Violet Ripken, matriarch of the Ripken baseball family, was resting with relatives Wednesday afternoon after police said she was abducted at gunpoint from her Aberdeen home and driven around the area for nearly a day.
According to Aberdeen police, Ripken, 74, was approached at her home by a male suspect between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. The man produced a handgun, forced Ripken into her 1998 Lincoln Continental, and fled the area.
At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Trabert said a motive for Ripken’s abduction remained unknown, as well as whether any of her credit or ATM cards were used. He said police were not aware of any demand for ransom.
No signs of foul play were evident at her home, according to Lt. Fred Budnick, spokesman for the Aberdeen Police Department, and Ripken’s absence was not noted for most of the day.
Budnick said Aberdeen police were contacted by Baltimore County officers at approximately 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, after a caller reported seeing a suspicious vehicle in the area of Ebenezer Road near Essex in southeastern Baltimore County. Trabert declined to specify where the car was sighted, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
Budnick said the caller was able to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle which, when run through a database, showed the vehicle was Ripken’s. Baltimore County police alerted Aberdeen police, triggering an investigation into her whereabouts.
Baltimore County police issued a missing person advisory shortly after 5:30 a.m. The search was called off less than an hour later, when Ripken was located in the rear of her vehicle at approximately 6:15 a.m. not far from her residence. Aberdeen police said her hands were bound at the time.
She was evaluated by paramedics, police said, but was uninjured. Budnick said she was resting at a relative’s home Wednesday afternoon.
“As you now know, our mother was abducted at gunpoint from her home yesterday morning,” Cal, Bill, Elly, and Fred Ripken wrote in a joint statement. “This has been a very trying time for our family, but we are grateful and relieved that mom is back with us, safe and healthy. We want to thank everyone for their tremendous support, especially all of the law enforcement agencies that worked so hard and quickly. This is an on ongoing investigation, so we hope everyone understands that we cannot comment further at this time. Thank you.”
It was unclear whether the suspect knew Ripken’s identity, or whether she was targeted. “It’s still very early in the investigation,” Budnick said.
Police described the suspect as a white male in his late 30s to early 40s. He was last seen wearing a light colored shirt, camo pants and eye glasses, and is still believed to be armed with a handgun.
The FBI, Harford County Sheriff’s Department, Maryland State Police and Baltimore County Police are assisting Aberdeen police in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Section of the Aberdeen Police Department at 410-272-2121.
From Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Trabert:
Aberdeen Police Department determined that Ms Ripken was missing after receiving a call from Baltimore COunty Police Department about approximately 8:30p. At which time APD immediately began a missing persons search for Ms Ripken. Detectives worked through out the night to locate Ms Ripken based on the information provided and issuin a missing person’s alert to the media at approximately 5:30am. Ms Ripken was located at approximately 6:15am in close proximity to her home.
Baltimore County Police Departments original information received indicated that Ms Ripken’s vehicle, 1998 Silver Lincoln Town Car was seen in Ebnezer Road area of Baltimore County (Essex Precinct). We are unable to disclose the exact location at this time, as this is an active ongoing investigation.
To reconfirm, we will not be able to speak to motive at this time.
From the Aberdeen Police Department:
Aberdeen, Maryland- July 25, 2012- Vi Ripken is safe and with her family after being abducted from her residence yesterday morning.
Between 7 and 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, a male subject approached Mrs. Ripken at her residence, produced a handgun, forced Ripken into her vehicle and fled the area.
The Aberdeen Police received a call from the Baltimore County Police last night at about 8:30. County Police said they had received a call about a suspicious vehicle in the Ebenezer Road area of the county. Information that was obtained in this call lead to the investigation of Mrs. Ripken’s whereabouts.
At about 6:15 this morning, Mrs. Ripken was located unharmed in her vehicle in close proximity to her residence. She was assessed by paramedics but was not injured and is now resting with family members.
Police are looking for a white male, late 30s to early 40s last seen wearing a light colored shirt, camo pants and eye glasses. The male was armed with a handgun.
The FBI, Harford County Sheriff’s Department, Maryland State Police and the Baltimore County Police are assisting in the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Section of the Aberdeen Police Department at 410-272-2121.
I hope the police are close to catching this lunatic, perhaps a sketch of the subject should be released.
Thank God Ms. Vi wasn’t injured, or worse. Maybe now her children can convince her to get out of Aberdeen.
Yeah that’s right, she couldn’t have been abducted anywhere else.
I agree with the sentiment thanking God that Ms. Vi was not hurt.
Why should she get out of Aberdeen? Many parts of Aberdeen are lovely neighborhoods, including mine and Ms. Vi’s. If you could lower your nose long enough to look around, you might recognize that.
