Three brothers who were kidnapped more than a month ago in Venezuela have been found dead, officials said late on Tuesday. They had been shot.

The boys, aged 12, 13 and 17, were on their way to school when they were kidnapped on Feb. 23, Justice Minister Jesse Chacon said on state television. The identities of the kidnappers remain unknown.

The bodies, along with that of the driver taking them to school, were found some 50 kilometers away from Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, Chacon said.

The father of the brothers is a Canadian businessman who has been working in Caracas for more than 20 years, officials said.

He had been unable to offer the 4.5 million U.S. dollar ransom demanded by the kidnappers for their release, local media said.

Source: Xinhua