She was missing for 12 hours before her disappearance was reported to police, at which point an extensive search began. A neighbor told the paper that Vi Ripken, who was 74 years old at the time, told him that she was approached by a man in the garage of her home in Aberdeen sometime between a. The neighbor also said that she was given food and cigarettes and was never harmed before being returned the following morning at around a. Another neighbor, who was returning home from an overnight shift at a warehouse, saw Vi Ripken waving a white sweater out of the car window and called the police.
The suspect was described as a white man in his late 30s or early 40s and no motive was given, although Cal Ripken Jr. The case remains unsolved to this day. Bill Ripken played second base in the major leagues. He and Cal Ripken Jr. After the gunman left, Vi Ripken honked her car's horn until a neighbor found her, Kowalewski said. He said he was surprised the honking didn't wake him up.
Someone reported a suspicious car to authorities and she was found, police said. Ripken is founding chairwoman of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which, according to its website, helps to build character for disadvantaged young people. Besides Cal and Bill, she has another son and a daughter. Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken has no formal role with the Orioles but has spoken about his desire to return to the team.
Ripken works as a studio analyst for TBS during its postseason baseball coverage. He is a pitchman for brands including Energizer, Under Armour and Chevrolet. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Ripken's mom abducted but found unharmed. Baltimore Orioles. Atlanta Braves. At 74 years old, Violet Ripken had a daily routine, which began at around the same time every morning. It started with her getting the newspaper from her front porch, and eventually led to her making a trip to her nearby McDonald's.
It was a routine that her neighbors and friends had picked up on over the years especially her next-door neighbors, who had lived next to her for more than 30 years. However, it was later theorized that this routine might have been noticed by someone with intentions that were anything but pure. On July 24th, - a Tuesday - Violet's morning routine unfolded as it always did.
It was a warm summer day in Aberdeen, Maryland - about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore - and Violet was preparing to leave the home she had lived in for approximately 46 years. Some time between and AM, Violet entered her garage, and was greeted by a horrifying sight: a strange man was standing in her garage, seemingly waiting for her.
He was wearing a ski-mask and gloves, and was holding a handgun. He directed Violet towards her own vehicle: a silver Lincoln Town Car. There, Violet was bound and blindfolded. The man bound her ankles and wrists with rope, and originally planned to wrap duct tape over her eyes and put her in the trunk.
However, she seems to have pleaded with him not to - due to her suffering from claustrophobia - and the man seemed to show pity upon her.
He instead placed the duct tape over her glasses, which kept her mostly in the dark, and allowed her to sit in the backseat. This allowed her to see a little bit through her peripheral vision. Later, the man seemed to realized this and replaced the duct tape with a mask of some sort, which more completely blocked her vision.
In the backseat of her own car, Violet Ripken was driven away from her home. The man didn't seem to tell her where she was going - or why he was taking her - but seemed to drive her around for most of the day. Eventually, he put a white shirt or a sheet over the back window on the driver's side, in an attempt to hide Violet from the world at-large.
Violet's abductor seemed to make multiple stops for gas and food, and seemed to not be overly malicious or harmful. He kept reassuring her that he wasn't going to harm her, and even shared cigarettes and fast food with the woman.
It seemed like he didn't even know who she was, making no mention of her baseball-playing husband or son. In fact, he seemed oblivious to the fact entirely, and just kept driving around the Baltimore region for several hours. For more than 12 hours, no one was aware that Violet Ripken had been abducted. Since she lived alone and autonomously, it wasn't until roughly PM that she was reported missing.
It was around PM when the couple that lived near White Marsh, Maryland encountered a strange man pulled off on the side of the road. This was on property they owned, near the intersection of Ebenezer Rd. After witnessing this strange sight - which I detailed in the episode intro - they dediced to jot down the license plate number of the vehicle, which was then forwarded to police dispatchers - who then quickly linked the license plate to year-old Violet Ripken.
They were told that an "elderly woman" with "silver hair" appeared to have been taken captive by a man wearing gloves, and were provided with the information given by the caller. Aberdeen police were dispatched to the Ripken home, along Clover Street, and it quickly became clear that neither Violet - nor her vehicle - were at her home.
It was now past PM, and she was definitely supposed to be home at that time, as she generally turned in relatively early. Police began reaching out to all of Violet's known friends and family, and none of them had any idea where she could be other than at home.
