List of kidnappings


The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.

By date

Kidnappers interested in getting a large ransom or a political effect often target celebrities or their relatives. Here are some of the people affected by these crimes:
  • Mordechai Oren was a Jewish politician who was taken hostage in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War in 1951 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, before being released.
  • Leon Ames: Film and television actor who, together with his wife, was held hostage at their home on 12 February 1964. They were rescued by police, who had been alerted to the case by his business partner.
  • Leonard Firestone, American businessman, philanthropist, diplomat was the target of an aborted kidnapped plan that was to take place in 1966.
  • Cindy Birdsong: A member of the Motown supergroup The Supremes. Birdsong was kidnapped in December 1969, aged 30, at knife-point from her Hollywood apartment and escaped two hours later by jumping from the car at a freeway exit. Charles Collier, the handyman at Birdsong's apartment, was later convicted of the kidnapping.
  • Karl von Spreti: West-Germany's ambassador to Guatemala, was kidnapped in 1970 in Guatemala City and later murdered.
  • Yoko Ono: Her second husband Anthony Cox abducted their daughter Kyoko Chan Cox in 1971. Ono and her daughter were finally reunited in 1997.
  • Escort Ian Ball had attempted to kidnap Anne, Princess Royal on 20 March 1974 while she and Mark Phillips had left a charity event and were returning home to Buckingham Palace. His plan to do so proved unsuccessful.
  • Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok were kidnapped in Hong Kong by North Korean spies in 1978 and taken to North Korea under the orders of Kim Jong Il, who wanted to use the then-divorced couple to improve North Korean cinema. After Shin directed Pulgasari and six other films for Kim, he and Choi escaped North Korean surveillance in 1986.
  • Chris Cramer: British news journalist and executive for BBC who was one of the 25 hostages held during the Iranian Embassy siege. Cramer was released on 1 May 1980, after falsely complaining that he felt ill, and later provided information on the situation.
  • Bryon Anthony "Bizzy Bone" McCane II, American future rap artist was kidnapped by his stepfather and was led to believe that his mother and grandmother were dead. He didn't reunite with his mother until a neighbor from the reservation in Oklahoma where he was living recognized his picture from a photo shown at the end of the 1983 movie, Adam.
  • Jorge and Juan Born, scions of the Bunge y Born business, were kidnapped in September by the Montoneros and only released after the payment of a $60 million ransom.
  • Cory Quirino, Filipino TV host and broadcaster who was abducted on 24 September 1995 in Laguna, Philippines by five gunmen who killed her driver. She was eventually rescued when the getaway car ran into a police roadblock, and her kidnappers fled the scene.
  • Jorge Campos : In 1999, his father was kidnapped and later found alive in Acapulco, Mexico.
  • Rajkumar, an actor and singer in Kannada film industry, was kidnapped from the actor's house at Gajanur in Tamil Nadu on 30 July 2000, along with his son-in-law Govindaraju and two others. He was released unharmed on 15 November 2000, after 108 days of captivity.
  • Françoise Claustre: French archaeologist who was kidnapped in Chad by guerillas led by Hissène Habré. Her husband, Pierre, was the head of the French foreign aid mission in Chad and was also taken hostage when he tried to secure her release.
  • Baron Édouard-Jean Empain: Industrialist who was kidnapped for ransom. His captors cut off one of his fingers in order to bring proof that they held him. He was later released.
  • John Paul Getty III, kidnapped in Italy in 1973. His grandfather, the then world's richest man, American multi-billionaire oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty, refused to pay his $3 million ransom until one of the boy's ears was cut off and sent to a newspaper.
  • Freddy Heineken : Chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the brewing company Heineken International and his driver Ab Doderer, were kidnapped between 9 and 30 November 1983 in Amsterdam.
  • Jennifer Hudson: Her nephew was kidnapped after her mother and brother were shot to death. He was later found dead.
  • Julio Iglesias: His father was kidnapped in 1985, but was found alive and healthy.
  • Charles Lindbergh: The aviator's two-year-old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped in 1932 and was killed. Bruno Hauptmann was arrested and executed for the crime, but concerns remain regarding Hauptmann's guilt and the fairness of the trial.
  • Madonna: American singer-songwriter and actress who was supposedly tied to a chair and held captive by ex-husband Sean Penn at their house in Malibu, California, home on 28 December 1989. She has categorically denied that this incident has occurred, and the couple later separated.
  • Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau: First daughter of Fiji and senator, was kidnapped during a coup against her father. Her kidnappers had threatened to kill her, but she was returned alive.
  • Veruska Ramirez, former Miss Venezuela, kidnapped in 2003 and released three hours later after signing fifteen autographs for her captors.
