The nephew of fashion designer Carolina Herrera and his business partner were taken hostage and killed in Venezuela, according to Venezuelan media reports.

The bodies of Reinaldo Herrera, 34, and Fabrizio Mendoza, 31, were found Thursday night on a highway connecting Caracas to the city of La Guaira.

According to Venezuelan media reports, the men were abducted by a group while eating at a restaurant on the eastern part of Caracas Thursday night. Authorities said the group asked for ransom for Herrera and Mendoza.

The ransom was paid but Herrera and Mendoza were still killed, authorities said.

Venezuelan media said Herrera was the son of Luis Felipe Herrera Guevara. Guevara's brother, Reinaldo Herrera, is the husband of 78-year-old Venezuelan fashion icon Carolina Herrera who has been living in New York for several years.

During the past year, homicides in Venezuela reached a rate of 70.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure that considerably exceeds the record of 58 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015, according to information from the Public Ministry.

