(2 of 3)
Weinstein's ordeal began Aug. 4, just seconds after he left the Queens diner where he has breakfast every morning at 7. As Weinstein was getting into his 1988 Saab to drive to his nearby office, a man wielding a knife -- a man he had no opportunity to identify -- forced the door open and pushed him into the passenger's seat. A second man jumped into the back and put a noose around his throat. Blindfolded, Weinstein was driven to a secluded slope underneath the Henry Hudson Parkway, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and forced into the muddy cave 8 ft. underground where he would spend the next 293 hours. A Marine veteran who still plays singles tennis three times a week, Weinstein was not afraid of the physical challenge. "In my heart, I know I could never have survived without the training and combat experience I received in World War II," he said later.
His family and colleagues realized that something was amiss when Weinstein failed to meet his eldest daughter Lori at La Guardia Airport the morning of his kidnapping and then did not show up for an important business meeting a few hours later. The next day, the abductors, dramatically calling themselves the Black Cat Organization, phoned twice to demand a $3 million ransom. Those were the first of what would eventually total more than 50 calls, including one recorded message from Weinstein and a brief call he was allowed to make on ! a cellular phone that his captors lowered down into the pit. Weinstein tried to hint at his location. "This is Harvey . . . I'm in a hole."
The four Weinstein children set up a command post at their father's East Side apartment. Reinforced by members of their close extended family and rotating teams of detectives, they spent hours analyzing the calls. A woman, whom police believe to be Leonor, conducted most of the phone negotiations in a fractured English that sometimes defied interpretation. But her references to "Mr. Harvey," a term used by some of the employees at Lord West, suggested that insiders were involved in the abduction. Police officials, fearing that it might jeopardize Weinstein's safety, held back from questioning workers at the factory, but more than 100 detectives prowled the city in search of the executive, following the cryptic clues he had given them.
Frustrations increased when two rendezvous with the kidnappers fell through. A third attempt ran aground when a squadron of police cars, pursuing suspects in a totally unrelated crime, streaked through a site at the precise moment that the Weinsteins had been directed to leave the ransom there. The anxious family was worried that the kidnappers -- who never showed -- had suspected a trap and might retaliate against their victim. Finally, last Monday morning, came the go-ahead for the money drop. As instructed, Weinstein's eldest son Mark dragged two satchels filled with bills in small denominations to the entrance of a park in upper Manhattan, where he handed them to Fermin. But the kidnapper didn't keep his end of the bargain to release Weinstein within three hours. Fearing that the abductors might flee the country and abandon their victim to die, police moved in.