  • David Letterman: In 2005, FBI agents and Montana authorities foiled a kidnapping of Letterman's son from his Choteau, Montana home.
  • Riddick Bowe : Former world heavyweight champion kidnapped his estranged wife, Judy, and their five children from North Carolina in February 1998, hoping to reconcile his marriage. Police captured Bowe in South Hill, Virginia, freeing his family.
  • Cesar Rosas: Member of Los Lobos whose wife, Sandra, was kidnapped on 23 October 1999 and later found dead. Gabriel Gómez was accused and sentenced for her kidnapping and murder.
  • Belli Lalitha, was an Indian folk singer and who was murdered in 1999 after being kidnapped.
  • Georgiy Gongadze: Prominent Ukrainian journalist kidnapped and later found beheaded in 2000. His disappearance has triggered a major political and diplomatic scandal also involving the United States and other Western countries. No details of the crime have been revealed yet.
  • Susan Enriquez, a Filipina journalist, news presenter, radio and television host who was kidnapped on 20 April 2000 in Basilan by Abu Sayyaf, but was later released.
  • Daryush Shokof: The artist-filmmaker was kidnapped after he screened his films Iran Zendan and Hitler's Grave that portrayed the horrible situations of Iranian political prisoners in Iran and under the Islamic republic Regime of Iran in Berlin, Germany. He said he was held by Arabic speaking men for 12 days and was released after agreeing not to publicize the films. He was later thrown into the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany. The German Police debates the validity of the incident up to this date.
  • Frank Sinatra Jr., son of Frank Sinatra, was kidnapped by Barry Keenan and Joe Amsler and released after a ransom of $240,000 was paid a few days later. Most of the ransom money was recovered.
  • Johnny Tapia: The world boxing champion saw his mother raped and kidnapped when he was 8 years old. He was hiding when he witnessed the assault. His mother's body was found on a road days later.
  • Thalía: The Mexican diva's sisters, Ernestina Sodi and actress Laura Zapata, were kidnapped, but later both released alive.
  • Benedict Cumberbatch and two acquaintances were kidnapped by six armed men in South Africa in 2005 while filming the miniseries To the End of the Earth. The trio were released unharmed shortly thereafter.
  • Rubén Omar Romano, Argentine soccer coach, was kidnapped in Mexico on 19 July 2005 and rescued two months later.
  • Steven Adler, former Guns N' Roses drummer was kidnapped by his brother Jamie Adler on 22 March 2007 and taken to Los Angeles, California and held and released after 30 days in an attempt to get him off drugs.
  • Thiago da Silva, Brazilian footballer who was kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro on 24 September 2008 and while trying to escape was shot multiple times which caused him to die six days later.
  • Duffy, a singer-songwriter, had alleged that in 2010 she had been kidnapped, raped, and drugged, and managed to escape. She has not revealed the kidnappers' identities or the location of the alleged crimes.
  • Alex Band: Singer-songwriter best known as the guitarist for the Calling, Band was reportedly robbed, beaten and then abandoned near some train tracks by two unidentified assailants on 18 August 2013. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and later released.
  • Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of the Hong Kong tycoon, Li Ka Shing: Kidnapped by Cheung Chi Keung, AKA "Big Spender". He was released after the world record payment of a HK$1,000,000,000 ransom. Cheung was later captured and executed in Guangzhou in 2000.
  • Pai Hsiao-yen, daughter of Taiwanese artiste Pai Bing-bing, was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in April 1997. In a year-long hunt, with the kidnappers committing a further series of crimes and suicide upon arrest, Chen Chien-hsing, the mastermind of the kidnapping, was finally arrested in November after perpetrating a hostage incident, and was subsequently executed. The case received notoriety due to the poor media ethics conducted, among these which resulted in unsuccessful ransom negotiations.
  • Daisy McCrackin, was kidnapped on 3 May 2017 while in Los Angeles and held hostage in her own car while be driven around. McCrackin later escaped and her kidnappers are now facing charges.
  • Einár: Swedish rapper who was kidnapped by gang members associated with rival rapper Yasin in April 2020. He was later released, but was killed the following year when he was scheduled to testify in the case.
  • Thirteen adult males were arrested on 8 October 2020 by the FBI as they were plotting to kidnap American politician Gretchen Whitmer who is the current governor of Michigan. Another man was later arrested after being accused of having a part in the planned kidnapping. All men were later charged in court.
  • A man from Harlow plotted to kidnap and murder English television presenter, author and model Holly Willoughby, but his plan was foiled after a tip-off from an undercover law enforcement officer in the United States, with whom he had been communicating regarding the plot. He was arrested on 4 October 2023.
  • A man has threatened to kidnap a U.S. senator from Alaska on 3 November 2023 who is thought to be Lisa Murkowski, but his plans to do so have not happened.
  • Wang Xing, a Chinese, male actor who was kidnapped on 3 January 2025 in Myanmar, but was found four days later.