A 19-YEAR-OLD girl who was kidnapped and held hostage for four days in a hole in the mountainside has been set free.
The victim is the daughter of a business tycoon in Alicante, who was ordered to pay 300,000 euros in 50-euro notes in exchange for her release.
National Police say one of the girl’s two captors had recently finished a jail term for killing his wife, and the other was a former employee of the victim’s father, now out of work and heavily in debt.
Her dad received a call demanding the money and saying, “don’t worry, we won’t do anything to her yet.”
They said they would call again on Wednesday to arrange for the money to change hands, but threatened to harm his daughter if he told the police.
But the victim’s father called the National Police, who lay in wait whilst one of the captors met with him to collect the money.
Other officers, who had traced the girl’s location, arrested the man who was watching her to ensure she did not escape.
Police heard that the kidnappers, who have military training, had kept the girl under surveillance for some time to become familiar with her movements.
They then punctured her car tyres to prevent her from driving off, and forced her into a vehicle.
The car used for the kidnapping had been stolen from a man a few days previously.
Officers say he was beaten and threatened at knifepoint.