Venezuelan kidnappers free woman after month-long captivity

A young Italian-Venezuelan woman kidnapped in Venezuela last month has been freed. Local newspaper Panorama reports that 22-year-old Vanessa Farina Riccione was released Tuesday in western Zulia state. She had been abducted Nov. 20 by an armed group upon leaving her grandfather's house in the city of Cabimas. Farina Riccione told reporters her kidnappers left her blindfolded by the side of a road, and she sought help at a hotel. Police said family members had not contacted her abductors or paid a ransom. Kidnappings are on the rise in Venezuela, where more than 380 people were reported abducted last year.