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.
On a December night, the kidnappers were discovered during a house burglary in Long Island when they were surprised by wealthy New Yorker Holmes Van Brunt and three men. A gun battle ensued, and two thieves were shot and killed.
But before one of the men died, he confessed that he and the other victim had been responsible for Charley’s kidnapping. He promised to return the child alive, but then the man died.
Charley was never found.
Scott McCabe
