Where is Kidnapping Survivor ‘Eduardo Valseca’ Now? – The Valseca family was living a quiet and comfortable existence in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, when their lives were turned upside down on a fateful morning in June 2007. Eduardo Garcia Valseca was kidnapped as he returned home from dropping his kids off at school.
The next seven months were spent in imprisonment and torture. NBC News’ ‘Dateline: The Ranch‘ goes into Eduardo’s incredible narrative of survival and eventual release. So, if you’re curious about what happened to him after that, we’ve got you covered.
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Eduardo Valseca: Who Is He?
Eduardo Valseca is one of Jose Garcia Valseca’s nine children, who was formerly a newspaper mogul in Mexico. In Maryland, he met Jayne Rager, and the two married in 1994. They soon made their home in San Miguel de Allende, where they welcomed three children into the world.
According to all accounts, the devoted family had a wonderful existence, generating money in real estate and investing everything they had into the ranch’s makeover. They also founded a Waldorf school in the region, which focuses on art and nature in its curriculum.
On June 13, 2007, the family began their day as usual. Eduardo and Jayne drove the kids to school, but something unexpected happened on the way back. Jayne described noticing a suspicious car following them around the school, and the duo was suddenly boxed in when another vehicle arrived. When they came to a halt, one of the men approached Eduardo, busted his window, and shot him in the head with a revolver. He was also carrying a hammer.
Then another assailant grabbed Jayne and held a gun to her head while she struggled with him. Eduardo and Jayne had their faces hidden. They were handcuffed and thrown into an SUV. Jayne recalled Eduardo being hauled away by the men at one point, leaving her alone in a car on a highway.
Jayne spotted a message written to her in the area where the vehicle stopped after she requested assistance and phoned the authorities. Eduardo had been kidnapped, it said, and it provided her explicit instructions to log in to an email address and wait for more instructions.
Jayne eventually contacted federal officials, who dispatched an agent to assist with the negotiations. The kidnappers demanded $8 million at first, and the ordeal continued for the next three months. The kidnappers assumed Eduardo was wealthy because he was the son of a newspaper baron. The Valsecas, on the other hand, were not wealthy, and Jayne didn’t have that amount of cash on hand.
Authorities at the time believed Eduardo had been kidnapped by a fringe political party known as the EPR, and those discussions may have taken months. That’s exactly what happened when Jayne received Eduardo’s letters and images. He claimed he was being tormented and beaten in it. Eduardo was shot in the leg about five months into the relationship, and then in the arm a few weeks later. Throughout it all, Jayne tried to collect the funds needed for the ransom.
The kidnappers eventually agreed to a bargain for less than $1 million. They gave detailed directions for dropping the money off, which were carried out by two of the family’s employees. They were transported to Mexico City, Mexico, and told to take the money in $100 bills in a duffel bag, as instructed.
The kidnappers planned to blackmail the Valsecas again after Eduardo was released, so one of the guys with the cash was seized. However, he was released without a ransom a few months later.
Eduardo returned home seven and a half months after being kidnapped, a shell of the guy he used to be. The captors dropped him off somewhere else and just gave him money and food, so he had to figure out how to get back home. Eduardo struggled to walk, weighed around 80 pounds, and suffered from liver problems. In addition to bullet wounds, he suffered shattered ribs.
What Happened to Eduardo Valseca and Where Is He Now?
While Eduardo Valseca was relieved to see his family again, he was taken aback by his appearance, saying, “The first time I saw myself in the mirror and raised my T-shirt, I instantly pulled it back on.” I couldn’t believe how much I resembled bones and skin. It was just too much for me.”
Eduardo described his time in captivity as being kept in a box, naked, and subjected to regular beatings. With the kidnappers blasting loud music all day, he wasn’t allowed to speak and could only communicate through notes.
“I wasn’t terrified of dying because I couldn’t stand it any longer, Eduardo stated after a while. You’ve had enough of suffering and have given up. I would have murdered myself if I had had a piece of glass or anything else.” He persevered, however, and returned home with his wife and children. They relocated to the United States soon after and initially resided with Jayne’s mother.
Ricardo Palma Salamanca and Raul Julio Escobar Poblete, two ex-revolutionaries from Chile, were eventually identified as suspects in multiple kidnappings. Eduardo suspected they were behind his kidnapping and said that several of the people holding him had a South American accent. “They worked like the military,” he added. Some were involved in the kidnapping, while others were in charge of communications. “
Eduardo and Jayne later raised awareness about organised crime in the United States and Mexico, which harmed people’s lives. His wife Jayne died in 2012 and now he appears to be based in Washington, DC. Jayne mentioned Eduardo going to counselling to deal with his trauma before she died. Since then, he has kept a quiet profile.
Eduardo used to make a living off of real estate, but it’s unclear what he does now. However, he spoke about the event about a year ago and stated that he had become more grateful for the small things he was deprived of at the time.