List of kidnappings: 2020–present

The following is a list of kidnappings that occurred from 2020 onward, summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.

Date	Victim	Abductor	Location	Age of victim	Outcome	Notes
10 February 2020	Faye Marie Swetlik	Coty Scott Taylor	Cayce, South Carolina, US	6	Murdered	6-year-old Faye Swetlik disappeared on 10 February 2020 and was found murdered three days later. The same day her body was found, a man named Coty Scott Taylor committed suicide and Swetlik's DNA was found in his house. Police concluded that Taylor had killed Swetlik hours after abducting her. [1]
May 2020	Cecilia Chimbiri, Joana Mamombe and Netsai Marova	Zimbabwean government officers	Zimbabwe	Unknown	Released	MDC members who were abducted for two days after an anti-government protest, where they were allegedly tortured and sexually abused by government officers. [2]
2 July 2020	Patricia Alatorre	Armando Cruz	Bakersfield, California, US	13	Murdered	Alatorre disappeared on 1 July around 11:30 p.m., with Bakersfield Police Department believing that she was a runaway until surveillance footage showed a pickup truck at the area. [3] [4] The police connected the truck to 24-year-old Armando Cruz from Inglewood, California, who pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Alatorre. [5]
9 September 2020	Óscar Denis	Paraguayan People's Army	Concepción, Paraguay	73	Unknown	A Paraguayan politician and former Vice President of the nation. He was kidnapped on 9 September by the Paraguayan People's Army, who formally claimed responsibility for the kidnapping two days later. His ultimate fate remains unknown. [6]
15 November 2020	Kum Avantika	Childless couple	Hyderabad, Telangana, India	3	Rescued	Avantika was abducted as she travelled with her family on a bus to Bellary. She was rescued approximately 20 hours after her abduction. The motive for her kidnapping was the fact her abductors had no children of their own. [7]
3 March 2021	Sarah Everard	Wayne Couzens	London, England, UK	33	Murdered	Everard disappeared in South London while walking home to Brixton Hill. [8] Six days later, police officer Wayne Couzens was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and later murdering Everard. [9] Everard's remains were found in Hoad's Wood in a large builder's bag and identified via dental records. [10] Couzens pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping Everard, [11] and eventually admitted killing her. [12]
11 March 2021	38-39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization	Unknown bandits, Isayku Boderi (alleged)	Afaka, Igabi, Kaduna State, Nigeria	17+	Released	Armed bandits entered the school around 9 PM local time; residents ignored the sound of gunfire, assuming it was from training at a nearby military academy. A distress call was sent from the school and the Nigerian Armed Forces based in the nearby academy engaged the bandits in a firefight. 180 staff and students were able to be rescued by the next morning. The bandits were successful in kidnapping and moving 38-39 students. In early April 2021, 10 of the students were released and by 5 May 2021, the remaining were as well. [13] In February 2024, Isayku Boderi, whom the government alleged was responsible for the kidnapping, was killed by Nigerian Security Forces. [14]
2 July 2021	Unnamed 6-year-old girl (identity withheld)	Robby Wildt	Louisville, Kentucky	6	Rescued	The unnamed child was kidnapped by Wildt from outside her home. Neighbors who witnessed the crime called 911; one followed Wildt's vehicle and provided authorities with part of the abductor's license plate. As such, the child was rescued just minutes after her abduction. Wildt was later sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for the kidnapping. [15]
16 July 2021	Selsela Alikhil	Unknown	Islamabad, Pakistan	Unknown	Released	Daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan who was forcefully abducted and tortured by an attacker who picked her up in his taxi. She was later released, and her case is currently under investigation. [16]
13 August 2021	Mariam Abdulrab	DeMarcus Brinkley	Atlanta, US	27	Murdered	Bartender kidnapped from outside her home in Southeast Atlanta. Her body was discovered several hours later. Abdulrab's kidnapper, who had previously been convicted of child sexual abuse, plead guilty to her murder, kidnapping, attempted rape, and other charges. [17] [18]
20 August 2021	Queen Bakomi	Unidentified kidnapping gang	Balma, Adamawa State, Nigeria	Unknown	Rescued	On 20 August a gang of kidnappers stormed the residence of Bakomi Andarawus and killed him before abducting his daughter Queen. Queen was held for six days while the gang demanded two million naira in ransom. The kidnappers eventually conceded that this was an unrealistic amount and agreed to accept 170,000 in return for Queen's release. According to a police source, the kidnappers directed representatives of the family to take the money to a particular place in the bush for collection. However, a group of vigilantes who were lying in wait opened fire on the gang member who came to collect the ransom and killed him, rescuing Queen in the process. [19]
