Crime & Safety

$100K Reward Offered in Kidnapping of Cal Ripken's Mother

America's Most Wanted involved in trying to solve the abduction of Vi Ripken, the mother of the former Baltimore Oriole.

BALTIMORE—Baseball legend Cal Ripken addressed the media in partnership with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted Thursday morning in a plea for help finding the man who abducted Violet Ripken from her Aberdeen home more than a year ago.

The Ripkens are offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person who kidnapped Vi Ripken from her Clover Street home on July 24, 2012, then returned her unseen.

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At a press conference Thursday at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, Cal Ripken announced that the reward would be funded in a partnership that includes the Ripken Family, Ripken Baseball, Under Armour, the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens.

Walsh said that the case would go to the front page of theAmerica's Most Wanted website.

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Vi Ripken was found tied up in her car, a short distance from her Aberdeen home, around 6:15 a.m. on July 25, police said, within 24 hours of her abduction at gunpoint.

"No one prepares you for these kinds of moments," Cal Ripken said Thursday in Baltimore.

The man responsible is still at large. "The Ripken family needs not only justice but also closure," Walsh said.

See video of the America's Most Wanted host's remarks.

"This dangerous guy needs to be off the streets," Walsh added.  "Someone knows who this guy is, and we are asking for the public's help in bringing him to justice."

Anyone with tips may call the Aberdeen Police Department at 410-272-2121.


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