Sounds fishy. Was she really abducted and then returned to her neighbourhood? Joyriding with Miss Daisy.
Hazard Native, you disgust me with your ignorance.
Good job by APD, BCOPD, the Feds and all others. Also good job by the citizens who called the tips in. @ Hazzard native and Get out of here, keep living in your bubble. Crime is everywhere in this county not just Aberdeen, and what sounds fishy? Sick peeople live in this world, whoever did this needs help and I question you saying “maybe her children can convince her to get out of Aberdeen” or that its “Fishy”. Not all criminals live in Aberdeen maybe this idiot was from northern Harford County, what will you say then? Not all crimes are fishy. I am shocked that you would make such comments.
I agree something doesn’t add up, I wonder (on a serious note) if she is suffering from dementia and some how this is related. Seems unlikely someone would just drive her around for hours and not harm her or demand something…. as far as the location in reality the whole Route 40 stretch is trash in my opinion and just keeps getting worse.
The police repots for July 23/24 have this:
“A caller from the 400 block of Clover Street reported Tuesday that a man had an elderly woman tied up in the back of a four-door Lincoln.”
So she tied herself up and got in the back seat. You are ridiculous.
Now with more information I retract my dementia comment. Still very odd though
Real thanks to God for nosey neighbors not afraid to call the police. We have a lady in our neighborhood who watches out for all of us and has helped police solve some nuisance crimes. So thank God for the Ebenezer Road person who took action.
In response to the “get out of Aberdeen” comment…
If you read the Dagger, I think Bel Air and Abingdon has a larger list of crimes being reported than Aberdeen these days. I’ve lived in Aberdeen for three years now but grew up in Bel Air…still feel as safe as I did living in Bel Air. I live in a fairly new community with great neighbors and a diversity of children playing around me. Are there questionable areas and questionable people around me…of course…it’s everywhere! Teenagers in Baldwin and Fallston are on drugs just as much as the ones in Aberdeen…only they can afford it where the kids in Aberdeen have to sell it to afford it. Aberdeen gets a bad reputation because it’s visible to the public and isn’t covered up by politicians or people with connections. It’s easier to blame a convenient target like Aberdeen because we are small. The problem isn’t the people of Aberdeen, it’s the people who travel THROUGH Aberdeen from the outskirts on route 40 or 95. Do you think people commit crimes in their own neighborhoods…NO…they go places where they aren’t recognized. Look at the stats of people committing crimes in Aberdeen and stop pointing the finger. I can’t stand people who complain about issues but never have a solution! If you feel that strongly about it, do some community service or volunteer to help; after all, you travel down 22, route 40 and 95 to get to work or run errands so don’t crap where you eat!
I am glad that Mrs. Ripken in safe but saddened by the immediate reaction of some who blame Aberdeen and the victim.
I know “Vi” and knew her husband, Cal Sr. They lived in Aberdeen by choice and were well respected by the community. Certainly they could have lived anywhere else, but this was and is the family home.
Please don’t take a tragic event and use it as an excuse to bad mouth any portion of Harford County. Be grateful that Mrs. Ripken is safe and with her family. Perhaps you are also safe and with your own family.
I love Harford County and I am not naive. I know that some sections have an appearance of being more desirable than others, but a house is not a home. I have met some great people from some very troubled towns and neighborhods. The zip codes don’t determine the value of a person, character does.
I have never lived in Aberdeen. I have worked there and I visit regularly. Will I be more cautious when I’m in the city of Aberdeen? No more than I am anywhere else. Crime is mobile and if you aren’t on alert everywhere you are fooling yourself.
WELCOME HOME VI! We’re glad you’re safe.
to be fair, none of what we’ve been informed of makes any sense whatsoever….I’m glad for the Ripken family she is o.k., but the circumstances and information thus far are not ‘o.k.’.
People need to keep in mind that law enforcement agencies will not release all of what they know. There are details that will not come out if the suspect has not been apprehended, and still more details that will not be released until the trial, if there is one. You are right: there are holes in the story, and a lot of it does not make sense. That does not make it ‘fishy’ or ‘not o.k.’. It just means that not everything has been disclosed. Unless you are someone investigating the crime, you probably do not need to know those details, anyway.
Something smells fishy about this whole incident.
Like everyone else, I have a theory, but it is only that: a theory. I think there is a very real possibility that this is a guy who planned to hold Ms. Vi for ransom, but lost his nerve. There is also the very real possibility that spending that much time with Ms. Vi convinced him that she is not someone who deserves such treatment, and that is why he released her. If he took the opportunity to speak to her, he would have quickly seen what a wonderful human being she is.