Police entered Violet's home, and quickly discovered her cell phone s , indicating that she had not left of her own accord. They began scouring the home - looking for any clues - and even began combing through the surrounding area.
Her neighborhood quickly came to a standstill, with a noticeable police presence lining the surrounding streets and intersections, shutting down traffic and causing residents to take lengthy detours.
Officers even began going door-to-door, canvassing her friends and neighbors for information, such as when they had last seen her, if they had seen anything suspicious, etc.
One neighbor told police that she had seen an unfamiliar pickup truck on their street a few days earlier, which had been driving back-and-forth down the street. At the time, this neighbor had no idea that Violet was missing - because police had not publicized that information yet - but this lead was collected by officers as they struggled to learn what had happened to Violet Ripken. Police concluded that Violet had been abducted earlier that day, and prepared to issue a public plea for help at around AM the following morning.
On the morning of Wednesday, July 25th, , the hour mark of Violet's disappearance was rapidly approaching. Police sent out a press briefing that morning - informing the world at-large of Violet Ripken's disappearance and possible kidnapping - and had to hope that the release of this information would help lead to her safe return.
About 45 minutes after that press briefing was released - at around AM - a year old neighbor of Violet's named Erik Snyder was returning home from an overnight shift at a nearby warehouse. He was driving through their neighborhood - Clover Street - and was forced to turn around due to the police presence blocking the street.
They were still looking for clues in Violet's disappearance, and Erik had to turn around and go a roundabout way to get home. However, moments later, Erik came upon an unusual sight. He saw a silver sedan parked not too far away, with an elderly woman sitting in the backseat. Most intriguingly, she was waving a sweatshirt out of an open windows, while simultaneously honking the car horn. Snyder called the police and told them about the suspicious sight, which ultimately led to the safe return of Violet Ripken.
Police came upon the scene, and discovered that Violet Ripken's Lincoln Town Car had been returned to the neighborhood she lived in. Surprisingly, the driver had abandoned the car just down the block from her home in Aberdeen; with her in the backseat, her hands still bound.
The culprit had safely returned Violet to the area of her home, but never told her why she had been abducted. He also did not seem to leave any kind of note or rationale for his behavior, with there being no explanation for her abduction and subsequent return. As far as police knew, there had been no ransom attempt, and the culprit had seemingly left on-foot unless he had some other method of escape nearby.
Mike Hudson, a man whose mother lived across the street from Violet, told reporters later that day:. That makes me believe he was a local, very local. Police immediately began trying to piece together the specific details of this crime, but were shocked to learn that Violet's abductor had returned her - completely unharmed.
In fact, other than her being bound and blindfolded, the kidnapper seems to have actually treated her well. Gus Kowalewski, a neighbor of Violet's whom she later confided in , spoke to the media about the ordeal:. He said, 'I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm going to take you back,' and that's what he did. The Ripken family would release a statement later that evening, thanking police and stating their gratefulness for having Violet - the family matriarch - back home, safe and sound. On the afternoon of July 25th - just hours after Violet had returned home - the Aberdeen Police Department held a brief press conference. The investigation into this strange kidnapping officially started on the evening of Tuesday, July 24th - approximately 12 hours after Violet had been abducted from her own garage.
After abducting Mrs. Ripken from her home, the kidnapper seemed to have no set destination in-mind. He just kept driving around central and western Maryland, making his way through Harford, Baltimore, and Frederick counties. Police also believe that he made his way as far north as Pennsylvania, which put this crime in federal jurisdiction.
This invited the FBI to establish a presence in this case, and eventually allowed them to oversee the investigation. However, even though police seemed to have tracked this man's strange trip around the region, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for any of it. He seemed to not have a specific destination in-mind, and just kept driving for most of the 23 hours that Violet was missing.
There seemed to be no way to track their trip, and no specific locales have ever been disclosed by investigators. It was also unknown how the kidnapper had managed to drive Violet's vehicle back into her neighborhood, which was under the watchful eye of several police officers. There was an increased police presence through the entire neighborhood, and the sudden reappearance of her vehicle indicated that he was either a local - who perhaps lived nearby - or was incredibly familiar with the region.
Police would later admit that they were in the middle of a shift change at the time that Violet's vehicle was discovered by her neighbor. This was likely how the abductor had managed to slip in-and-out without being seen, but investigators just might not have been on the lookout for him so close to Violet's home.
After all, nobody anticipated the culprit being brazen enough to return the vehicle back to the original crime scene, especially not with police combing the streets nearby.
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