The model daughter of a British businessman is recovering from a terrifying kidnapping in Brazil.
Luciana Curtis, who has worked with the likes of Beyonce and appeared on the cover of magazines such as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, was taken hostage along with her photographer husband Henrique Gendre and their 11-year-old child as they left a restaurant in Sao Paulo. .
The armed robbers who ambushed them held them captive for about 12 hours and reportedly stole their car and took money from their bank accounts before releasing them yesterday.
According to local reports, they were held overnight in a wooden hut in Brasilandia, one of Sao Paulo’s 96 districts, with only a mattress, toilet and sink, after being driven to the cramped shelter by their captors in the family car.
Their terrifying ordeal began on Wednesday evening when they left a diner in the chic 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 and her husband and her youngest child were released by their captors when police began hunting them. They sought help from locals before being taken to safety.
Luciana Curtis, the model daughter of a British businessman, is recovering from a terrifying kidnapping in Brazil that also involved her husband and her 11-year-old child
Luciana pictured with her husband and children
The model and her family were held up in a cabin (photo)
The criminals who had taken them hostage stole their car before leaving the hideout where they had been holding them. It is believed they transferred money from the couple’s bank accounts to their own during the terrifying ordeal.
A spokesperson for 53-year-old Luciana confirmed the kidnapping to local press, adding: “The family have been released and are safe and well.”
A specialist police anti-kidnapping unit is investigating and officers have analyzed CCTV footage around the unnamed restaurant where the gang struck, located on a lane locally referred to as Avenida Pio XI.
The hut where the beautiful brunette Luciana and her family were taken has already been located by detectives and depicted in the Brazilian press.
Police 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.’
Ford Models beauty Luciana Curtis was born in Sao Paulo to British businessman father 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 and her family were rescued by the police
Luciana Curtis pictured with her husband Henrqiue Gendre
A spokesperson for Luciana confirmed the kidnapping to local media
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 with 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 along 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.’
Luciana and her husband have not yet officially commented on their ordeal.