The families of Derek Tardieu and his wife Claribel are praying for their safe release after the couple was kidnapped from their home on Monos island last Saturday night.
Mark Bassant and cameraman Immanuel Nunez visited the island today seeking answers and has this report.
00:00Robert, please. De Niro, please. My life. My wife. Don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry.
00:11With a gun pointed to his head by his kidnappers and one holding a hand grenade, Derek Tardier makes a chilling piece to his brother to pay the dineros for the safe release of his wife and himself hours after they were taken.
00:23Investigators say shortly before 10 o'clock on Saturday night, Derek Tardier and his wife, Clarabel, was at their homes just behind the brush here in Monos Islands when armed assailants entered their home, ransacked the house, later kidnapping both of them and then sending a voice note demanding a $2.5 million U.S. ransom.
00:43According to investigators, Tardier, who owns a farm and a boatyard in Chagramas, along with his wife, were taken around 10 p.m. on Saturday night.
00:52Hours later, a relative told police he obtained a voice note from an unidentified number with a foreign area code of 573, purportedly from the U.S.A. with Tardier's voice, stating they have met and won $2.5 million U.S. from a release, close quote.
01:07These two homes seen here are rental properties owned by Tardier, but sources closer to the investigation told TV6 News that Tardier and his wife were kidnapped further up the hill in another house.
01:19The kidnappers then bundled the couple into a waiting boat and escaped underwater into the darkness.
01:25TV6 News spoke to someone close to the family on the island who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stating that the family was handling the matter with the assistance of the police.
01:33Another relative speaking to us on the condition of anonymity said that a lower payment, perhaps within the range of half a million dollars, was also being negotiated.
01:43When TV6 News returned to powerboats in Chagramas, officers of a specialized coastal and surveillance unit, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
01:50and asked we keep the identities hidden, confirmed they were heading to their home on Monos Island to search for further clues.
01:56Senior sources told TV6 News that Tardier employed several Spanish-speaking nationals and believe someone with connections to the underworld in Venezuela may have been responsible for this kidnapping.
02:07They have also not ruled out the possibility of it being an inside job, and several persons are expected to be interviewed over the coming days as part of the investigation.
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