Lost Dog Held for $10K Ransom
An elderly man went out for a walk with his dog, on the way home, the dog disappeared. A friend helped him make some Lost Dog posters and he waited by the phone for some good samaritan to return his only companion.
Instead, he got a call from someone demanding $10,000 or he'd never see his dog again. He gathered up half of his savings and went to pay the ransom. The dognapper brandished a knife, took the money and said the dog was tied up to a post nearby. It wasn't.
He went home brokenhearted until he heard a car door slam outside and his dog came running up to greet him. Now he wonders if the dognappers were putting him on the whole time.
posted by fenriq on Jul 30, 2004 - 24 comments

Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped From Democracy Now: Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. "He did not resign.... He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president. Will this revolution be televised? (Accounts in ogg and mp3)
posted by ao4047 on Mar 1, 2004 - 105 comments

They vanished in a variety of circumstances. A 52-year-old security man disappeared from an inn; a 22-year-old bar hostess went missing after dropping off her children at a day-care center; two college students on summer vacation went missing near a beach; an engaged couple disappeared after apparently stopping at a seaside lookout. They lived and died with their kidnappers.
posted by i blame your mother on Sep 18, 2002 - 24 comments

The latest on the WSJ Reporter ... Damn. "The group that claims it has kidnapped a Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan has sent e-mail to news organisations threatening to kill him within 24 hours unless the U.S. government released Pakistani prisoners held in the Afghan war."
posted by MidasMulligan on Jan 30, 2002 - 20 comments