Three men aged 22 and 27 were kidnapped in the Félix-Pyat city, in the 3rd arrondissement of Marseille, during the night from Friday to Saturday. The kidnappers demanded a colossal ransom, according to a source close to the case. The three victims were eventually found alive and claim to have managed to escape.
A man living in Montpellier (Hérault) alerted the police shortly after 8 p.m. Friday evening. He said his brother was held captive in Marseille and that he had received a ransom demand of 200,000 euros. “He indicated that he had received a photo via Snapchat showing his brother with the barrel of a handgun in his mouth”describes the same source. The police began searching for the victim and discovered that she was obviously held captive with one or two friends.
Victim found tied up
The continuation of the emergency investigations made it possible, in the evening, to locate the victim's car, empty of any occupants, in rue Félix-Pyat. A little later around 1:30 a.m., a resident of Boulevard Charpentier alerted the police because an unknown person was trying to enter her apartment. Police officers from the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC) went to the scene and discovered that the suspect was tied up. “He declared that he had been kidnapped by several men, that he had managed to flee and that he was looking for a solution to raise the alarm”details the same source. The police quickly made the link between this 22-year-old young man and this case of kidnapping. “It was indeed the brother of the man who raised the alarm at the beginning of the evening”we specify.
The victim was taken to the premises of investigators from the Organized and Specialized Crime Division (DCOS), formerly the judicial police, to be questioned.
At the end of the night, around 5:30 a.m., two other men aged 23 and 27, friends of the first victim, were found at Place Jean-Jaurès (5th arrondissement). They also said that they had managed to escape their captors, and will also be questioned by DCOS police officers. An investigation was opened for aggravated kidnapping and sequestration. The motivations of the kidnappers will have to be determined.
