RantCrush Top 5: August 9, 2017

A 20-year-old British glamour model who claims to have been kidnapped and stuffed into a bag was apparently seen shopping with one of her alleged kidnappers in Milan. Chloe Ayling said she was kidnapped after traveling to Italy for a photoshoot, and then drugged and put in a suitcase because the kidnappers wanted to sell her online. She was released and dropped off at the British consulate in Milan on July 17 after she told the kidnappers she had a two-year-old at home, she claimed. But the case has become more complicated, as a salesperson in a shoe store said she sold Ayling a pair of shoes while she was supposedly with her kidnappers.

British model’s kidnapping story gets even stranger – and so does the story of her alleged captor. https://t.co/0NuGEmf4Rr

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 8, 2017

Ayling said she didn’t have a reasonable explanation, except that she saw cooperation with the kidnapper as a way to possibly escape. However, she didn’t escape and didn’t tell anyone what was going on, until she was later dropped off at the consulate. A Polish citizen residing in Britain has been arrested and charged with the kidnapping, but police are looking for three to four other suspects. The kidnappers also asked the model’s agency for a $300,000 ransom. Now, many are speculating that the weird story was a publicity stunt.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.