16 October 2021	Cleo Smith	Terence Darrell Kelly	Gascoyne, Australia	4	Rescued	Smith disappeared from her family's tent at a campsite, and remained missing for 18 days until 3 November. She was found alive by police at Kelly's house after mobile phone evidence determined that he had visited the campsite. [20] The kidnapper was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison. [21]
November 2021	Speedy Mashilo	Unknown hijackers	R568 road between Ekangala and KwaMhlanga	55	Released	Speedy Katisho Mashilo was kidnapped for a few hours in November 2021 by unknown hijackers [22] who attempted to extort information from him. Mashilo was later let go.
20 November 2021	Bobbi-Ann McLeod	Cody Ackland	Plymouth, U.K.	18	Murdered	Bobbi-Ann McLeod was attacked at a bus stop by Cody Ackland, who beat her with a claw hammer, forced her into his car and drove her up to Dartmoor, where he beat her to death. [23] The kidnapper plead guilty to murder. [23]
February 2022	"Yang"	Dong Zhimin [24]	Feng County, Xuzhou, People's Republic of China	Unknown	Rescued	A mentally disturbed and unlawfully imprisoned young woman chained to a wall and who gave birth to eight children throughout the period of her captivity. Several conflicting statements have been issued by the Chinese Communist Party following her rescue, including the claim "Yang" was a beggar who had first encountered her abductor's father in 1998 and had subsequently married her abductor. [25]
11 March 2022	Ivan Fedorov	Russian military officers	Melitopol, Ukraine	33	Released	Mayor of the Ukrainian town of Melitopol who was arrested on 11 March 2022, for supposed crimes committed against civilians in the Luhansk People's Republic. He was released five days later in exchange for nine Russian soldiers. [26]
18 March 2022	Yevhenii "Yevhen" Bal	Russian soldiers	Mariupol, Ukraine	78	Released, but died from injuries	Yevhenii "Yevhen" Bal was a retired naval officer and captain in the Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet he was also a journalist, writer and member of the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine. On March 18 Russian soldiers broke into his home in Mariupol and held him captive for having photos of him with Ukrainian soldiers and his membership of NWUU. The soldiers would brutally beat him for three days, releasing him on March 21 they then told Bal "We are not at war with veterans of the USSR Navy." [27] Bal would never recover from his injuries and would die on April 2 five days before his 79th birthday, as a direct result of the injuries he sustained during his captivity. [28] [29]
27 March 2022	Oleksandr Kryvenko	Russian soldier	Bucha, Ukraine	75	Murdered	Oleksandr Kryvenko was the head of a modeling club, on 27 March, an intoxicated Russian soldier held him at gunpoint and forced him out of his house on Turgenev Street; the soldier then forced Kryvenko to ask his neighbors for alcohol, at one of the houses the soldier shot and killed Kryvenko. [30]
25 April 2022	Brandon Cuellar	Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez and Jose Roman Portillo	San Jose, California, US	3 Months	Rescued	Cuellar was alone in his family apartment for a few minutes while his grandmother unloaded groceries. Jose Roman Portillo snatched the baby and walked out. Cuellar was found the next day safe after a 20-hour search. [31] Ramirez, who had been faking a pregnancy, and Portillo plead guilty to the kidnapping. [32] [33]
3 October 2022	Amandeep Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Jasleen Kaur, and Arrohi Dheri	Unknown	Merced, California, US	39, 36, 27, 8 months	Murdered	A family of three and the uncle were kidnapped from a central California business. A suspect was arrested in connection with the kidnapping as their whereabouts were unknown, [34] but they were found dead. [35]
7 February 2023	Phillip Mark Mehrtens	TPNPB-OPM	Paro, Nduga Regency, Indonesia	37	Released	A pilot from Christchurch, New Zealand, Philip Mehrtens was held hostage by members of the TPNPB-OPM led by Egianus Kogoya. They took him and his five passengers, who were all native Nduga, from a small landing strip in Paro, shortly after landing his plane, they stormed the plane and set it on fire, the militants then released the five passengers, and took Mehrtens to several unknown locations. [36] Mehrtens was held hostage for 592 days, having been released on 21 September 2024 when the Indonesian government reached an agreement with Kogoya and the TPNPB-OPM. [37]
	Demanus Gwijangge			Unknown	Released
	Minda Gwijangge			Unknown	Released
	Pelenus Gwijangge			Unknown	Released
	Meita Gwijangge			Unknown	Released
	Wetina W.			Unknown	Released
16 March 2023	Unnamed infant	Unnamed couple	Canton, Ohio	3 weeks	Rescued	The 3-week-old infant girl was abducted from her family home by a 31-year-old woman posing as a Child Protective Services worker. The child was rescued approximately 16 hours later, on 17 March. Her abductor and an alleged 21-year-old male accomplice were arrested. [38]
