- Luciana Curtis, 53, was taken hostage with her family in Sao Paulo last week
The model daughter of a British businessman who was kidnapped with her family in Brazil was held in a hut full of snakes and scorpions for 12 hours, a new report claims.
Luciana Curtis, 53, who has worked with the likes of Beyonce and appeared on the cover of magazines including Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, was taken hostage along with her husband, photographer Henrique Gendre, and their 11-year-old child as they left a restaurant in São Paulo last week.
The armed robbers who ambushed them held them captive for about twelve hours and reportedly stole their car and took money from their bank accounts before releasing them.
The hut contained only a mattress, a sink and a toilet and also housed scorpions and snakes, according to NewsX.
The criminals transferred money from the family’s bank accounts and stole their GWM Havaal SUV – worth about $33,000 – before letting the family go on Thursday.
Police are still searching for the suspects and plan to charge them with kidnapping, extortion and theft.
The family’s terrifying ordeal began on Wednesday evening as they left a diner in the upscale Alto do Lapa district.
The alarm was reportedly raised on Thursday morning after the eldest child of the kidnapped couple discovered that the rest of her family had not returned home and alerted a relative who called the police.
Luciana Curtis, the model daughter of a British businessman, suffered a terrifying kidnapping in Brazil that also involved her husband and her 11-year-old child
Luciana and her family were stuck in a hut with a mattress, a sink and a toilet
Luciana, her husband and her youngest child were released by their captors as the police hunt for them began. They sought help from locals before being taken to safety.
A spokesperson for Luciana confirmed the kidnapping to local press, adding: “The family has been released and they are safe and well.”
A specialist police anti-kidnapping unit has been investigating and officers have analyzed CCTV footage around the unnamed restaurant where the gang struck.
The hut where Luciana and her family were taken has already been located by detectives and pictured in the Brazilian press.
Police previously said in a statement: ‘The armed criminals approached the victims outside a restaurant and captured them.
‘During the search by specialist police teams, the gang abandoned the family and fled.’
Luciana was born in Sao Paulo to British businessman, Malcolm Leo Curtis, and Brazilian mother, Katia Maria Furtado de Mendonca Curtis.
Her main residence is in New York, although she lived in London for a number of years.
Luciana pictured with her husband and children in happier times
Luciana Curtis pictured with her husband Henrqiue Gendre
She won the Brazilian final of Supermodel of the World in 1993 after receiving an invitation to become a model while visiting a shopping center as a teenager and placing in the top four in the world final.
She went on to be the cover of a range of fashion magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire and Nova, and made advertisements for Arden B, Harrods, H&M and Victoria’s Secret, among others.
Luciana, who has 22,000 Instagram followers, made an estimated $1 million in 2001 by starring in Revlon campaigns alongside three other models.
Shortly afterwards, she joined Beyonce in the global campaign for L’Oréal’s ‘True Match’ powder and foundation.
She appeared earlier this year with other models on the cover of ELLE Brazil, where an article accompanying the photo stated: ‘The cover of ELLE Brasil #Volume16 is an ode to Brazilian supermodels who have made the profession of abroad, have appeared on the catwalks of major brands and have become muses of legendary stylists and established photographers.’