Crime History: Kidnapping-for-ransom comes to shocking end

On this day, Dec. 14, in 1874, one of the earliest kidnap-for-ransom scams ended in a sad twist. Five months earlier, Charley Ross, the 4-year-old son of a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, was snatched from his mansion. Charley became the first kidnapping-for-ransom in America to receive widespread attention.

After several months, communications with the kidnappers stopped.