The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-06-19
MAN OF GOOD FAMILY :
 ABDUCTED YOUNG MUTH
LAD IS FOUND AND JOHN JO- SEPH KEAN IS UNDER
 ARREST.

Former BoolKkeeper in Harlem Bank,
 Later Stock Broker and Real Es-
 tate Dealer Driven by Small Offenss
 to Commit Crime in Order to Raise Much Needed Money--TaIken at Point
 of RevoIver--Case RepIete with Dram.
 atic Incidents from It's Inception. Philadelphia, June 18.-F'reddie Muth. the seven-year-old son of Jeweler Charles Muth. who was Kidnapped from the Muhlenburg public school last Tuesday, was found this afternoon In a vacant house here and returned to his grief stricken parents. John Joseph Kean, a member of respectable New York family, one time bookkeeper of the Harlem bank, stock broker and more recently a real estate agent is the abductor. Driven by the commission of a comparatively small offense to the heinous crime of child stealing, he oc- cupies cell in the central police sta tion with life imprisonment staring him in the face. Replete with dramatic in cidents from its inception the climax of the abduction was sensational to degree.
 The kidnapper was taken at the point of pistol only after he had been fired upon and when he realized that escape was impossible. Kean Is married man and the father of three children. He gave as his reason for abducting the Muth boy that he needed money. From the day of the Kidnapping un- I til the day of the arrest this afternoon Kean had kept the child in three va cant houses in West Philadelphia. Meantime the entire detective and po- lice force of this city were conducting an unremftting search and the authori- 1 ties of other cities had been furnished with description of the boy and his captor with instructions to keep look out for the pair
 Captain Donoghey of the local detec- tive force, however. was convinced that Kean and the child were in the city, the evidence of this being in letters which tse kidnapper sent to MT. Muth negotiating for the return of the boy. These wert, mailed in the central dis trict of Philadelphia.
 1 The f1st information that Kean and 7his captive were in the vicinity in i which the arrest was eventually made came from Joseph Sager, a baker, who told a policeman last week that he had seen man and a boy answering the description of the pair in an oyster sa- loon on Haverford avenue, shortly aft CT midnight last Wednesday, Special 1 Officers Clare and Vale were irnlae- diately detailed upon the case and be- | gan search of all the vacant houses in the neighborhood. Their investiga- tions to-day resulted in the recovery of the boy and the arrest of the kidnap- per,
 I Sager was acquainted with Kean and the police were thus enabled to obtain his address. They visited his home and learned from his wife that he had not been there in her knowledge since last Monday, the day previous to the abduction. She stated, however, that he had evidently crept into the house. as a pillow, an overcoat and cape were missing. With this clue to work on the police redoubled their efforts They were certain of the identity of the man but all doubts in this direction were removed when Charles J. Cooke. sa real estate dealer appeared at head quarters with complaint against John Joseph Kean, who had acted as col lector and agent for him, had ernbez- zled $400. Specimens of his handwrit- ing were shown the police and they were found to be identical with the handwriting in the letters which the abductor had begun sending to MT. Muth.
 l Special officers Clare and Vale contin- ued their search of the vacant houses in their district, going to the dwellings Nos. 428, 425, and 427 North Sixty-sec- ond street. When Vale reached the 1 third floor of No. 425 he observed Fred die Muth standing on the rear shed of No 427. He called to him, saying: Hello, Freddie
 Freddie said: "Hello," and immedi- ately began to cry. Vale leaped through the window, and stepped across the roof to the adjoining house, He as just in time to see Kean hurrying down the stairs. Drawing his revovler he fired at the fleeing man but missed. He crawled through the window and fol- lowed, catching up with Kean as the latter was making through the front door. The policeman again pointed his revolver at the kldnapper, who threw
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