Model Chloe Ayling promised one thing to her kidnapper that helped her survive her week-long ordeal in Italy. Chloe believed she had been booked for a photoshoot in Milan in 2017. But when she arrived at the “studio”, she found it was unusually “silent”.
When Chloe, from South London, went to open the door, she said a man grabbed her around the neck and put his hand across her mouth. A second man then injected Chloe with a dose of ketamine. Chloe was handcuffed, put in a holdall, and driven to Viu near Turin.
The two men told Chloe they were part of an organisation called “The Black Death Group” and intended to sell her as a sex-slave. The kidnapper, Lukasz Herba, a Polish national from Oldbury, in the West Midlands, attempted to befriend Chloe. He said he wanted to release her but was worried about The Black Death.
While the kidnapper initially demanded €300,000 for Chloe’s release, the model was able to eventually convince him to let her free without the cash, by building up a rapport with the man. Speaking on 60 Minutes Australia after her release, Chloe said: “I had to say after I’m released I promise I will meet you and stuff. I gave him that hope and I guess that’s why he set me free.
” When asked if Chloe attempted to make Herba “fall in love with her in order to survive”, she added: “Yes, everything I did was to survive.” Herba eventually took Chloe to the British consulate in Italy, demanding she refer to him merely as a friend. He also.