Vi Ripken kidnapping ends safely
Cal Ripken Jr. walks with his mother, Vi Ripken, during his retirement ceremony on Oct. 6, 2001, at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland.
Vi Ripken’s kidnapping ended peacefully early Wednesday morning when police found her nearly 24 hours after she was abducted from her Maryland home at gunpoint, police said.
Someone appeared at Ripken’s Harford County home early Tuesday morning and forced her into her car.
Her abductor then drove the 74-year-old Ripken around Baltimore before freeing her just after 6 am today near her home.
“This has been a very trying time for our family, but we are grateful and relieved that mom is back with us, safe and healthy,” a Ripken family statement said.
“We want to thank everyone for their tremendous support, especially all of the law enforcement agencies that worked so hard and quickly.”
Ripken’s sons, Cal Jr. and Billy, both played baseball for the Baltimore Orioles with their dad, Cal Sr., as manager.
Cal Jr. set the Major League record for most consecutive games, and Cal Sr. died in 1999.
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Police described the suspect as a thin, Caucasian man in his late 30s or early 40s.
The FBI is helping local police search for a suspect, and said they have no idea about a motive.
“The fact that she was returned, the fact that he brought her back to the house — there’s a lot of things that are not normal abduction-type stuff,” a police source told the Baltimore Sun.
WBAL radio reported the man was in Ripken’s garage on Tuesday.
Sources told the radio station that the suspect tied up and blindfolded Ripken, who was in the car’s backseat.
A resident happened upon the car, took the license plate number and called police.
The suspect told the witness that his mother was having a seizure and he was taking her to hospital, WBAL said.
Authorities told media that no ransom demand was made, but Ripken's credit cards had been used.
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