Model Describes Terrifying Kidnapping Ordeal

She woke up in trunk of car after being lured to photo shoot
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 7, 2017 4:10 AM CDT
Updated Aug 7, 2017 5:11 AM CDT
Model Describes Terrifying Kidnap Ordeal
Lukasz Pawel Herba, a Polish citizen with British residency, has been arrested in the alleged kidnapping.   (Italian Police Photo via AP)

A British model allegedly kidnapped by a human-trafficking gang in Italy has shared details of her terrifying ordeal. Chloe Ayling, 20, says she feared for her life "second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour" after being drugged and taken to a remote farmhouse, the Telegraph reports. She says she was attacked by two men after flying to Milan and going to an apartment for a photo shoot. "I think I lost consciousness," she said in a statement to police published in Italian media. "When I woke up I was wearing a pink bodysuit and the socks I'm in now. I realized I was in the [trunk] of a car, with my wrists and ankles tied and my mouth taped. I was inside a bag, with only a small hole that allowed me to breathe."

Ayling says she was tied to a chest of drawers and held captive for six days by the men, who threatened to sell her as a sex slave on the darknet if a ransom wasn't paid, the Guardian reports. She says the kidnappers later realized she was the mother of a young child and told her that kidnapping her had been against their organization's rules. Lukasz Pawel Herba, a Polish citizen with British residency, has been arrested, and police say they're seeking at least one more suspect. "I'm incredibly grateful to the Italian and UK authorities for all they have done to secure my safe release," Ayling said after returning to the UK over the weekend, per People. "I am not at liberty to say anything further until I have been debriefed by the UK police." (More kidnapping stories.)

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