Kidnaped Teen-Ager Is Found Unharmed : Crime: FBI agents rescue Santa Barbara youth who was abducted Sept. 13 in an alleged ransom plot. Two suspects are arrested in a luxurious home near where victim lived.

SANTA BARBARA —  A 19-year-old man kidnaped two weeks ago was rescued early Saturday by FBI agents, and two suspects were arrested in an alleged plot to obtain $800,000 in ransom from the victim’s family, authorities said.

The youth--whose name was being withheld to protect a continuing investigation--was found bound but unharmed in a luxurious hillside home in Hope Ranch, his own neighborhood, law enforcement sources said.

The victim was abducted Sept. 13 as he left his girlfriend’s house in Goleta, said Officer Tim Gracey of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.

“Suspects in the kidnaping contacted the family and demanded an $800,000 ransom for the safe release of the victim,” Gracey said in a statement. The investigation was conducted by more than 100 FBI agents in cooperation with the Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Barbara Police Department, Gracey said.

“Hundreds of man-hours of diligent work paid off early this morning when a phone call to the victim’s residence was traced to a pay phone at a . . . gas station,” he said.

A suspect identified as Eric Alden Panizzon, 24, fled as an officer approached but was caught in a foot chase, police said. Later, an FBI SWAT team entered Panizzon’s home in Hope Ranch, where the victim was rescued shortly before 1 a.m.

A second suspect, Jeffrey Real Locas, 21, also of Hope Ranch, was taken into custody at the home. Authorities said they will be charged with kidnaping for ransom.

A third suspect was still at large, Gracey said.

Panizzon was described by one resident as the son of a prominent Santa Barbara family. His father, Ernest, is an attorney well known in legal circles, and his mother, Ann, is director of the Center for Law-Related Education, a nonprofit organization devoted to keeping wayward youth out of jail, according to the resident, who asked not to be identified.

The parents could not be reached for comment.

Julio Panizzon, uncle of the suspect’s father, expressed shock at the arrest. “You must be kidding. I’ve never heard of him doing anything wrong.”

According to neighbors, the younger Panizzon’s parents are separated and he appeared to live alone with his mother in an enclave of acre-sized estates with its own 24-hour security patrol.