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The Mono comments on Australian girl kidnapped in El Rodadero Santa Marta

From The Australian Aussie model rescued in Colombia January 24, 2008 COLOMBIAN security forces have rescued an Australian model held captive for two weeks by a kidnapper who had demanded a $US30,000 ($34,600) ransom. Bobbi April McGeachin, 22, of Perth, was rescued from a home in the exclusive resort town of El Rodadero, near Santa Marta on Colombia's Caribbean coast, after a tip-off from Australian officials. Ms McGeachin had been able to raise the alarm with her family via the internet and they contacted Australian authorities. Colombia's anti-kidnapping squad and other agents rescued her on Monday, and arrested a woman over the kidnapping. Colombian army spokesman General Manuel Guzman said Ms McGeachin had been invited to the country by her captor. "The information that we have is that (the owner of the property) detained (Ms McGeachin) in her house and was asking for $US30,000 to set her free," Mr Guzman told local television station Caracol. "(Ms McGeachin) had the opportunity to communicate with her family via the internet, who notified the Australian embassy in Chile." There is no suggestion that left-wing rebels, usually responsible for abducting foreigners in Colombia, were involved. Cyndi Gilbert-Den Boer said she learned her daughter's first overseas trip had soured in emails in which Ms McGeachin told of physical and emotional abuse. "There was one point where I said, 'Bobbi just pack an overnight bag, go out the front door, go straight to the police'," Ms Gilbert-Den Boer told the Ten Network. "It got to the point where she couldn't leave the house. She was absolutely frightened for her life and did not think she was going to live another day." Ms Gilbert-Den Boer said she had contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australian Honorary Consul in Bogota then alerted authorities in Colombia, who were able to determine Ms McGeachin's location and launch a rescue mission. Ms Gilbert-Den Boer said her daughter was still scared: "She's very frightened, she just wants to come home. To hear that on the other end of the phone, it's very difficult to deal with." Ms McGeachin, looking healthy, appeared on national television yesterday. She has since boarded a flight to Santiago in Chile, where she is awaiting a flight home to Australia. A DFAT spokesman confirmed that an Australian woman was receiving consular assistance and was on her way home. On a modelling website, Ms McGeachin lists herself as an "amateur" with no work experience, but states that her preferences for modelling would be in the fields of fitness, fashion, swimsuit, lingerie and glamour. "I have worked for promotional companies previously and am in the process of designing a personal web page and a porfolio (sic)," she says on the website. She is expected back in Perth by the middle of next week.

The Mono comments on Australian girl kidnapped in El Rodadero Santa Marta

Hey did anyone actually know this girl, because almost all were completly in the dark, i'm an aussie journalist based in Bogota and would love to speak to anyone who knows more about this than what the DAS press release says. Thanks Fin Finley Garside Editor The Mono www.themonodigital.com ( 57) 316 731 0225 ( 571) 2840395 Bogotá D.C Colombia