The model daughter of a British businessman was held hostage after being kidnapped in front of a restaurant in Brazil, along with her husband and 11-year-old child.

The model daughter of a British businessman is recovering from a horrific kidnapping in Brazil.

Luciana Curtis, who worked with names such as Beyonce and appeared on the covers of magazines such as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, was taken hostage while leaving a restaurant in Sao Paulo with her photographer husband Henrique Gendre and their 11-year-old child. .

Armed robbers ambushed them and held them for nearly 12 hours before reportedly stealing their car, taking money from their bank accounts and releasing them yesterday.

Local reports said they were held overnight in a wooden shack with only a mattress, toilet and sink in Brasilandia, one of Sao Paulo’s 96 districts, after their kidnappers took them to a cramped hiding spot in the family car.

Their horrific ordeal began Wednesday night as they were leaving a restaurant in the upscale area of ​​Alto do Lapa.

The alarm is said to have been set off on Thursday morning after the kidnapped couple’s eldest child noticed the rest of his family had not returned home and alerted a relative who called the police.

Luciana, her husband and her youngest child were freed by their captors when the police began searching for them, and they asked locals for help before being taken to safety.

Luciana Curtis, the model daughter of a British businessman, is recovering after a horrific kidnapping in Brazil involving her husband and 11-year-old child

The model and her family were detained by armed robbers for approximately 12 hours.

Luciana’s husband Henrique Gendre (left) and her 11-year-old child were also kidnapped

The criminals who took them hostage stole their cars before leaving the shelter where they hid them, and it is understood that they transferred money from the couple’s bank accounts to their own during this terrible incident.

A spokesman for Luciana, 53, confirmed the abduction to local media, adding: ‘The family has been released and they are safe and well.’

A specialist police anti-kidnap unit is investigating and officers are analyzing CCTV footage around the unnamed restaurant the gang attacked, located on a street identified locally as Avenida Pio XI.

The location of the shed where the beautiful brunette Luciana and her family were taken has already been identified by detectives and photographed in the Brazilian press.

Police said in a statement: ‘Armed criminals approached the victims outside a restaurant and took them captive.

‘During the search carried out by expert police teams, the gang fled, abandoning the family.’

Luciana Curtis, the beauty of Ford Models, was born in Sao Paulo to British businessman father Malcolm Leo Curtis and Brazilian teacher mother Katia Maria Furtado de Mendonca Curtis.

His main residence is in New York, although he lived in London for several years.

Luciana photographed with her husband and children

Luciana and her family have now been released and the model’s spokesperson confirmed the kidnapping to local media

She won the Brazilian final of Supermodel of the World in 1993, after receiving an invitation to become a model during a visit to a shopping mall in her youth and placing in the top four in the world final.

She has appeared on the cover of a number of fashion magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire and Nova, and has done advertisements for brands such as Arden B, Harrods, H&M and Victoria’s Secret.

Luciana, who has 22,000 Instagram followers, earned an estimated million dollars by appearing in Revlon campaigns in 2001 with three other models.

Shortly after, she participated in the worldwide campaign of L’Oreal’s ‘True Match’ powder and foundation with Beyonce.

Earlier this year she appeared on the front cover of ELLE Brazil alongside other models, and in a caption accompanying the photo she said: ‘The cover of ELLE Brasil #Volume16 is a tribute to Brazilian supermodels from the late 1990s to the present day. Day by day, she takes her profession abroad, takes part in the catwalks of big brands and becomes the muse of legendary stylists and well-established photographers.’

Luciana and her husband have yet to make any official comments about their difficulties.