snip
The "New York Minute" is now almost two weeks and the party from whom payment might be exhorted is a middle-class family and not an oil company. Anecdotal evidence from 20 years ago does not guarantee applicability in 2013. Interesting point, though.
All we really have is anecdotal evidence. The majority of kidnappings for ransom go unreported. The number of Americans kidnapped is small enough that it is impossible to truly get scientific data.
First, they kidnap.
Then they transport.
Then they figure out who they have and how much they can get for them.
(there was a case where a man had a company badge on that said "CIAT" and it took him weeks to convince his abductors that didn't mean he was in the CIA)
Then they decide WHO to ask for the ransom.
Then they ask for ransom.
Now, given the high visibility of this case, they may be a bit panicked and wondering what to do.
Here are some examples of Americans, Aussies, Brits and Canadians getting abducted. (I've lumped them together, because, they are in a way, all very similar. Of European descent (aka white), speak English and come from countries were even the poor people make more money than the average Ecuadorian.
Hope this gives you a bit of insight into the troubles in the region. Personally, I'd be thrilled if he walked away, because that would mean he was safe. But I just can't buy that. I'm midway between "chased a monkey into the forest and fell" and "met with foul play/kidnapped"
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The New Tribes Missionaries that were kidnapped (by a Colombian organization in a remote archipelago in Panama) in January of 1993. They did ask for ransom, however, they cut off all negotiations regarding the missionaries in Dec 1993. Subsequent investigations found that they were likely killed in 1996. That means they held them for at least 2 years following the stop of negotiations.
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This is a kidnapping of 6 Americans and several others in Ecuador by the Colombian group FARC
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/six-americans-kidnapped-ecuador
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An Israeli-American kidnapped in 2012 in Ecuador
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4265399,00.html
He was rescued a few days later but was equipped with a tracking device that gave his location every 10 minutes.
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From:
https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13476
"Kidnappings have occurred along the northern border with Colombia, and foreigners have been targeted. Kidnappings are more often economically rather than politically motivated. At least 13 U.S. citizens are known to have been victims of kidnapping in this region in the past 12 years. Since 1998, at least 13 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in Ecuador. In October 2009, an American citizen was kidnapped in Tulcan and held for ransom. After 21 days, the victim was rescued after an intensive investigation involving Ecuadorian, Colombian, and U.S. law enforcement. In 2012, two Americans were held against their will--one held by an indigenous group and later released and one held for ransom by a paramilitary group near the Colombian border in Sucumbíos, who escaped. Two Canadian tourists were held against their will and assaulted in the Cuyabeno National Park near Lago Agrio and later released."
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An article about a man kidnapped in 1996 who fought for travel warnings because it was not an isolated incident
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/10/n...nts-us-warnings-about-dangers-in-ecuador.html
This article also mentioned being walked for weeks. "After spending about two weeks hiking through the jungle along with his captors"
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And an article about a group kidnapped in 2001, including one who was executed:
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/feb/15/news/mn-25850
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And a British woman in 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Gang-snatch-Briton-Amazon-canoe-holiday.html
