born business were kidnapped in September 1974 by the Montoneros and only released after the payment of a $60 million ransom.
- Cesar Rosas[?] the wife of the member of Los Lobos was kidnapped on October 23, 1999, and never found again. Gabriel Gomez[?] was accused and sentenced for her kidnapping and murder.
- Aldo Moro
- Gerrit Jan Heijn, Dutch top executive of Ahold[?], brother of Albert Heijn; kidnapped and killed in 1987 by Ferry E.; after that Ferry E. pretended that his victim was still alive and asked 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 free now; it was frowned upon that after his release he received over 300,000 euro back-payment of disability benefits for the time he was in prison (rules have changed now, this would no longer be possible).
- Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of the Hong Kong tycoon, Li Ka shing[?]; kidnapped by Cheung Tze-keung, AKA "Big Spender". He was released after the world record payment of a US$134 million ransom in cash. Cheung was later captured and executed in mainland China in 2000.
Also of notice is that Dominican actor Andres Garcia[?] announced he doubled his security guard numbers, afraid he and his family could get kidnapped too.
This crime is flourishing in poor countries, where the economic situation can drive people to desperate measures.