Venezuelan baseball star abducted by gunmen

24-year-old Wilson Ramos, who had just finished his rookie season, was seized from his home by kidnappers on Wednesday night (Reuters)

The vehicle used by armed men who abducted the Washington Nationals baseball player Wilson Ramos in his home country of Venezuela has been found.

The 24-year-old, who had just finished his rookie season, was seized from his home by kidnappers on Wednesday night. "The abductors haven't made contact with the family or with anyone," said Domingo Alvarez, vice-president of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, in a telephone interview. "We're worried."

Ramos was taken away in an SUV by four armed men from his home in Santa Ines, Katherine Vilera, a spokeswoman for his Venezuelan League team the Aragua Tigers, said on her official Twitter account.

Police said last year that 618 kidnappings were reported in 2009 in Venezuela, and the numbers have grown rapidly.

Security experts say the real number of kidnappings is much higher because many cases are not reported to the authorities.