Rio de Janeiro (CNN)The mother-in-law of Bernie Ecclestone, the head of Formula One auto racing, was freed Sunday after being kidnapped more than a week ago, authorities said.
Aparecida Schunck Flosi Palmeira, 67, was being held in a house in the city of Cotia, Brazil, about 22 miles west of Sao Paulo, the Sao Paulo State public safety office said.
A Facebook page that appears to be Schunck’s says she lives in the southeastern Brazilian city.
F1’s Ecclestone pays $100M to halt case 01:52
Two people have been arrested, according to the anti-kidnapping unit of the city’s police department.
Images shown on TV Globo show Schunck arriving at a police station in Sao Paulo flanked by the police and amongst a media scrum.
“I ask that bandits stop kidnapping people in Sao Paulo because they will be arrested,” she said.
Ecclestone, the billionaire head of F1 racing, has been involved in motorsports for more than 50 years.
He told CNN in 2012 that he plans to run F1 unitl he dies.
The incident comes less than a week before the OIympics are set to start in Rio de Janeiro.
Concerns about crime — as well as the Zika virus, political corruption, economic woes and a doping scandal — have many worried about whether Brazil is ready to host the Games.
