On April 29th, 1992, the president of Exxon International Sidney Reso left his home for his usual trip to work. He made the decision to drive himself to work and not to have a driver pick him up for his daily morning trip to work. He stopped his car at the end of his 250-foot driveway to retrieve the newspaper. When he got out, a white van pulled in front of his car. A man with a ski mask covering his face stepped in front of him and forced him into the van. According to the kidnapper, once in the van Mr. Reso was accidentally shot in the arm.

The kidnappers took him to a public storage area, where they had rented a garage in February. They had made a box made with holes in it for Mr. Reso to breath. The box was six feet four inches long, three feet high and three and a half feet wide. The top opened with hinges. Reso’s eyes and mouth where covered with tape. They put a sleeping bag and blankets in the box to keep him comfortable. They visited him twice a day giving him vitamins, and having him make recorded messages. He died five days later. Once he was dead they took the body to a seclude area of New Jersey and buried him. His death was not discovered until June of 1992 when the kidnappers were apprehended and one of them broke down and confessed to the kidnapping.

The kidnappers were Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Seal. Arthur Seal, an ex Exxon employee, and ex-police officer who worked in the security department. He left the company in 1987 and moved to another state and started a business that soon went broke. He left that state owing a considerable amount of money, close to one million dollars. He conceived the plan to kidnap an Exxon executive in order to pay off his huge debts. He followed a number of Exxon executives until he decided on Reso. He picked Reso because he thought Reso would be easier to get than the other executives. He made this decision after reviewing the routine of many of the other executive’s routines. Although Seale was not the classic terrorist the kidnapping followed the classic guidelines.

Mr. and Mrs. Seal decided to kidnap an Exxon executive in December of 91. They decided it would be a quick way to get out of debt. They researched the homes and routines of several Exxon executives, and decided that to pick the house that offered the most seclusion. That house was Sidney Reso’s home. They watched the house for the next four months. In February they rented a storage facility where they hoped to keep Mr. Reso until they got their money. They actually thought that they would kidnap Mr. Reso in the middle of the week and have the money by the weekend. Several times they were ready to kidnap Mr. Reso but were thwarted by his change in schedule.

Although the kidnappers were not “terrorists”, they used the same procedures for selecting a target. This could very well be due to the background of the kidnapper. Seal in his security role at Exxon at one time or another was involved in the protection of executives. He gained some insight on how to conduct surveillance and kidnapping during his days as an executive protection person. The first message sent to Exxon from Seal said that the kidnappers were from the Fernando Pereira Brigade Warriors, Warriors of the Rainbow. Fernando Pereira was the Greenpeace activist killed in 1985 when French agents sank the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. Seale did his homework.