Details have emerged of a harrowing ordeal involving former Everton icon and MLS manager Adrian Heath, who was kidnapped and held for ransom at knifepoint after being lured to North Africa by a fraudulent managerial job offer.
The 65-year-old football legend traveled to Morocco in November last year under the guise of meeting a wealthy “sheikh” for a lucrative role, but upon arrival, he was ambushed and taken to a remote harbor town where captors demanded a six-figure sum.
The situation reached a terrifying peak when a knife was pressed to Heath’s throat while his captors threatened,
“You’re going to send us money. And if you don’t, you won’t see your wife again,” yet a combination of his wife Jane’s quick thinking regarding bank access and his son Harrison’s use of the “Find My Friends” app allowed the FBI to track his exact location.
Heath eventually managed to talk his way out of the crisis, convincing the kidnappers that money could only be wired once he was safely home, leading to a sudden release he described as being “like a light switch.”
Now under FBI protection, the former midfielder chose to go public after learning other managers were being targeted by the same syndicate, reflecting on his survival by stating,
“This sounds crazy, but I’m going to use the word ‘lucky’… it gives everyone a chance to reevaluate their life and what’s actually important.”