IPIL, Philippines, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Authorities said they believe an Australian man was shot before being kidnapped for ransom from his home in the southern Philippines.
Warren Richard "Wocca" Rodwell, 53, has been missing since Monday, when he was taken by six gunmen from his seaside house in Ipil in Western Mindanao, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. His wife, Miraflor Gutang, said she has no money to pay a ransom.
Military officials say Rodwell was led into a forest with his hands bound and then taken away by motorboat.
Kidnapping for ransom occurs frequently in the southern Philippines, with foreigners often being targeted. Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group linked to al-Qaida and rogue elements of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front are known to be involved in kidnapping-for-ransom in the region, the Herald reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for Rodwell's kidnapping.
