CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)—The government sent top investigators Thursday to hunt for Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, whose abduction has shaken Venezuela’s elite athletes and focused attention on the nation’s sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom.The 24-year-old player, who had returned to Venezuela after his rookie season, was just outside the front door at his home Wednesday night when an SUV approached, armed men got out “and they took him away,” said Ramos’ agent, Gustavo Marcano.

It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, though the relatives of some ballplayers have previously been held captive for ransom.

Police found the kidnappers’ vehicle abandoned in the nearby town of Bejuma on Thursday morning, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said. He said anti-kidnapping units led by “the best investigators we have” were dispatched to the area in central Carabobo state.He vowed to rescue Ramos and capture his abductors.

“We’re taking on this investigation with everything we’ve got,” El Aissami said.Major League Baseball and the Nationals said the leagues’ Department of Investigations was working with authorities.

“Our foremost concern is with Wilson Ramos and his family and our thoughts are with them at this time,” the team and the MLB said in a joint statement, adding there would be no further comment.

Ramos was outside with his father and two brothers in their working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Valencia when the SUV pulled up with four men inside, three of whom got out and seized the player, Marcano said.“The abductors haven’t made contact with the family or with anyone,” said Domingo Alvarez, vice president of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. “We’re worried.”At baseball games in three Venezuelan stadiums, fans and players observed a minute of silence Thursay night in support of Ramos, and prayed for him. Some held signs reading: “Free Wilson Ramos!”