CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The government sent top investigators Thursday to hunt for Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, whose abduction has shaken Venezuela’s elite athletes and focused attention on the nation’s sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom.
The 24-year-old player, who had returned to Venezuela after his rookie season, was just outside the front door at his home in the town of Santa Ines on Wednesday night when an SUV approached, armed men got out “and they took him away,” said Ramos’ agent, Gustavo Marcano.
It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, though the relatives of some ballplayers have previously been held captive for ransom.
Police found the kidnappers’ vehicle abandoned in the nearby town of Bejuma on Thursday morning, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said.
He said anti-kidnapping units led by “the best investigators we have” were dispatched to the area in central Carabobo state.
He vowed to rescue Ramos.ductors.