Footballer’s Family Kidnapped, while he Hid Under Bed | Jackson Rodriguez

Love and Murder goes overseas for Foreign Affairs Friday

In today’s episode, I have a new segment for you. One minute, a rising football star was living out his dream. The next, his family had vanished into the night. And a race against time started along the dangerous streets of Guayaquil. Welcome, LaMs. Welcome to love and murder, heartbreak to homicide. Today we’re going to take a little step away from our normal Florida Man Friday and, and we’re going to head overseas for Foreign Affairs Friday. Now, every so often, we’re going to go into cases from around the world, proven that heartbreak and homicide knows no borders. I decided to do today’s episode because I saw this case, I think, on Wednesday and I looked it up today right before I was about to put out your regular Florida Man Friday and I saw there was an update. Now, the case is so, uh, outlandish. Just, you’ll see what I’m saying and I want to hear your thoughts. I, I’m uncharacteristically not giving you my thoughts for a reason. You know what? Screw that. I’m going to give you my thoughts, but I want to hear your thoughts on this case. But before we get into that, hi, my name is Ky. I should have said that at the beginning. Go ahead, put your feet up, take a listen all the way to the end. Uh, this case is going to kind of have you heated, shocked and heated. I want to hear your thoughts. Go ahead and subscribe so you don’t miss any more cases. And, and also, if you like my retelling of the case, don’t forget to leave a five star review on whatever platform you’re on. If you can leave a review, you can also subscribe over on our Patreon patreon.com loveandmurder where as a free subscriber, you do get some benefits. But I do invite you to choose one of our bonus tiers so that you can be a sponsor of Love and Murder and help these victims stories continue being heard. Also, part of what you get are bonus episodes, case files, videos of the case. Like this case actually has a video of the rescue. And you’ll get that by being a supporter of the lam fam and so much more. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder.

Jackson Rodriguez’s wife and 5-year-old son were kidnapped in Ecuador

Now, without further ado, let’s get into today’s story. Today’s story started just after 3am on April 23, 2025. So like I said, as of this recording, it was just the other day and I saw it on the day it happened because I was surprised. I was like, wait, I read the headline Basically, let’s get into this and forgive me, these are going to be possible words that I’m not going to get correct. So forgive me. The 911 call came in from the Mucho Latte 2 neighborhood, or I guess it’ll be Dos neighborhood in, uh, Guayaquil, Ecuador. A terrified man was reporting that armed men had broken into his home. His wife and 5 year old son were missing. That man was Jackson Rodriguez, a 27 year old defender for the Club Sport MLEC, one of Ecuador’s biggest football teams. So who is Jackson? Jackson Rodriguez was a key player for mllec, a club based in Guadalquil that competes in the Ligra Pro, the highest tier football pro in Ecuador. When I say football, for us Americans it’s soccer. For the rest of the world it’s football. Me growing up in a household that’s not American, I heard football, so I heard football and I heard American football. But also I know the difference in the United States, soccer and football. So I’m going to say football because this is Foreign Affairs Friday and this is what the reports say. So just for my American listeners, when I say football, in this case I mean soccer. Jackson had made nine appearances for the club this season. Basically, Jackson was living the dream of a professional footballer in his home country. This port city in Ecuador was described as one of the most dangerous places in the country. Guayaquil, once known for its ports and commerce, is now infamous as a drug trafficking hub. Ecuador had declared a state of emergency 10 days earlier to the kidnapping in nine areas including the Guayas province where Guayaquil is located. Officials attributed the widespread violence and abductions to organized crime. The country was home to around 20 criminal gangs involved in activities like trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. The statistics showed that between January and March, 742 violent deaths were reported in Guayaquil. Ecuador’s ah, murder rate was quote between five and six times that of the U.S. according to reports, Ecuador ah, is home to