Lagos: The family of Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel said, on Wednesday, that they’ve recovered the car of the football player’s kidnapped father, as police investigating his abduction promised to make a “breakthrough” in the case.

Mikel’s brother Tony Obi said Michael Obi’s car was found in Jos in central Nigeria, where kidnappings remain rare but religious and ethnic violence routinely flares. Obi declined to offer any details about how the family knew where to find the car.

Mikel’s family reported his father missing when he failed to make it home after leaving the office of his transportation company Friday in Jos. Mikel made a televised appeal for his father’s release Monday after news of the kidnapping became public.

Meanwhile, Plateau state police commissioner Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni said that he expected his officers and the family to resolve the abduction soon.

“I’m very hopeful that we’ll make progress; we’ll make a breakthrough at the end of the day,” Ayeni said Wednesday. “It’s still premature for me to tell you now. The details are unavailable now.”

He added that officers are “working hard to ensure that he is found alive, hale and hearty.”