Krasnoyarsk's Search for Businessman's 'Kidnapped' Son: 'I Want Home'

The disappearance of 14-year-old Nikolai Kaplya in Krasnoyarsk transformed in one day from a search alert into a high-profile criminal case with ransom demands, a video message from the child, and a version about scammers« influence. The development of events was followed not only in the city but across the country — too many alarming details emerged almost every hour.

Two Disappear Simultaneously

On 22 January in Krasnoyarsk, two 14-year-old teenagers — a boy and a girl from the Oktyabrsky District — went missing almost simultaneously. The girl left home around 15:00. Later, the Investigative Committee (SK) clarified that she had argued with her mother beforehand, her family is well-off, and she was not on any watchlist.

Nikolai Kaplya disappeared on the evening of 22 January. The search team«s alert indicated that between 16:30 and 18:50, the teenager left home and departed accompanied by an unknown person. This moment was captured by street surveillance cameras.

Due to the coincidence in time and age, a version quickly appeared on social media that the disappearances might be linked. Additional suspicion was raised by surveillance footage showing a person near the boy who resembled the missing girl in description. However, law enforcement quickly refuted this version: the prosecutor«s office and SK stated that the teenagers were not acquainted, and their disappearances were in no way connected.

Later, the girl returned home on her own. Police began working with her family, and the line regarding her disappearance was closed.

By this time, it was already known that the boy had left in a taxi with an unknown woman. The prosecutor«s office reported that the taxi driver»s identity had been established, but the route of the trip remained unknown for a long time. This episode became key: it was not a spontaneous departure from home but a purposeful trip.

Money Stolen and Ransom Demand Appears

In the evening, the teenager«s father returned home and did not find his son. Upon inspecting the house, it was discovered that three out of four safes had been opened — 3 million rubles (about $30,000 at current rates) were missing from them.

Soon, the man was messaged. Unknown persons informed him that Nikolai had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom. Later, the prosecutor«s office specified that the demanded amount was 30 million rubles (about $300,000 at current rates) — ten times more than the money stolen from the house. The phrasing of the messages indicated an attempt to pressure and intimidate the family.

Video and Correspondence

The parents were sent a video message from the teenager himself. In the recording, Nikolai said he wanted to return home and asked for the demands to be met.

«Dad, they say you»re very worried. Yes, me too. I really want to go home. Please do everything,« the boy said in the video.

Later, the prosecutor«s office also published the correspondence with the alleged kidnappers. The teenager»s father asked to speak with his son and ensure the child was safe. However, the perpetrators did not agree to this.

Criminal Case and Version About Scammers

After the teenager«s disappearance, investigators initiated a criminal case on the kidnapping of a minor. Almost immediately, law enforcement began considering the version that the teenager might have been acting under the influence of scammers. The authorities emphasized that similar schemes had been encountered before.

According to the publication Kras Mash, Nikolai Kaplya and the 18-year-old girl accompanying him (not a woman, as law enforcement had earlier reported) might also have been deceived into a scammer scheme. It is alleged that the girl came to Krasnoyarsk from Surgut. At the instruction of the perpetrators, she picked up the teenager and took him to a rented apartment, where they recorded a video message for the schoolboy«s father and waited for further instructions.

As an example, one can recall the story from Achinsk, which NGS24.ru wrote about in March 2025. That time, a 15-year-old schoolgirl went missing. Parents were also sent frightening videos with ransom demands — 500,000 rubles. Later, it turned out that no one had kidnapped the girl: she made all the recordings herself, following the instructions of scammers who intimidated her and threatened violence.

At that time, the schoolgirl, on the fraudsters« orders, took taxis, recorded videos at a cemetery, went to another city, and spent a whole day in a computer club. Throughout this time, the perpetrators maintained contact with her.

Gated Community with Security and a Hole in the Fence

The Serebryany Bor gated community, where the teenager«s family lives, is positioned as a guarded territory. Security refused to let journalists in without prior arrangement, stating that access is possible »only by phone call.«

One of the family«s neighbors insisted that outsiders supposedly could not sneak in unnoticed: »Security controls everything, everything is tracked.«

However, NGS24.RU journalists discovered a door in the community«s fence through which anyone could enter the territory. After it was pointed out, security closed the passage.

«Now you»ll be filmed on video, there will be problems,« said the man who was closing the door.

Search and Family Appeals

Throughout 23 January, law enforcement established Nikolai«s possible movement route. Simultaneously, a girl who introduced herself as his sister wrote to the editorial office. She appealed to everyone renting out property with a request to check who is currently in apartments, houses, and premises.

«Urgently check who is in your apartment, right now! Please! If you learn anything related to the alert, call,» she wrote.

The teenager«s father, Andrei Kaplya, refused to communicate with journalists but in a comment to TASS stated that he does not link his son»s disappearance to his business activities. According to open sources, Kaplya is one of the major Krasnoyarsk entrepreneurs, but he said he had not received any threats before the child«s disappearance.

Resolution

At 17:35 on 23 January, the Investigative Committee reported that Nikolai Kaplya had been found. The teenager was alive and was in a rented apartment with a girl.

«Alive, was in a rented apartment together with a girl. All circumstances are being clarified,» the agency reported.

Later, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) representative Irina Volk clarified that the boy was found by police in a rented apartment on Krasnoyarsky Rabochy Avenue. Moreover, the MVD used the phrasing «allegedly kidnapped.»

«Now nothing threatens the boy,» Volk added.

According to the Investigative Committee, scammers are indeed involved in this story. As investigators clarified, the teenager and the girl accompanying him acted on the instructions of the perpetrators, and the 3 million rubles missing from the safes were handed over to the fraudsters. Law enforcement agencies are establishing the identities of the scammers and their possible whereabouts. The main thing is that nothing threatens the child now; he is alive and well.