Husband of kidnapped Venezuelan begs: Bring back my wife

GREVIC ALVARADO and SHANE SUPERVILLE

The husband of a 22-year-old Venezuelan woman who was kidnapped from her Wallerfield home early on Tuesday morning made an impassioned plea to her kidnappers to release her safely.

Maryeisy Carolina Baldallo was in the bedroom of her Demerara Road home with her husband Jofre Piñero Herrera at around 2.19 am when four men armed with guns cut the locks on their front gate and stormed the house.

Three other Venezuelan men live at the house. The men are friends with Herrera and Baldallo.

One of them was not at home at the time of the kidnapping.

Herrera saw the men and managed to escape. The other men in the house were tied up and put in a bedroom.

The bandits covered Baldallo in a towel, put her in the back seat of a black Mitsubishi SUV and drove off.

They stole a television set, a microwave, cellphones and two weedwackers.

Speaking with Newsday in a phone interview on Tuesday, Herrera said he heard the dogs barking and left the room to see what was happening.

"I saw two men walking toward the front door of the house, armed, with their faces covered. I suspected something was up. I was able to get out the back door of the house and went to the road for help."

He said he tried to stop four passing vehicles, but none stopped.

"When I returned home a few minutes later, I saw that the criminals fled the scene in a black van. I couldn't see the licence plates or the model of the vehicle," he said.

Herrera said when he got back to the house, one of the men who was tied up told him his wife was taken.

He said the men, who spoke in English, asked them for money.

Newsday visited the house on Tuesday and spoke with Herrera, who called on the captors to release his wife.

He said up to Tuesday afternoon the kidnappers had not contacted him for a ransom, and said he did not have much money.

"I'm not even thinking about the material things we lost right now. My mind is only preoccupied on my wife's safety.

"I would like them to return my wife. I's only been a short period of time she has been here in Trinidad. This girl has her own family."

Herrera says he has lived in Trinidad for the past three years and was robbed once at the house in 2020.

Their children, a six-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl, have stayed in Venezuela.

He says Baldallo's parents, who have also remained in Venezuela, have been told about the incident and were also fearful for her safety.

"They're very sad and worried right now and they're waiting for whatever updates from this incident."

Herrera works as a mechanic, doing various odd jobs nearby with other relatives, who are also mechanics.

Hesaid Baldallo worked at a bar near the Arima Dial and never had problems with safety after work.

One senior police officer in the Northern Division said as of Tuesday afternoon there were no updates on Baldallo's kidnapping. He said while inquiries were still in the early stage the police were committed to finding her. The officer said he was also waiting for updates from his subordinates.

"We have the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) and our Arima CID on the ground looking for her.

"Thus far we don't have any motive as yet. We haven't gotten too much details to establish why anyone would want to kidnap her."

He said Demerara Road was known as a "high-crime" area.

On January 18, 19-year-old Steven Castillo was gunned down at his Peters Avenue, Demerara Road, home. On Holy Thursday night another 19-year-old, Josiah Maloney, was shot dead while preparing dinner at his home, also on Demerara Road.

Another officer said three Venezuelans were expected to be interviewed on Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone with information on Baldallo's location is asked to contact the police at 999, Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS) or the Anti-Kidnapping Unit at 623-6793.