Beyond Borders

My Experience: Kidnapped in Mexico City

While we were serving as missionaries in Mexico City in the 90’s I was kidnapped. Many people have asked me to share more about how it all happened. My son, David Jr. wrote a story about my experience. The event affected our whole family, and I love the way David tells the story.

Since it’s not a short story I’m posting it in parts. This is the third of a three-part story. You can find part 1 here…, and part 2 here…

Kidnapped: Part 3

Dad wasn’t carrying a lot of cash with him but did have a couple of debit cards. The men drove to the airport where there were a number of ATM’s and asked, “What is your pin number?” At that point my dad realized that it would be no use trying to fight them so he hesitantly gave them the number,

“Ocho…nueve…uno…cuatro.” One of the men stayed with my father in the cab holding the knife against his neck. The other man took the card to the ATM taking out the maximum amount from the machine, because the they would only allow you to take out so much in a day. One of the men got up and started taking his friend’s food order. Then he asked my dad,

“Te gustaría un taco o una bebida?” Would you like a taco or drink? My dad thought about the question, These must be the friendliest kidnappers, since they are, offering me food with the money they just took from me.

“Si, me gustaría una bebida” I’ll take a drink dad tentatively piped in. As the clock struck midnight the kidnappers got back to work. The man went back to the machine and again took the max out the maximum amount.

Then the men took dad and went back to the cab. O great what are they going to do with me now” dad thought. They placed the blindfold back over my dad’s eyes. One of the men leaned over and whispered something to the cab driver. A few moments later the car began to move. Time could not have been going any slower. Finally the cab came to a stop and the men took the blindfold off my dad. They had just stopped in the middle of the road. The men hollered at my dad,

“No le diga a la policía. No mires hacia atrás. Si lo haces te mataremos a ti y a tu familia. Recuerde que sabemos donde vives.” Don’t tell the police. Don’t look back. If you do we will kill you and your family. Remember we know where you live. The words echoed in my father’s head as he stood on the curb watching the Beetle drive away. A wave of realization hit as he dropped to his knees in sobbing emotion. Thank you, thank you Lord.  

* * *

Mom sat by the phone ever since she realized dad was missing. It was already one in the morning and she hadn’t heard from him since 10:30 when she had told him to come home.

Ring … ring… ring… Mom ran over to the phone praying it would be my dad. She started bawling in confirmation.  

“What happened, are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m okay” dad said, “I was kidnapped by a couple of guys outside of the office and they took me to the ATM and stole all of our money” dad added. Mom’s face lit up. At that point she could care less that they had taken all our money; dad was safe and that is all that mattered.

Dad explained that they had left him near the airport and needed to be picked up. Mom called one of our neighbors and told them what had happened. She asked if they would take her to the airport.

We give thanks that the story had a happy ending!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Related articles

• Kidnapped: An Adventurous Night! (diasolifeontheborder.org)
• Kidnapped: An Adventurous Night! Part 2 (diasolifeontheborder.org)