Man & sons as perpetrators

Abduction of Linz woman ended by cell phone video

In broad daylight, the 44-year-old kidnapped his wife in Linz and dragged her into the car (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Why did a Croatian man from Linz (44) want to kidnap his wife to Croatia with the help of his sons? The Linz investigators have yet to find out, but thanks to a courageous witness who filmed the kidnappers, the 43-year-old woman was freed after driving around 240 kilometers.

A witness recorded a kidnapping in broad daylight in Linz on his cell phone and was thus able to ensure that a 43-year-old woman from Linz was freed! On Thursday, shortly before 10 o'clock in the morning, the victim was dragged into the car at her home in the south of the provincial capital by her husband, supported by their two sons (17, 18). The younger son got into the car, while the older one stayed in the apartment.

One son arrested in Linz
The police, alerted by the witness, were able to arrest the 18-year-old at his home, but his father (44) and brother were already on their way south with his mother. According to initial information, the man from Linz, who is of Croatian origin, wanted to take his wife back to his home country against her will.

The plan almost worked
The plan seemed to work, the kidnappers had already passed the toll booths at Bosruck and the Gleinalm Tunnel (Styria) on the Pyhrnautobahn when one of the car occupants' cell phones was located near Graz.

After almost 240 kilometers on the run and only 40 kilometers from the Slovenian border, Styrian police officers were able to stop the car with the three occupants at the Schachenwald freeway exit south of Graz. The woman was freed and the men were taken into custody. Questioning was underway on Thursday evening.