The Great Escape: Texas Man Stages His Own Armed Kidnapping Just to Party with Friends

On the evening of October 1, 2013, Rogelio Andaverde was at home with his wife Maria in Edinburg, Texas, near the Mexican border. He really wanted to go out with his friends. He just didn’t want to have that conversation with his wife.So, he made other arrangements.Two of his friends, wearing masks and carrying guns, burst through the front door and forced him out of the house at gunpoint. Maria, left alone and terrified, called 911 immediately. She told dispatchers her husband had just been kidnapped in front of her eyes.The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office took it seriously. Dozens of deputies fanned out across the area. A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter was scrambled to search from the air. The investigation ran for hours. Then the leads went cold, and the search was called off.Two days later, Andaverde casually walked back through his front door. He told Maria that his captors had “shown mercy” and let him go.Investigators brought him in for questioning to figure out who was behind the abduction. Under pressure, he confessed. He had staged the entire thing so he could go out and party with his friends without his wife giving him a hard time about it.Instead of a scolding from his wife, Andaverde got a scolding from a judge. He was charged with filing a false police report, a Class B misdemeanor, and released on $5,000 bail. He later pleaded guilty to the stunt.