The defender could be asked for money from the armed kidnappers as ransom.
Reports in Italy reveal that the aunt of AC Milan centre-back Cristian Zapata has been kidnapped in his home country of Colombia.
The incident happened in Padilla in the rural region of Cauca, when a group of armed kidnappers took Limbania Zapata.
As yet police in the South American nation are unsure of the whereabouts of the 36-year-old, or if the kidnappers are seeking a ransom for her safe return.
With her nephew on a six-figure weekly sum at the San Siro there is every chance that the defender is being targeted for his money.
The kidnapping comes just a little over four years after Stoke midfielder Wilson Palacios’ brother was taken and later found murdered.
Edwin Palacios was just 15 when he was abducted in Honduras and elder brother Wilson raised money through his Premier League wages to pay the ransom demanded.
However, despite the sum being met by the Palacios family Edwin was never released and his body was found by police two years after he was originally taken.
Kidnappings of family members of footballers’ and other high profile person’s is rife in South America.
In 2005 former Manchester City forward Robinho’s mother was taken, although she was released 40 days later. Three other Brazilian footballers had their mothers kidnapped in the months following Robinho’s ordeal.
In Zapata’s home country of Colombia there is even a radio show called Heartbreak Hours, where families of kidnap victims record messages for their relatives – such is the frequency of the problem in the nation.
