| anidifranco |
12-19-2003 01:09 AM |
Woman Kidnapped, Released After Autographing 15 Nude Calendars
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- After kidnapping and robbing Venezuelan model Veruska Ramirez, thieves asked the former Miss Universe finalist to sign her latest calendar as a memento, the model's manager said Thursday.
Ramirez, a former Miss Venezuela, was robbed of a large quantity of foreign currency and personal belongings and then kidnapped from her car for roughly three hours in the central city of Valencia last week, Luigi Ratino told the Associated Press.
The thieves saw a box in her car containing 15 calendars containing nude pictures of Ramirez. They asked her to autograph the calendars and made off with them, leaving her on a city street, said Ratino.
"They were surprised when they asked her name and discovered that it was the famous Miss Venezuela," said Ratino. "The funniest (part) is that they made off with 15 calendars."
The brunette, who won the Miss Venezuela title in 1997 and was a finalist in the Miss Universe pageant the following year, was not mistreated by the thieves, Ratino added.
"They didn't harm her, didn't touch her," he said.
Police were investigating the incident.
Venezuelan contestants have won the Miss Universe crown four times. Mariangel Ruiz, Miss Venezuela 2002, was a finalist at this year's Miss Universe pageant held in Panama.
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