Vi Ripken, mother of Cal Jr. and kidnap victim, dies at 82

ABERDEEN, Md. (AP) — Vi Ripken, matriarch of the famed Orioles family that includes Hall of Fame son Cal Ripken Jr. and once the victim of a bizarre kidnapping, has died. She was 82.

Family spokesman John Maroon said she died Friday, a day before her birthday.

Violet and Cal Ripken Sr. married in 1957 and he managed in the late 1980s, when sons Cal Jr. and Billy played for him.

In 2012, police said Vi Ripken was kidnapped at gunpoint at her home in Aberdeen, Maryland, and driven around blindfolded by her abductor.

She was found bound and unharmed about 24 hours in her car near her home.

The case was never solved.