DATELINE ‘The Ranch’ The $8 million kidnapping of Eduardo Valseca
On the morning of 2007, Jayne and Eduardo Valseca were ambushed after dropping their kids at school. Jayne was released by the kidnappers, but Mexican businessman Eduardo was taken. His abductors later demanded a $8 million ransom in exchange for his life.
During Eduardo’s terrifying ordeal he was kept in a wooden cage that he could barely stand up in. They kept the light on and music playing at all times to enhance the torture.
It was all about money
Eduardo’s kidnappers erroneously thought that he was worth a lot of money because his father used to own some newspapers. Unfortunately for Eduardo, when his family was unable to make their demands for millions in cash, they started beating him.
Eventually, though, they realized there wasn’t a huge amount of money to gain for Eduardo’s family. Back home, his children were raiding their piggy banks and his wife was doing anything she could to raise funds to send to his captors. After over seven months of captivity, they lowered their demands and released Eduardo back to his family.
He only weighed 100 pounds and could barely talk or eat.
The family moved to the United States, and worked to raise awareness about organized crime. They’re continuing this mission on tonight’s Dateline, where his children speak about the horror of their father’s kidnapping.
Dateline airs tonight on NBC at 9/8 c.
