They kidnap the niece of García Márquez; they ask for millions to free him

BOGOTÁ (AP) – The Colombian authorities reported on Wednesday that kidnappers d & # 39; a parent of the deceased Nobel Prize in literature, Gabriel Garcia Marquezthey asked for five million dollars for their release.

The niece granddaughter of the writer, identified as Melisa Martínez García, 33, was removed on August 23, when he was returning home from Santa Marta, in the north of the country, after working in a banana plantation. The young woman is the granddaughter of Jaime García Márquez, the brother of the writer.

The director of the anti-kidnapping police, General Fernando Murillo, said at a press conference that the kidnappers are asking for five million dollars to free him.

Murillo told The Associated Press that this kidnapping looked like common crime and that would have nothing to do with the fact that the woman is a relative of the Nobel Prize. He added that the amount requested for the release could be high in order to leave a margin of negotiation with the family.

Murillo said that this year in Colombia 140 extortion kidnappings were committed and this activity decreased by 30 cases compared to last year.

In the last two years, the lowest number of kidnappings in the country has been compared to the year 2000, when more than 3,000 captures were committed, mainly by rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).

The authorities are offering a reward of more than $ 15,000 for any information to find the kidnappers.

Gabriel García Márquez wrote in 1986 the book "Noticia de un Secuestro", based on the true story of the kidnapping of great Colombian personalities by networks of drug traffickers.