TAMPA, Fla. – The parents of a missing central Florida man who may be held for ransom are pleading with captors for his safe return.
Tom and Pamela Wiles choked back tears during a Friday news conference in Tampa, saying their 26-year-old son, Robert Wiles, is a pilot, diver and businessman. The FBI says he went missing from an airport in Lakeland, about 30 miles east of Tampa, on April 1.
Agents say his parents received a ransom note two days later.
The Wiles family complied with the note’s demands, but no one has seen Robert Wiles since. They are offering a $10,000 reward for tips, and pleaded Friday with the kidnappers to contact them again.
The FBI says it is investigating leads throughout Florida, as well as Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Thailand, but declined to discuss the case further.