--- description: The 2 students were held for more than a day title: University of Rochester Students Rescued After Kidnapping image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f05b1cceac9493/698874205f570f8abcb1eb15/university-rochster-students.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # University of Rochester Students Rescued After Kidnapping by [Shamar Walters and Ali Gostanian / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Shamar Walters and Ali Gostanian / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 7, 2015 7:01 PM CUT  From left to right, University of Rochester seniors Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo From left to right, University of Rochester seniors Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke EwoUniversity of Rochester by [Shamar Walters and Ali Gostanian / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Shamar Walters and Ali Gostanian / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 7, 2015 7:01 PM CUT Two college students were rescued by a SWAT team Sunday after being “forcibly abducted and held against their will” during an ordeal lasting more than a day, officials said. Four people were in taken into custody after the nighttime raid to free University of Rochester seniors Nicholas Kollias, 21, and Ani Okeke-Ewo, 21. The two were reported missing about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. They had last been seen around 2 a.m. that morning near campus and were believed to have been traveling together in a 2005 BMW SUV, police said. The students are both originally from Chicago, according to [NBC New York](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Students-Rescued-After-Being-Abducted-Held-Hostage-360772081.html "undefined"). [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News._](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-rochester-students-rescued-after-kidnap-ordeal-n475311?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002 "undefined") University of Rochester Students Rescued After Kidnapping ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4138995/university-students-rescued-after-kidnapping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4138995/university-students-rescued-after-kidnapping/"},"headline":"University of Rochester Students Rescued After Kidnapping","datePublished":"2015-12-07T19:01:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:10:09.396Z","description":"The two students were held for more than a day","url":"https://time.com/4138995/university-students-rescued-after-kidnapping/","keywords":["Crime","New York","kidnapping"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f05b1cceac9493/698874205f570f8abcb1eb15/university-rochster-students.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shamar Walters and Ali Gostanian / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08f05b1cceac9493/698874205f570f8abcb1eb15/university-rochster-students.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"university rochester students Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo","caption":"university rochester students Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo","creditText":"University of Rochester","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4138995/university-students-rescued-after-kidnapping/","name":"University of Rochester Students Rescued After Kidnapping"}}]}] ```