When she was lured to a fake modeling job in Milan, injected with ketamine, and bundled into a suitcase, Chloe Ayling’s life took a terrifying turn in 2017, but she was met with skepticism after sharing her account.
After sharing harrowing details of her abduction ordeal, a model underwent years of public skepticism and has since established herself in Snowdonia.
Chloe Ayling, 28, was heading to what she thought was a real modelling assignment in Milan in 2017 when she was injected with ketamine, bundled into a suitcase and left chained to furniture in a remote farmhouse. She was told she’d be auctioned on the dark web unless a ransom was paid.
Her captor, Łukasz Herba, was later convicted and sentenced to 16 years and nine months in prison. But despite sharing details of the horrific ordeal, Chloe was faced with public skepticism after some questioned whether she was complicit in the kidnap and it was all an elaborate publicity stunt.
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Pictures of Chloe from Coulsdon, south London, lying unconscious in skimpy clothing were sent to her manager, along with a demand for £260,000.
She would be sold as a sex slave if the ransom wasn’t paid in a week. When her “buyers” were sick of her, she was also warned that she ran the risk of getting fed to tigers.
Although she was eventually released, Chloe was left devastated by accusations she had made up the entire story. She has since found solace in the mountains and lakes of the North Wales wilderness where she can enjoy horse-riding with barely a soul around, according to MailOnline.
Chloe was in the public eye for eight-years following the kidnapping, even appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 where she struck up a romance with Jermaine Pennant, who she later discovered was married.
This month Chloe had her say on a BBC documentary ‘Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping’ and said her undiagnosed condition of autism is partly responsible for her unusual reaction.
Following the BBC dramatization of the story, Kidnapped, in 2024, the series was produced.
She arrived more than a year ago, and she seems to be quite a solitary figure when she’s up here, according to one of Chloe’s new neighbors.
She is quite reserved, polite, and respectful. Many residents of this area spend their summers there before moving out for the winter. Maybe this is just a summer vacation spot for her, or if she already has somewhere else in England.
She’s quite distinctive, so people recognized her quickly, but as far as I’m aware, no one has ever questioned her about how awful she must have been before.
She describes North Wales as a place of refuge, claiming that she enjoys horseback riding in the hills with little public interest and is drawn to its remote beauty.
“I started visiting North Wales a few years ago. In the BBC documentary, she remarked, “I just fell in love with it.”
Her relocation also makes her less vulnerable to the public’s scrutiny that predated her return to the UK. Chloe’s innocence sparked suspicion after her ordeal, and some critics questioned why she didn’t cry or appear emotional, and the relentless online abuse made healing harder.
When asked why she chose Snowdonia, she laughed and said, “I’m here because it’s so beautiful, but I like that no one knows where I live.”
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