A British rancher in Brazil claims his wife arranged for him to be kidnapped and sent to an illegal rehab facility after he refused to pay for her family’s plane ticket to visit them for Christmas.
Robert Witchell, 59, was locked up for a month before he was able to escape the clinic in Caldas Novas, Goias state, and tell his desperate story to police.
He told detectives that he had been shopping shortly before Christmas when he was snatched from the street by four burly men, who put him in the back of a car.
He was then driven 90 minutes to the Novo Dia, or New Day, rehab facility and locked up until police rescued him on January 22.
Witchell says he was told his wife had signed the order for his detention in the “private prison” because of his drinking.
In reality, he told police, they had fallen out when he refused to pay to fly her entire family in to spend Christmas with them.
Robert Witchell speaks to police officers outside the prison where he was held for a month
The photo shows the clinic where the Englishman was held in Caldas Novas, Brazil, undated
In an extraordinary video interview, Witchell, wearing a green T-shirt and faded jeans, tells police how he had been standing outside a store when he was kidnapped.
He said, “I was standing outside a store near my ranch. I was talking to a friend when four people came up to me and three of them grabbed me by the arms and legs.
‘They said, ‘You’re coming to the clinic. You have drinking problems, blah blah blah, you have to come with us.”
Witchell said he told them, “I’m not going anywhere with you guys. It’s a kidnapping.’
He said they replied, “We called. We are authorized to arrest you by force.”
Witchell was then allegedly physically lifted and bundled into the back of a car and driven to the clinic for 90 minutes.
In the Jan. 24 interview, he adds, “They put me there and locked me in a room.”
Witchell says, “My wife had signed the consent to put me there, I think, because of an argument we had at Christmas.
“She wanted her family to come and I said I couldn’t afford it. And then suddenly there are people kidnapping me.’
Witchell was only saved when he managed to email a friend from a computer he gained access to who called the police.
Police have since closed the Novo Dia clinic and its unnamed manager has been charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment.
A statement from the Goias Military Police read: ‘The military police closed this Tuesday (January 23) a recovery clinic for drug users at Residencial Eldorado PARK II, in Caldas Novas, following a request for assistance from a prisoner of English nationality who was being held . in this private prison.”
They added: ‘The Englishman was rescued from the clinic after he reported the irregularities via email, claiming that he had been kidnapped by four men, believed to be employees of the clinic, about 30 days ago and that he had been in custody ever since. had been in prison. .’
Briton Robert Witchell, 59, speaks to police officers in undated footage
“In an interview with the victim, he stated that his wife asked him for a large amount of money around December 15,” the statement continued.
‘Faced with his refusal, his partner, without judicial permission, hired a clinic in Caldas Novas, which kidnapped him, forced him and held him in a private prison.’
There is no information about Witchell’s current condition and his wife has not been mentioned.
The investigation continues.