Ecuadorian footballer Jackson Rodríguez reported to police on Wednesday that his wife and 5-year-old daughter were abducted from their home in Guayaquil.
According to ESPN and the Associated Press, the Emelec defender said he hid under a bed as armed men broke into the house around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, allegedly looking for him.
Rodríguez informed authorities that he overheard the intruders asking his wife if he was home before abducting her and their daughter, as reported by PEOPLE.
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After the incident, he reportedly saw the suspects fleeing in a gray double-cab pickup truck, according to police chief Edison Rodriguez.
On Friday, The Sun reported that Rodriguez’s family were rescued by police from El Fortin, Guayaquil, where they were held.
The kidnapping came just 10 days after Ecuador declared a state of emergency in nine regions, including Guayas province where Guayaquil is located, due to a surge in violent crimes and abductions linked to organized crime groups.
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Guayaquil, a major port and drug trafficking hub, has seen a spike in violence in recent years. In March, a gang attack in the area left 22 people dead, while 14 others were killed in a gang clash in February, according to CBS News.
Ecuador’s homicide rate has jumped from six per 100,000 in 2018 to 47 in 2023.
This isn’t the first instance of a footballer being targeted—defender Pedro Perlaza was rescued by police in December 2024 after being kidnapped and held in a rural house, Reuters reported.