July 2023	Yanfei Bao	Tingjun Chao	Christchurch, New Zealand	44	Murdered	Real estate agent Bao was last seen on 19 July 2023 in the suburb of Hornby, Christchurch. A 52-year-old man was arrested and charged with her kidnapping on 22 July 2023 at Christchurch Airport, after he purchased a one-way international flight. [39] [40] On 4 December 2024, Tingjun Chao was convicted of Bao's murder in the Christchurch High Court. [41]
September 2023	Unnamed 17 year old	3 unnamed people	Santa Maria, California	17	Rescued	The 3 perpetrators kidnapped the 17-year-old after a traffic collision and forced them into their vehicle. Over several days, they would ask for ransom through phone calls and videos sent to the victim's parents. Law enforcement was able to track the perpetrators through camera footage and vehicle identification and conducted a raid on September 22. [42]
23 September 2023	Unnamed 15-year-old girl	Three males, including one minor	Churu, Rajasthan, India	15	Murdered	Student from Churu who disappeared on 23 September; her body was found in a well two days later. The student had been gang raped and murdered. Three males—one a minor—were arrested shortly thereafter. [43]
30 September 2023	Charlotte Sena	Craig Nelson Ross Jr. [44]	Moreau Lake State Park, New York	9	Rescued	Kidnapped while camping with her family. The suspect was identified with a fingerprint from a ransom note he left at the family home. The girl was found alive 2 days later in the suspect's camper, where she was being held in a cabinet. [45]
7 October 2023	Mia Schem	Palestinian militants	Eshkol Regional Council, Israel	21	Released	A young Israeli woman and one of hundreds of Israeli citizens abducted by Hamas militants during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Schem was released by her abductors on 30 November as part of a prisoner exchange. [46]
7 October 2023	Bibas family	Palestinian militants	Nir Oz kibbutz, Israel	34, 32, 4, 9 months	Unknown	An Israeli family of four abducted during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Efforts by Israel to release the family during a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas were unsuccessful. Although disputed by Israel, Hamas militants subsequently claimed the mother and her children were killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike; this claim has been disputed by one hostage released during the temporary ceasefire, who informed Israeli services she had been ordered to falsely tell the father, Yarden Bibas, that his family had been killed during an IDF airstrike. [47]
7 October 2023	Hersh Goldberg-Polin	Palestinian militants	Eshkol Regional Council, Israel	23	Murdered	A 23-year-old American-Israeli abducted by Hamas militants from the Re'im music festival massacre. Goldberg-Polin is known to have been wounded prior to being taken captive. His body was recovered from a tunnel in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on 31 August 2024. [48] [49]
16 December 2023	Fredrick Mwenengabo	Unknown	Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo	48-49	Released	Frederick Mwenengabo, a Congolese-Canadian anthropologist and human rights activist who immigrated to Fredericton, New Brunswick in 2009, was kidnapped while visiting family members in the DRC. He was held for over five months until being released to the Congolese National Intelligence Agency. He returned to Fredericton on 1 June 2024. [50]
7 March 2024	312 schoolchildren, at least one teacher	Unknown bandits	Kuriga, Chikun, Kaduna State, Nigeria	8-15 (students)	Returned (312 students) Died (1 student and 1 teacher)	Dozens of armed men on motorcycles attacked a local school assembly with primary and secondary students. The school officials reported 280 students kidnapped, while witnesses put the number at 312. The captors demanded a ransom of $690,000. 25 students were later released. On 17 March 2024, the army announced the release of 137 more children. Despite the discrepancy in numbers, officials said all of the kidnapped were freed. [51] [52]
8 June 2024	Yeri Bocoum	Malian state security services	Mali	Unknown	Released	A Malian journalist and vice-president of the Association of Social Media Professionals and Web Actors (APMSWA). Bocoum was kidnapped from outside his Kati home by unknown individuals; he was freed on 27 June. [53]
17 October 2024	Elliot Eastman	Unknown	Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines	26-year-old	Unknown	Elliot Onil Eastman, a 26-year-old American vlogger-content creator from Vermont living with his wife in the Philippines was abducted for ransom from his in-laws house in Sitio Tungawan, Barangay Poblacion, Sibuco by four assailants armed with M16 rifles posing as police. While engaging the kidnappers, he suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and transported away by motorboat. [54]

See also

• List of kidnappings: 2010–2019
• List of kidnappings: 2000–2009
• List of kidnappings

References

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