Evening star., 1933-07-30

Miss Mary McEIroy, daughter Of Kansas
Citys chief executive, ,Uho toas released
unframed after her kidnapers got
$4,000. most of Which ,0os recovered
,uken the kidnapers ,cere arrested.
IDNAPING for ransom Is not only the
meanest crime of aIl-it is rapidly be-
coming one of the most dangerous.
and things are getting SO that the pay
is something terrible.
That seems to be the moral to be
drawn from the upshot Of some Of the most
noted kidnapping cases in the last year.
Chief Of Detectives Thomas J. Higgins OF
Kansas City, No. is one law enforcement ofii-
cial who says bluntly that the racket is getting
10 be pretty tough
Higgins ought to know. It was he who super
vised the running down Of the gangsters who
kidnapped Miss Mary McElroy, daughter OF
City Manager Henry F. McElroy Of Kansas
City, this Spring Three of the four kidnapers
have been caught the fourth is a fugitive. and a
good part Of the ransom money they collected
has been recovered And Miss McEroy, OF
course, Is back home unharmed.
Another law officer who can testify to the
same effect is Daniel Needham, State Comnis-
sioner Of Public Safety in Massachusetts,.
It was under Needham's supervision that the
kidnapping of little Peggy McMath was solved.
with the conviction of her Hdnaper and the
recovery Of all of the ransom money that had
bsen paid
-IOR are those two cases exceptions. Mrs.
~ Nell DonneEy of Kansas City was KID
naped more than a year ago and held for
ransom. The police got on the trail 50 fast
that the kidnapers finally let her so free, un-
harmed, without even waiting to try to collect
the ransom they had demanded. Subsequently
they were arrested and put behind the bars.
Then there was Jackie Thompson Of Detroit
son Of . well-to-do real estate dealer. He
was held prisoner for several days by gang
stecs, being released after $1,000 ransom was
paid. little later his three kidnapers were
arrested and sent to prison, and 5000 Of the
ransom money was recovered.
Somewhat similar was the case Of Adolphus
Busch Orthwein of st. Louis, 13-year-old
grandson Of August A. Busch. He was re-
turned safely after his kidnaper-it seems to
have been more or less one-man job-had
held him only 20 hours. No ransom was paid,
end the kidnaper was arrested
Benjamin P. Bower, Denver banker, was kid
naped and held for $50 1000 ransom last year,
but was released without any payment having
been made. The leader Of the gang that Kid
naned him committed suicide and three other
members were arrested
At about the same time Gordon H. Sawyer,
bank executive of Tucson, Ariz., was kidnapped
and bald for $780, 900 ransom. He too, was re-
leased without any ransom being paid, and
one Of the three men who abducted him has
been arrested
THE McMath case in Massachusetts attracted
IL Wide attention, and ended in q complete
defeat for the kidnapers.
Peggy McMath was the object of Nation
wide search, until she was released after $780,
900 ransom money had been paid But very
short time after her release two brothers, Ken
meth and Cyril Buck, were under arrest charged
with the crime. and all Of the $4,000 had been
recovered. Kenneth was found guilty, and
given "a years; Cyril was acquitted.
Perhaps the most significant Of all Of these
cases, because of the light it sheds on the pit
falls that beset the kidnaper's path was the
kidnapping of Miss McElroy.
On the morning of May ~ two masked men
took Miss McElroy from her home and took
hsr to q place of seclusion where they and
their two accomplices kept her until her father
bad paid over the $4,000 they demanded.
Within few weeks three of the four men
involved in the crime were under arrest, and
q good share of the money had been recovered.
Walter MCGEE and Clarence Click were
seised within a comparatively short time after
the girls release. A few weeks later George
McGee, Walters brother, was arrested In