'Riverdale' Star Lili Reinhart Searching For Show Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Kidnapped Father, Nearly Two Months After Disappearance In Nicaragua
Lili Reinhart is leading her Riverdale cast in the search for the creator of the show's father after he was reportedly kidnapped in Nicaragua.
The 24-year-old actress stood alongside her CW co-stars in an emotional video to raise awareness about Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's missing dad, Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa.
Reinhart — along with Riverdale standouts KJ Apa, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, and more — begged fans for help to "rectify this miscarriage of justice."
According to the video, Roberto's 76-year-old father was taken "by armed guards" in the middle of the night at his home in Nicaragua.
The cast claims Francisco has been a "tireless crusader for democracy and human rights, which is allegedly why he was taken by guards who were reportedly acting on behalf of the country's distractor.
"Over the years, all of us who have been part of making this show [have] become a family," Apa said in the opening of the video. “And right now, someone from our family needs your help," continued Casey Cott, known for his role as Kevin Keller on the series.
"His father and a dozen other activists were kidnapped and arrested. No one knows where they are being held and if they are being given food, water, or medicine," Reinhart explained.
Mendes stated that the Riverdale cast's purpose of the video was to "put pressure on the global community and rectify this miscarriage of justice."
Asking fans to use the hashtag #FreeFrancisco, Petsch begged viewers to sign a petition demanding the release of Roberto's dad.
Francisco — who went missing at the end of July — was the Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States from 1997-2000. He later served as the foreign minister of the Central American country.
Since pleading for his dad's whereabouts, Roberto revealed the government has officially charged him "for treason and conspiracy," which he calls "bogus."
Roberto Aguirre-Sarcasa's parents
He also revealed his father is locked up at El Chipote federal prison in Managua. "That means my dad’s no longer ‘under investigation for 90 days,’ as he had been, and can now be imprisoned indefinitely," Roberto told outlets.
“As for next steps, we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing – getting the word out about my father and the other prisoners," he continued. "Trying to raise awareness about the human rights violations happening in Nicaragua on a daily basis. In the meantime, my dad has a private hearing coming up in front of a judge, so we’ll see what happens at that.”
