Police ‘Puzzled’ About Publishing Heir’s Kidnaping

Swiss police today questioned the 19-year-old grandson of West German millionaire publisher Axel Springer about “puzzling factors” in his reported abduction.

Police said Sven Axel Springer turned up at Zurich Airport on Wednesday after vanishing Sunday from his Swiss boarding school.

The youth’s family received numerous telephone calls in which the youth said on tape that he had been abducted and that his captors wanted $3 million in ransom. The family said today that no money was paid.

It was unclear how Springer got to the airport in Zurich, 75 miles northeast of the boarding school. Zurich police said he was “apparently freed at the airport by his kidnapers” and “went to police and announced himself.”

But they handed him over today to Chur officials, who said they “still have several questions to ask.”