Daughter of Yuko Ikeda kidnapped to ransom in Tokyo; freed 13 hours later
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Ikeda Kanako, a 21-year-old senior student of the Meiji Gakuin University and the first daughter of celebrity surgeon Yuko Ikeda, was kidnapped at about 1225 (UTC+9), June 26, 2006, in Shibuya, Tokyo.
A bullet was fired and one officer slightly cut when police stormed a Kawasaki apartment to rescue the girl.
Kanako was dressed in a white light half-sleeved cardigan, blue jeans with a bistre belt made of leather, a spring green camisole and carried a bag of Vuitton when she was abducted at a bus stop.
She was found unharmed 13 hours later by Japanese police at a condominium located in Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The young woman's make-up was not disordered; Kanako's long brown fringe was not disheveled at all and she was wearing what she had been when she was kidnapped.
The kidnapping of Kanako was a big story in Japanese media in June, 2006. The story appeared in many newspapers as the front-page news on June 27, 2006.
Kanako and her kidnappers had been in touch with her mother using Kanako's mobile phone. The effort to free her was helped greatly by a woman who witnessed the moment Kanako was taken; she wrote down the license plate of the van and other details.
Police traced mobile phone calls and were able to locate the van in Kawasaki where they detained two of the kidnappers as they went shopping.
One conspirator Li Yong, 29, from China, led the policemen to the apartment and tricked Kaneo Ito, 49, from Japan, to open the door. Ito managed to discharge one bullet before being restrained by an assistant police inspector, the first man in the room.
The other man involved in the kidnap of Kanako was Choi Gi Ho, 54, from South Korea. Kanato was freed unharmed.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested three men on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap a woman and hold her to a reported 300 million yen ransom.
Sources
edit- The Japan Times Online. "NOTED DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER - Kidnap for ransom foiled; woman safe" — The Japan Times, June 28, 2006
- Asahi Shimbun. "Police rescue kidnapped student" — Asahi Shimbun, June 28, 2006
- MSN-Mainichi Daily News. "Celebrity surgeon's model daughter escapes kidnap ordeal unscathed" — The Mainichi Shimbun, June 27, 2006
- MSN-Mainichi Daily News. "Rescued daughter, celebrity mom meet in emotional reunion" — The Mainichi Shimbun, June 27, 2006
- MSN-Mainichi Daily News. "Celebrity surgeon whose daughter was kidnapped led lavish lifestyle" — The Mainichi Shimbun, June 27, 2006
- Kyodo News. "Kidnapped dauter of 'charismatic' surgeon rescued safely" — Kyodo News, June 27, 2006
- Asahi Shimbun. "Kanako Ikeda has an interview with several reporters - 06:13 a.m.(UTC+9), June 27, 2006; at Shibuya Police Station (last modified 16:09[UTC+9, June 27, 2006) : Asahi Shimbun Photonews - Photo Gallery]" — Asahi Shimbun, June 27, 2006 (in Japanese)
- Asahi Shimbun. "Japanese female university student (Kanako Ikeda) is kidnapped : the suspects' movement is caught with feeble radio wave of Kanako's own mobile phone" — Asahi Shimbun, June 27, 2006 (in Japanese)
- Le Monde. "Kanako Ikeda a les yeux bleus" — Le Monde, June 27, 2006 (in French)
- Jornal International Press. "Japão:Filha de médica é resgatada após sequestro" — Jornal International Press, June 27, 2006 (in Portoguese)
- A&M Leaders LP. "JEE - CRIMEN - Polici'a logra detener a secuestradores de hija de propietaria de famosa cli'nica" — A&M Leaders LP, July 4, 2006 (in Spanish)
- Hürriyet. "2.6 milyon dolarlık kurtarma:Japonya’da, bir estetik cerrahın 21 yaşındaki kızı kaçırıldı. 2.6 milyon dolar isteyen 3 fidyeci 13 saat sonra yakalandı" — Hürriyet, June 27, 2006 (in Turkish)