crime

Kidnapped girl released

LA PRENSA

Hospital Nicolás A. Solano1001482

A 16-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and kept captive for three months was released by her abductors yesterday in the district of Capiro.

On the night of Dec. 13, 2007, the girl and her father, Fung Xiang, were intercepted while driving to their home in the community of Sorá de Chamé after closing their business on the Panamerican Highway. The captors let Xiang go free but kept his daughter.

On Mar. 4, there was a shootout on the Plaza 5 de Mayo in Panama City, supposedly because the captors did not make good on their promise to release the girl at that time. No one was injured. Authorities were continuing to investigate the case until police from Capira found the girl yesterday in the La Pita area, in Capira. It is presumed that notice of the girl's release was given first to her family, who in turn notified agents of the Policía Nacional who moved into the area.

The girl was taken immediately to the Hospital Nicolás A. Solano in La Chorrera for a medical evaluation to determine her state of health. Agents of the Dirección de Investigación Judicial meanwhile combed the area where she was found in search of clues that would lead them to her captors.