Spanish electronic band Delorean were kidnapped from their Mexico City hotel earlier this week. According to reports, the touring quartet received a phone call at their Four Points hotel room Monday morning from a person posing as a security officer, who urged the band to relocate to a different hotel because of impending violence in the area. When they complied, they were held hostage in what police called a “virtual kidnapping.”
According to the Los Angeles Times: “[M]embers of the group were held for several days in a hotel while terrified family members were told to pay a large ransom or they’d be harmed. ‘Virtual kidnapping’ is a new form of crime in Mexico, in which the perpetrators play on fears of violence to extract ransoms even when the victims aren’t in immediate danger.”
With the aide of international authorities, Delorean were eventually freed without incident or on Tuesday.
Las Policías española y mexicana y la Ertzaintza liberan a los 4 miembros del grupo #indie Delorean, víctimas de un secuestro en México D.F.
— Policía Nacional (@policia) October 8, 2013
Earlier today, the band made a statement regarding their ordeal, clarifying some reports, and asking for privacy. Seems the whole thing was more serious than a “virtual” crime.
On Monday morning October 7th we received a phone call at our hotel room in Mexico City from a person posing as a hotel security officer. We were informed that there was a security threat at the hotel.
What followed for the next 30 hours was an experience where the threat of death was real due to the psychological manipulation inflicted on us by our kidnappers. Thanks to the fantastic work of the National Police in Spain, Ertzantza, Interpol and the Federal Police in Mexico, we were successfully rescued yesterday morning.
While it would be convenient to blame Mexico, that would not be sound. This could have occurred anywhere in the world. Our hope is that this situation will bring attention to the abuse that we were subjected to by our kidnappers, so that other travelers do not fall victim in the future.
This has been extremely difficult for us and our families. At this time we have no further comment and we ask that you respect our privacy so that we can return to normality in our lives.
According to the band’s Facebook page, their tour picks back up October 16 at the Magic Stick in Detroit, and comes to the Sinclair in Cambridge on October 19. Delorean is currently on tour supporting new record Apar, which was released September 10.