Both parents of Liverpool star, Luis Diaz, have been kidnapped in Colombia.
The Liverpool attacker received news on Saturday that his parents, Luis Manuel Díaz and mother Cilenis Marulanda were kidnapped at gunpoint from a gas station in his native city of Barracas, Colombia.
Authorities in the Caribbean town, located in the La Guajira region, feared this would happen and had warned the parents to stay clear of their rural home.
Luis Diaz’s mother was, however, saved by local authorities, thanks to one of the checkpoints set up by local police. His father, at this time, is still missing.
The case is being handled as one of national importance. Proven by the fact that it was Colombian president Gustavo Petro who broke the news about his mother being rescued.
Diaz’s parents are thought to have been traveling to the Los Olivos neighbourhood in a van they owned on Saturday.
According to reports, police initiated a so-called “Padlock Plan”, sealing off the town.
Diala Wilches, the governor of La Guajira, said in a statement: “I reject and condemn the kidnapping of the parents of Luis Diaz, Luis Manuel Díaz, and Cilenis Marulanda, in events that occurred in Barrancas today.
“I have given instructions to the authorities to immediately implement the rescue and thereby maintain full communication with Colonel Montaña, commander of the department of La Guajira.
“To the kidnappers, we demand that they be returned immediately, safe and sound.”
The army said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Army troops support the search operation for the parents of soccer player Luis Díaz, who apparently are victims of kidnapping.”
Diaz is Colombia’s biggest star and has scored nine goals in 43 appearances for the national side.
His father previously revealed the Liverpool ace suffered from an illness that caused him to lose a dangerous amount of weight.
The tricky winger went from “chubby” to extremely skinny which could’ve cost him his life.
Diaz was born and raised in the heartland of Colombia’s largest indigenous community.