Chloe Ayling: 'Black Death Group' wanted to use kidnapping of model to gain good publicity, document suggests
A document has been made public that suggests the group wanted to use the model's capture to increase public awareness
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chloe Ayling, the 20-year-old glamour model who says she was kidnapped by an international criminal gang from the dark web, was told by her captors to “sneak” information into the press.
The “Black Death” group, who police say kidnapped the model before returning her to the British consulate, gave Ms Ayling a specific series of things to say in media interviews, according to the police. The group said they would be watching her appearances and that they would “eliminate” her if she disobeyed them, according to a pamphlet that was released by the police.
The letter, written in English, lays out a series of demands that were allegedly made of Ms Ayling when she was released. It said that her release “does, however, come with a warning, and you should read this letter very carefully”.
It suggests that despite the fact that police have said Ms Ayling’s captors returned her within days of drugging and taking her, the kidnapping was still intended to be used as a kind of publicity event for the “Black Death” group. Very little has so far been known about the group, which, if it has previously existed at all, has looked to downplay its online presence.
Police have said that the group had originally intended to sell Ms Ayling online through the dark web.
“You will, upon your landing in your home country, cease any investigation activities related to your kidnapping,” it reads. Ms Ayling has received a debriefing from authorities since she arrived in the UK at the weekend, but it’s thought that it is related to intelligence questions about the gang rather than the criminal investigations.
The letter then goes on to make clear that what Ms Ayling says in the wake of the kidnapping will be monitored. It says that she “agreed to sneak a pre-determined set of information into the media, and we will expect to see evidence that has been done in near future”.
Ms Ayling has so far only given one media interview, to an Italian TV station, outside her house. In that, she read a short statement and suggested that she would say more when the debriefing process was over.
The pamphlet says that any further interviews about the Black Death group must never be done “in bad language and without respect”. It said that she might have heard information from her captor, but that she can release that because he “would never give you any information that could harm our activities”.
It also says that since Ms Ayling was treated well, she should tell the media about how good the group are. “You have been treated fairly, with respect and we expect to hear exactly the same about us in return”.
“We will not tolerate lying about anything that happened,” the letter reads.
The authenticity of the Black Death Group or that they were the authors of the letter cannot be verified. But the police provided the pamphlet as part of their major press conference announcing they had captured one of the men they claim is responsible for the kidnapping.
The document was taken from his computer, they said. It also included another page that listed the services the group can supposedly provide – including bombings and assassinations – and a disturbing image of plague doctors, which happens to be one of the first images that shows up in a Google search for “black death”.