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One week after Ecuadorian soccer player Jackson Rodríguez’s wife and 5-year-old were abducted from their home in the middle of the night, they have been freed, local police said.
Soccer Player Jackson Rodríguez’s Wife, 5-Year-Old Child Kidnapped During Home Invasion
Jackson Rodríguez’s family is safe and sound.
Days after the Ecuadorian soccer player’s wife and 5-year-old child were abducted from their Guayaquil home in the early hours of the morning April 23 amid a home invasion, they have been freed, local police officials said in a statement to ESPN April 25.
Rodríguez’s soccer club, Club Sport Emelec, also released a statement confirming the individuals were safe.
“We are grateful for the effective investigative and operational work of the national police, which led to the release of his loved ones, who were kidnapped in the early hours of Wednesday, April 23,” the statement, shared to X April 24. “Both victims are safe and sound. Club Sport Emelec asks that the privacy of the family be respected at this time.”
Police commander Pablo Dávila confirmed to CBS that Rodríguez’s wife and child received medical attention upon their rescue and were “safe.” He also noted that the kidnappers demanded $50,000 for the release of their victims, but the family refused to pay.
The incident that saw Rodríguez’s wife, 24, and child abducted occurred at around 3:30 a.m. on April 23. Rodríguez, 26, told police in a statement, per the Associated Press, that he had hidden under a bed in their residence when he heard their door being broken down.
He also stated that he heard the intruders—who were traveling in a gray double-cap pickup truck—ask his wife if he was in the house.
E! News had previously reached out to local officials regarding the incident and has not yet heard back.
Martín Fonseca/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Ecuador is currently in a state of emergency—which was placed just 10 days before Rodríguez’s home invasion—for seven of its 24 provinces, including Guayas, where Guayaquil is located, per CBS. The country said, per the outlet, that it was necessary to combat the “dramatic rise” in drug-related violence.
Daniel Noboa, the president of the South American country, stated that the measure was necessary as Ecuador has had the most violent year ever, averaging a killing every hour, per CBS.
As Noboa—who won reelection April 13—said in his statement enforcing the measure was to fight the “increase in violence, serious crime, and the intense unlawful activities of organized armed groups.”
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