The internet is in complete disbelief after learning what a Black soccer player did — or failed to do — while his wife and young daughter were being abducted. Around 3 a.m. on Wednesday (April 23), Ecuadorian player Jackson Rodríguez’s wife, Andrexy Karelis, and their 5-year-old child were kidnapped when men broke into their home in Guayaquil. The suspects were looking for Rodríguez and even asked about his whereabouts during the home invasion.
During the entire ordeal, Rodríguez did not intervene after he heard men break down his front door. What did he do instead? He hid...under a bed. The 26-year-old even admitted it during his testimony. While he was in hiding, he managed to peek out just enough to see the assailants leaving “in a gray-colored double-cab pickup truck,” according to police.
On Thursday, Ecuador police posted a video on X of the operation they carried out to find Andrexy and the child. Both victims were found safe and unharmed.
Rodríguez’s club, Emelec, confirmed in a statement the family’s identities and expressed how grateful they are “for the effective investigative and operational work of the national police, which led to the release of his loved ones.”
A video on X also showed the trio reuniting after the terrifying ordeal.
But social media had a field day after news of the full back refusing to protect his family went viral.
One Instagram user wrote on It’s Onsite post: “I would’ve said, “HE’S UNDER THE BED!!!” We’re all getting kidnapped!” A second added: “Marrying a protector is just as important as marrying a provider,” while a third wrote how the wife’s “next stop better be to a divorce lawyer.”
“With a husband like this, who needs enemies,” another person added. The comments slamming the professional athlete continued: “I pray to never find a man like this,” “The head of the house is under the bed,” and “These the men that want you to submit to them.”
The kidnapping occurred amid a state of emergency declared by the government in nine areas of the country. “The state of emergency was declared in response to an increase in violence, crimes, and presence of organized criminal groups, and is intended to facilitate the work of the armed forces and national police in the ongoing internal armed conflict that was declared on January 9, 2024,” according to the U.S. Embassy. “Curfews will also be in place every day from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.”
Rodríguez’s family kidnapping is part of a disturbing pattern targeting soccer players in Ecuador. Another Ecuadorian soccer player, Pedro Perlaza, was kidnapped in December. He was later rescued by police.