A case of apparent kidnapping in Concepcion, Corozal District, ended in the safe recovery of the would-be hostage, as her kidnappers fled from family members and concerned villagers who united to mount a rescue operation.
Around 5:00 in the morning of Wednesday, January 25, 2012, Marleni Cawich, 29, was in her kitchen preparing breakfast for her common-law husband, Pedro Mendez, Jr., a field captain for Fruta Bomba, when four masked men grabbed her from behind and dragged her off in the dark, leaving behind a ransom note, written in Spanish, that allegedly demanded $1,000 in ransom and warned against the family contacting the police, else the kidnappers would come after their children.
Cawich had a young baby with her at the time she was grabbed, whom she had to leave behind. The group was met by a fifth man, as she was carried off into the bushes.
Police received the report shortly thereafter and began their investigations. One of the kidnappers, whom Cawich later identified as a dark-skinned man, kept pressuring her to provide a contact number for her husband, insisting that they only wanted the money, but also warning that she would not be seen alive again unless the kidnappers’ warnings and demands were heeded.
She did not see the faces of any of the others.
Around 11:00 a.m., it appears that concerned family members and villagers of Concepcion and surrounding areas, tired of waiting for the police to appear, went off in search of Marleni themselves, and one of the search groups came upon her sitting in a cane field about two miles west of her home, the kidnappers in hiding nearby.
Marleni’s father-in-law, Pedro Mendez, Sr., who was apparently carrying a firearm, fired twice in the air, and the kidnappers returned fire. But the hostage was able to get to the search party safely, and her tormentors apparently gave up and fled.
Cawich was treated at the Corozal Hospital for minor abrasions and injuries sustained during her time of captivity.
Police say they have detained one suspect and are looking for three others.