BEIRUT, Lebanon — Five Czechs and their Lebanese taxi driver disappeared in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Saturday in an episode that the authorities said they were investigating as a possible kidnapping.

The Czechs’ car was found in Kefraya, a relatively secure area that is popular with foreign tourists and Lebanese alike for its local winery and restaurants. The search began after the father of the taxi driver, who is from southern Lebanon, reported his son missing, according to Lebanese officials and news outlets.

The case has drawn intense news media attention here, stirring memories of the rampant abductions during the country’s civil war decades ago. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said that the armed forces were sweeping hotels and setting up new checkpoints as they searched for the six missing people.

But the circumstances, the possible motives and even the identities of the missing Czechs remained murky.