about 20 active gangs with names like Los Lobos, Los Generos and even Los Freddy Kruegers, which that kind of sounds. And I shouldn’t have said that with an accent, huh huh. But when you put los in front of it, but anyways, that kind of sounds scary. The Freddy Krueger’s. Yeesh. Now back to the case. According to Police reports, around 2:50am M. Jackson, quote, heard his front door being broken in by a large sledgehammer. In a panic, he hid under his bed listening as heavily armed masked men, uh, stormed through his Home. Now I know what you’re thinking. He hid under his bed. So he literally has his wife and children with him under the bed. Right. And they’re all just listening all together, waiting for these people A, to come and get them or B to give up and leave. Right. Okay, keep listening. Jackson, uh, later told police that he heard the intruders asking his wife where he was. So they weren’t under the bed with him. So this dude heard people breaking into his house and ran a hit under the bed. My mind is beyond just blown. It’s just I, I, I divorce. That’s all I know. Divorce. Jackson said the men were there for him. That’s what he discerned when he heard them asking his wife where he was. But when they couldn’t find him, they took the next most precious thing they could find. His wife, Andrexi um Carreles, and their five year old son. Now in the reports, her name is Andrexi Kareles, but they called her Andrexi O. She probably was like, look, I’m Andrexi. Oh, don’t call me. I don’t want to be associated with this is alleged. Look, I’m just going by what I’m thinking. Like somebody breaks into my house and the person who’s supposed to be protecting this family hid under the bed and let us get taken. I don’t want to be associated with this person, especially my child. Like so they took her and they took, uh, their five year old son. You didn’t even come out to defend our child, let alone me, but our child. I didn’t want to share my thoughts on this episode because I wanted, I wanted to hear your thoughts. But it’s so hard because this whole thing is like blowing my frickin mind right now. The masked man also ransacked Jackson’s home, stealing, quote, jewelry and money. Jackson said that he then watched, he then watched through a window. Yo, yo. So first he hides under the bed. Then as they’re taking his wife and kids, he’s just looking out the window. Oh, let me make sure I could get that license plate number. Wow. Then he watched through the window as the kidnappers left, telling police that, quote, the individuals were traveling in a gray colored double cab pickup truck. As the sun rose, Jackson immediately reported the kidnapping to police. So pause. What I’m thinking, I still can’t justify, I just, I really tried, I really tried to justify his hiding because I was thinking maybe he thought if they got him, they would kill him immediately and leave his wife and kids. Then I thought maybe he thought like If I hide, I, I can report what happened, but I still can’t justify that because I’m just like, wouldn’t you give yourself up and say, hey, leave my wife and child alone? Then maybe they can report it. But I guess maybe the thinking, see, I’m still on the fence here. Um, I guess maybe the thinking is also they wouldn’t leave anybody alive to be able to report anything. So. But I mean, it’s the initial act that’s getting me because even before they got in the house, you didn’t even try to save your family. You hid like you could have at least initially tried to hide your family. And then you try to hide is that initial act that’s getting me. You know what I’m saying? Anyways, he told the cops, the police immediately launched an operation to find his family. And investigators, uh, also confirmed that there had been no prior threats made against him. And so this was just an out of the blue kidnapping that was aimed at him, just immediately aimed at him, and appeared to be the targeted attack for a ransom. According to the Ecuadorian police, the kidnappers had demanded, quote, a large sum of money for their safe release. Over the next 48 hours, authorities checked the suspects to a derelict building in EL14, another rough neighborhood in Guayaquil. Armed officers stormed the property in the early hours of today, April 25, 2025, as of this recording today, with their guns drawn, and they were able to rescue Andrexi and her son safely. Now, like I did mention earlier, I did find the video showing the cops saving the family. And you can get that in a Patreon, part of the bonuses for being part of the lamp fam.

