A model and her family were reportedly held captive for several hours in a shack infested with snakes and scorpions in São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazilian-born Luciana Curtis, her husband Henrique Gendre, and their 11-year-old child were approached by armed individuals and abducted as they were leaving a restaurant in an upscale São Paolo neighborhood on November 27, the New York Post reported on Monday:

Police said the suspects abducted them, forced them to transfer money, and stole their SUV before holding the family captive for 12 hours in a shack that contained a mattress, toilet, sink, and the crawling creatures.

When the couple didn’t come home, their older child, who did not accompany them to the restaurant, “alerted relatives.”

Video footage shows law enforcement searching for the family:

The shack was located in the Brasilandia area of São Paolo, according to the Post. The outlet noted the family was freed early Thursday.

The Post reported that as “specialist police teams” searched for the family, “the gang abandoned the family and fled,” according to police.

Police are still trying to find the suspects in the case. When they locate them, authorities plan to charge them with kidnapping, extortion, and robbery.

“Curtis, who was born in São Paulo, is the daughter of British businessman Malcolm Leo Curtis. She lives in New York but splits time between São Paulo and London,” the Post article said.

According to Fox 11, a family representative said they are “safe and well” following the harrowing experience.

A Brazilian businessman was fatally shot at Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo, the BBC reported November 8. The victim reportedly had ties to one of Brazil’s major criminal groups and had received death threats.

The outlet continued:

Antônio Vinicius Gritzbach had recently entered into a plea bargain with local prosecutors to provide information about Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) – or First Capital Command.

…

The PCC was formed in the early 1990s and has gone on to become one of Brazil’s most feared drug gangs. Its members, however, are not confined to Latin America.

“São Paulo’s organised crime taskforce estimated in 2023 that PCC makes almost $1bn (£773,000,000) from international cocaine trafficking,” the report said.