List of Kidnappings - Modern Kidnappings of Celebrities or Their Relatives

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 Tijuana; there were unproved rumors that his death was the result of his failure to pay a drug debt.

• Cindy Birdsong: A member of the Motown supergroup, The Supremes. Birdsong was kidnapped in December 1969, aged 30, 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.

• Jorge and Juan Born (1974), scions of the Bunge y Born business were kidnapped in September by the Montoneros and only released after the payment of a $60 million ransom.

• Riddick Bowe kidnapped his wife, Julie and their five children for five days.

• Jorge Campos (soccer player): His father was kidnapped and later found alive in Acapulco, Mexico.

• Rajkumar (born Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju) an actor and singer in Kannada film industry, was kidnapped on from the actor's house at Gajanur in Tamil Nadu on 30 July 2000, along with his son-in-law Govindaraju and two others. He was released unharmed on 15 November 2000, after 108 days of captivity.

• Françoise Claustre: French archaeologist who was kidnapped in Chad by guerillas led by Hissène Habré. 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 III: Heir to the Coors beer fortune; he was found dead.

• Baron Édouard-Jean Empain: Industrialist who was kidnapped for ransom. His captors cut off one of his fingers in order to bring proof that they held him.

• Vicente Fernández Jr., son of the famous Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez, 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.

• Georgiy Gongadze: Prominent Ukrainian 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: Puerto Rican actress who has made some Hollywood films; was kidnapped at gunpoint during July 2005; released after paying ransom.

• 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.

• Jennifer Hudson: Her nephew was kidnapped after her mother and brother were shot to death. He was later found dead.

• Julio Iglesias: His father was kidnapped in 1985 but found alive and healthy.

• David Letterman: In 2005, FBI agents and Montana authorities foiled a kidnapping of Letterman's son from his Choteau, Montana home.

• Charles Lindbergh: The aviator's two-year old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped in 1932 and was killed. Bruno Hauptmann was arrested and executed for the crime, but concerns remain regarding Hauptmann's guilt and the fairness of the trial (see Lindbergh kidnapping).

• Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau: First daughter of Fiji and senator, during a coup against her father. Kidnappers threatened to kill her, but she survived.

• Yoko Ono: 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 Pesquera: Former candidate for governor of Puerto Rico and president of the PNP party, held captive for a few hours on July 2004 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; released after paying captors 1,000 U.S. dollars.

• Eric Peugeot, son of Raymond Peugeot, grandson of Armand Peugeot, of the Peugeot family that founded the eponymous industry group, best known for its automobile and scooters, 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. {date=May 2012}

• Veruska Ramirez, former Miss Venezuela, kidnapped and released three hours later after signing fifteen (15) autographs for her captors.

• Ruben Omar Romano, Argentine soccer coach, was kidnapped in Mexico but rescued two months later.

• Cesar Rosas: Member of Los Lobos 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 Mulhouse, France.

• Frank Sinatra, Jr., son of Frank Sinatra, was kidnapped and released after ransom was paid.

• Karl von Spreti: West-Germany's ambassador to Guatemala, was kidnapped in 1970 in Guatemala City and later murdered.

• Johnny Tapia: The world boxing 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.

• Thalía: The Mexican diva's sisters, Ernestina Sodi and actress Laura Zapata, were kidnapped but later both released alive.

• 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.

• Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of the Hong Kong tycoon, Li Ka Shing: Kidnapped by Cheung Chi Keung, AKA "Big Spender". He was released after the world record payment of a HK$ 1,000,000,000 (US$ 134,000,000) ransom. Cheung was later captured and executed in Guangzhou in 2000.

• 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 state and federal police is ongoing regarding the captors.