Man accused of faking kidnapping to party with friends

All Rogelio Andaverde wanted was to get out of the house and have a few beers with his buddies.

So Tuesday afternoon, the 34-year-old Edinburg man created an excuse to sneak away: He staged his own kidnapping.

According to a release from the Hildalgo County Sheriff's Office, Andaverde was with his wife, Maria Hernandez, in their home off F.M. 2812 in rural Northeast Edinburg when about 10:30 p.m. two men wearing masks and toting guns forced their way inside — and made off with Andaverde.

Sheriff Guadalupe Trevino said Hernandez called authorities right away, “petrified” after seeing what she thought was her husband's abduction.

“We took this incident very serious because of the circumstances described to us by the wife,” he said. “People don't just barge into your house and kidnap you for the hell of it.”

A Department of Public Safety helicopter and a dozen deputies were called to assist in the search for Andaverde.

After several hours without any fresh leads, the search was called off.

Mid-morning on Thursday, Andaverde returned home, telling his wife he'd been released.

A follow-up investigation revealed he had staged the kidnapping to “spend time with his friends and party.”

“We have people file false reports all the time, and we put them in jail for it,” Trevino said. “But I've never had someone do it just to get out of the house.”

Andaverde has been charged with making a false report to police, a Class B misdemeanor, and his bond was set at $5,000.

“I don't think his wife appreciated being kept until 4 or 5 in the morning, being interviewed by the cops while her husband was out doing who knows what with who knows who — he's going to have a lot of answering to do,” Trevino said.

mcasady@express-news.net