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©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 9, 2001
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A 4-year-old Tampa girl was released three days after being kidnapped in Honduras, police said Monday.
Tiffany Richards was found Sunday in a park in El Progreso, 80 miles north of Tegucigalpa, the capital, police spokesman Donaldo Burquet said.
Burquet said no ransom was paid for Tiffany, youngest daughter of Honduran Elsa Guzman and American Douglas Richards. The family came to Honduras on Nov. 23 to stay at their home here.
On Thursday, three men with AK-47 rifles stormed a ranch in Rio Lindo, 100 miles north of the capital, and took the girl. A mechanic at the ranch has been arrested, Burquet said.
He said officials believe the girl was released because the kidnappers became nervous when U.S. officials began investigating the case.
In the last five years there have been some 200 kidnappings in Honduras.
At the Richards' home in Tampa, a man who said he was Douglas Richards' stepfather said he could not discuss details of Tiffany's release because the family still had security concerns. The family is expected to return to Tampa soon.
- Staff writer Logan Mabe contributed to this report.