Evening star., 1935-05-30
JUVENILES K|DNAP
NOTES WORRY i. S.
Threats Traced to Persons
Under 21 in 80 Cases
in 3 Years.
Nv the Associated Press

~ the Associated Press.
=. Edgar Hoover, chief OF the Fed
eral experts now cenlering attention
on the 100000 ransom demand for
little George Weyerhaeuser ct Ia
konns. Wash, saws a wave of kidnap
threats and extortion letters by
Juveniles has become a serious Fed
eral problem
In 80 cases in the last three years
In which Justice Department agents
have closed in on some suspect lured
by decoy ransom package they
have found youngsters under 2l
years"
Our men have arrested 81 boys
and five girls not old enough 10 vote,
as they traced exortion notes that
threatened death and demand from
$40 TO $250,000, Hoover said.
Notes Traced 10 Kin.
In some instances, he added. the
notes were traced back TO sons,
daughters. or other members" of the
household to which the notes were
addressed.
After these young people have been
apprehended some people forget that
their letters and threats have caused
the same anguish and the same ter
rors as if sent by seasoned
cangster," Hoover said They also
forget it often costs the Government
as much to solve these as adult cases.
In these cases l feel it is very
desirable that the court impose a
sentence and not free them merely
with lecture"
Three of the boys arrested have
been lO-year-oldS, Hoover said, and
le Of them Is years or less.
The girls taken in custody have
been y. Is. II and l8 years ol0." he
said. "A recent example was two
extortion letters for $1,000 received
by Chicago school teacher,
Marguerite Liston of Wendell Phillips
High School,
At Odds With Teacher.
These were traced to two girl
students. Il and Is. who confessed
to agents they sent the letters be-
cause they were at odds with the
teacher. That may sound trivial. but
II was deadly serious until the letters
were solved"
case this month. Hoover said. was
. youth at Bridgeport, Conn. who
confessed to five different extortion
attempts after his capture
Many notableS have been targets
Tor letters from youths. Hoover said.
Miss Doris Duke, millionaire tobacco
heiress. who since has been married
received letter demanding 50 600
with threat to bomb the Duke estate
at Sommerville, N. j.
our men and New Jersey police
placed dummy package behind q
billboard and arrested an l8-year-old
hoy Hoover said. He confessed 10
tins and another extorIion attempt.
An 1l-year- -old Nebraska farm boy
was found to be the author of a note
to an uncle living nearby which
reSd. YOU better give me SIS or
death: better think it over-I'n whip
you so hard III kill you
Plane Used in Capture.
In another case early this year in
Louisiana, 1t was necessary to get an
Army airplane to help capture two
bows, is and II years old"
Hoover said the cause of many of
the juvenile cases is a puzzle to Of
fcers. Others, he said, involve some
young man or woman who has been
reading lot about crime Many need
money and think they can work the
perfect crime
One girl actually attempted extor-
tion, she told us, TO obtain money for
=: college career Some apparently
enjoy the publicity involved. A youth
said he wanted to see the wheels of
justice move around
. And he did before we were
Though"