Crime & Safety

IronMan Emotional Discussing 'Premeditated' Abduction Of His Mother

An emotional Cal Ripken said during a news conference Friday at the B&O Warehouse overlooking Oriole Park at Camden Yards that he felt his mother was targeted.

An emotional Cal Ripken said Friday he feels his mother's abduction was premeditated.

Ripken addressed a crowd of reporters and cameras Friday at the B&O Warehouse in Baltimore. Baseball's IronMan said Vi Ripken is doing well, 10 days after she was abducted at gunpoint from her  home. He added that he is hoping to keep the spotlight on in the case.

Ripken said he believed the evidence indicates his mother was targeted.

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"There was some thought given to it," he said. "The materials used to bind her were brought there, so there was a lot of evidence that shows somewhat of a plan, or that it was premeditated. Premeditated is my words."

Asked what it was like when he first learned his mother may be missing, the usually stoic Ripken was emotional.

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"It was the worst feeling you could imagine," he said before pausing, with his eyes welling up.

» Follow the Vi Ripken case here.

Violet Ripken, 74, was taken from her home by a man hiding in her garage between 7 and 8 a.m. on July 24, and returned unharmed to her neighborhood, where she was found tied up in her car around 6:15 a.m. on July 25, police said.

Ripken said he received a call from his sister, Ellen, around 9 p.m. on July 24. She relayed that police had received information about Vi Ripken's car being observed with a woman tied up in the back seat.

"I actually physically got in the car and drove around," he said. "It would be like finding a needle in a haystack, I suppose, but it made me feel like I was doing something that evening," he said. "I think we were hardening ourselves for the worst possibility. I know I was."

"It was a horrible night," he said.

Earlier Friday, Ripken said that where she and Cal Ripken Sr. raised their family.

"Mom is doing pretty good," Cal Ripken said. "It’s a traumatic situation that she was involved in for all of us in the family. We’re trying very hard to come together to support each other. Mom is a very tough, strong woman to endure this, and she’s doing pretty good."

Anyone with information may call police at 410-836-5432

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