Family of Ecuadorian footballer Jackson Rodriguez kidnapped and released after successful rescue operation

Patreon.com loveandmurder the video showed the victims being carried out by tactical teams, confirming they were, quote, safe and unharmed. The Ecuadorian National Police then released a statement, quote, following the effective investigative and operational work for the Ecuadorian police, we released Andrexi O and her son, relatives of Jackson Rodriguez. They were kidnapped in Mucho Lotte and their perpetrators were demanding a large sum of money for their reliefs. They are in safekeeping. And Club Sport MLEK also issued a statement saying, quote, according to the information already released by the competent authorities, the victims of the kidnapping in Guayaquil, relatives of our player Jackson Rodriguez, uh, had have been released. We are grateful for the effective investigative and operational work of the national police which led to the release of his loved ones. Both victims are safe and sound. Club, uh, Sport Emelech asks that the privacy of the family be respected at this time. Local Media reported that the police were also providing protection to Jackson. So while they were searching for his family, they had him under protective detail. And now that his family is found, they’re all under protective detail. It was believed that he had, quote, not received any prior threats or uh, warning that he was being targeted, which I said before, but that was the quote that was given. Sadly, the kidnapping of Jackson’s family was not an isolated incident. Sources reveal a disturbing pattern of violence targeting footballers in Ecuador. In December 2024, Pedro Pelaza, a player for the Quinto based Liga de Qu? Quito, was kidnapped in the city of Esmeraldas. He was found, quote, alive a few days later. In January 2024, Chelsea reportedly began paying for the protection of Kendry Paz and his family. Kendry, a, uh, teenager signed by Chelsea from Independiente del Valle. Oh my God, my accent is terrible. In 2023, was still playing in Ecuador and could not move to London until he turned 18. In 2025, Chelsea ext offer of protection to Moises Sacedo. I think that’s his name. C A I C E D O Another Ecuadorian midfielder whose family still lived in the country. Moises had also expressed, quote, worry for his family. Now, even beyond Ecuador, players have been targeted. In 2023, Liverpool star Luis Diaz’s parents were kidnapped in Colombia. His father was held hostage for 12 days by a guerrilla group ELN before being freed. Like, truthfully, this has to be completely terrifying. Completely terrifying. I couldn’t even imagine. Kidnapping athletes families is fast becoming a disturbing trend in some parts of South America. Now the report said in South America, but no, I’m going to say in some parts of South America because I don’t want people to believe that the entire continent of South America is just like kidnapping footballers families. While the sources detail the kidnappings and the successful rescue operation, they do not provide any information regarding the arrest of the perpetrators. The focus remains on the victim’s safe recovery. Despite the happy ending, the trauma of what happened will stay with Jackson Rodriguez and his family forever. I don’t want to sound like a complete douchebag, but I’m pretty sure it will stay with his family more. I mean, it is traumatizing that your family got stolen, but on the flip side, you didn’t even try to hide them. Like that’s like somebody pulling a gun and you grabbing your wife and pushing her in front of you. Like that’s, that’s kind of what it’s giving, you know what I’m saying? Like somebody says, I’m going to kick your butt, and you pick up your son and put him in front of you. That’s. As a wife, I would never be able to get that out of my head. Uh, I don’t think the marriage is going to last because I would never be able to get that out of my head. Every time there’s trouble, I think that you are going to now make me your shield or our children your shield. I’m not having any more children with you also. And I’m never leaving my children alone with you because I can’t fathom, I can’t see that you’re going to protect them because when there was a situation that occurred, like, words are words. You can say, oh, I’ll die for you. I gave bullet wall, I’ll protect you. Words are words. Actions speak louder than words. And I can understand. He was scared. I’m not saying. I’m not saying men can’t be scared. Of course, you’re a human being. What I’m saying is you didn’t even try. You didn’t even try to save your family. You heard that bang, bang, bang, and immediately ran under your bed and left your wife and child and child to fend for themselves like it wasn’t even a second thought. And I’m gonna say this is just my opinions. Just my opinions. Maybe he has his reasons. I don’t know. Maybe she knows his reasons, so she ain’t going anywhere. I don’t know. But I’m just saying my opinions. I don’t think in my marriage that wouldn’t fly for me. It wouldn’t. Because now you’re just. You’re not the protector. I’m the protector. You know what I’m saying? I’m the protector in the house now. I’m the man of the house. Like, I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, as, uh, the new generation like to say. It’s giving me the ick. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t know. I want to hear from you. And this is why I had to bring this case, because I wanted to hear from you. I really tried to justify it, and I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I just. The initial action of hearing the noise and immediately running under the bed without second thought of his family, that just gave me the ick. You know what I’m saying? The rise of violence and kidnappings in Ecuador is tied to the explosion of drug cartels and gang wars. Guayaquil, in particular, has become a trafficking point for cocaine attracting powerful and brutal organized crime groups. In March 2025, a gang attack left 22 dead in Guayaquil. In February, clashes between rival gangs killed another 14 people. While this particular story had a fortunate ending with a safe return, the underlying issues of organized crime and the targeting of high profile individuals remain of significant concern. The football community and the nation at large can only hope for lasting solutions that ensure the safety and well being of its citizens.

Did you like Foreign Affairs Fridays? Let me know in the comments below

And that is the first Foreign Affairs Friday case that I wanted to bring you. Did you like the Foreign Affairs Fridays? Let me know in the comments below. We’re still going to do Florida Man Friday, but I think we might interchange it with Foreign Affairs Fridays. I want to hear from you on this case. What did you think looking online? I’m going to tell you right now, everybody has the same thoughts as me. I have not seen, uh, one comment. I have not seen one social media post. I have not seen one article that says the opposite or gave him the benefit of the doubt. And trust me LaMs I tried because I like seeing things from both sides and trying to make excuses and make sure that I see every angle. And I really tried. But that initial act is what killed everything for me. Like, I, I can’t get past the initial act. So anyways, that’s all I have for you for Foreign Affairs Friday. I, uh, I’m going to break my leg trying to get into our comments because I want to see what y’all have to say. Seriously, if you’ve never left a comment before, today is a day to leave a comment. I want to hear what you have to say on this case. Let me know in the comments below. And that is all I have for you today. Don’t forget to go ahead and check out our Patreon to become part of the LaM Fam. Your support will help these cases continue being heard. This is my full time job and for me to continue doing that. I do ask for your support and in exchange for your support, you do get bonus episodes, you do get bonus case files and all of that as a thank you for supporting the podcast. Patreon.com loveandmurder thank you for listening all the way to the end. Thank you for being a lamb. Thank thank you for all of your support and I will see you in the next episode. Adios. Uh.