drop down
daily dos
fri 8/28/2009
A woman who was kidnapped 18 years ago at the age of 11 has turned up today in Antioch, California. The El Dorado, California sheriff's department said it was "99 percent sure" the woman is actually the girl in question, Jaycee Lee Dugard.
sport a bebé
daily dos
wed 6/17/2009
Nearly 10,000 Central Americans migrants headed to the U.S. were kidnapped for ransom in México over a six-month period, according to a report by México's National Human Rights Commission. (via Foreign Policy)
up in smoke
daily dos
fri 2/13/2009
Mexican drug traffickers have converted Phoenix, Arizona into the "kidnap-for-ransom capital" of the U.S. Although half of all kidnap-for-ransom cases go unreported, Phoenix police reported over 360 cases last year.
knock, knocked
daily dos
fri 1/9/2009
A Mexican man believed to be the leader of a kidnapping gang was apprehended by Tijuana police – after he was kidnapped.
choose your difficulty
daily dos
tue 12/16/2008
A U.S. anti-kidnapping expert who was offering advice on how to deal with abductions for ransom was kidnapped in México last week. (via The Latin Americanist)
white tee tri
daily dos
thu 9/4/2008
México's national soccer federation is asking fans to wear white during México's World Cup qualifying match this Saturday versus Jamaica. The gesture follows a week of anti-crime rallies throughout México in which thousands wore white to protest drug violence and kidnappings. "El Tri" will also wear white on the field instead of its customary green home jersey.
born again
daily dos
fri 8/22/2008
President Felipe Calderon is confronting a wave of kidnappings in México. Meanwhile, wealthy Mexicans are implanting computer chips in the hope that satellites will help track them if they are kidnapped.
finish line
daily dos
wed 8/13/2008
Two months after 14-year-old Fernando Marti, the son of a wealthy Mexican businessman, was abducted and later found dead, Mexico has created a 300-member anti-kidnapping police squad.
Ferras
as seen on myspace
thu 7/24/2008
Singer songwriter Ferras says he's always felt like an outsider but it hasn't stopped him from working his way into the limelight.
Ferras Alqaisi grew up in the mostly white town of Gillespie, Illinois, where he says he "stood out like a sore thumb." But when his parents divorced, Ferras, then five years old, was kidnapped by his father and taken to Jordan, his dad's homeland. While in the Middle East, Ferras recalls he picked up a Casio keyboard and wrote a song about missing his mother. Though he soon returned to Gillespie, the experience left an indelible mark.
As a teenager, Ferras, who cites British pop legend Elton John as a major influence, figured small-town Illinois wasn't the best place to score a record deal, so he and his mom left their winter coats behind and moved to sunny Los Angeles. The move paid off last year when the TV juggernaut "American Idol" picked his track, Hollywood’s not America as the show's exit song. The piano ballad, which questions America’s fascination with celebrity, quickly spread to pop radio.
Ferras' debut, Aliens and Rainbows, has already earned him comparisons to his idol, Elton John. Now 26 years old, the self-described "alien" is glad he doesn't quite fit in: "[I]n my songs, there’s definitely a uniqueness to them in comparison to what’s happening on the radio right now."
live and let live
daily dos
wed 4/30/2008
Criminal gangs in México are capitalizing on fears of violence in Mexican society by conducting virtual kidnappings: extorting money from victims by claiming they've kidnapped a family member. Without the kidnapping part.
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