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Major league catcher kidnapped in Venezuela
By Mariano Castillo, CNN
November 10, 2011 -- Updated 1532 GMT (2332 HKT)
Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped Wednesday in his home country of Venezuela.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Investigators find vehicle believed to have been used in crime
- Wilson Ramos was kidnapped from his family home in Venezuela
- He was playing in a winter league in Venezual
- Ramos finished his rookie season with the Washington Nationals
(CNN) -- Gunmen kidnapped Major League Baseball
catcher Wilson Ramos from his family home in Venezuela Wednesday night, a
spokeswoman for his Venezuelan team said on her Twitter account.
Ramos, who finished his rookie season with the Washington Nationals
this year, was back in his home country playing for the Aragua Tigers in
Venezuela's winter league.
The Nationals could not confirm the kidnapping, but they published a statement citing Tiger's spokeswoman Kathe Vilera.
Ramos was kidnapped by four armed men from his home in Santa Ines, in Carabobo state, Vilera said on Twitter.
"It's sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos was kidnapped," she wrote.
Response to the kidnapped quickly reached the highest echelons of the Venezuelan government.
The vehicle believed to have been used in the kidnapping was found in
the town of Bejuma, about 60 miles from where Ramos was kidnapped, the
country's justice and interior minister, Tareck El Aissami, said
Thursday.
"The best investigators we have" are on the case, he said.
Unlike most Latin American countries, it is not soccer that rules in
Venezuela, but baseball. A number of Venezuelan players make it to the
major leagues in the United States.
Ramos, 24, emerged as the Nationals' top catcher this past season. He
had a .267 batting average with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
"Prudence and an even head are important in this difficult moment
that the Ramos family is going through," Tigers President and General
Manager Rafael Rodriguez said in a statement. "With God's help we will
end up well in this complicated situation." http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/10/world/americas/venezuela-mlb-player-kidnapped/?hpt=isp_c1
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