Evening star., 1938-02-13

v ences in many of their man
~ hunts, but never in the annals
of the Federal Bureau of In
vestigation have they encountered
such grim adventures as those which
befell ]. Edgar Hoover and dozen
of his men in their search of the snow
bound North woods country for kid
naper's death chamber"
This was hunt, not for the living,
as in other kidnapping cases, but for
the dead-for the bullet-torn bodies
secreted in a bleak Wisconsin forest
by talkative but unrepentant captive
kidnaper. swarthy Peter Anders, lum-
berjack- turned outlaw.
It was hunt that at the outset
seemed likely to be little more than
wild goose chase inspired by the
distorted brain of the manacled cap
tive, but before it was over the near
frozen, fa;nished band of Federal Off
GERS had dug up a 100000 ransom
cache. had found kidnaper's under
ground hideout and had pushed on
ward, by foot and bobsled, to a grisly
cave in which lay the ravaged bodies
of elderly Charles S. Ross, Chicago
manufacturer, and one of his kid
napers, James Atwood Gray.
The full story of this strange ex-
pedition has never been revealed to
the public. The lurid details are con-
tained IN Official reports in the files
Of the F. B. 1. on the Ross case With
the permission of Director Hoover,
some of the more interesting facts will
be disclosed herewith.
THE story really goes back to jan
uary IA, when the F. B. I. special
kidnap squad lay in wait at Santa
Anita race track, near Los Angeles,
for man who had been passing some
of the Ross ransom money over pari-
mutuel counters.
Members of the squad had followed
a haphazard trail of the blood
money" from Chicago, scene of the
brutal abduction, to the gay rendez-
vous near Hollywood of movie stars
and other notables Ransom bills were
being reported by bank tellers, filling
station proprietors and other money
handlers across the country to the
Pacific Coast. The bills were being
turned in by public-spirited citizens
to whom the F. B. I. had furnished
copies of the serial numbers of bills
in the $50,000 ransom package tossed
by q motor cyclist to the kidnapers-
in vain.
When several Of the bills were re-
ported in rapid succession at Santa
Anita Mr.. Hoover ordered his men
to set careful trap at the race track.
With the cooperation of track au-
thorities. special agents were stationed
behind betting counters, ready to
check quickly on each suspected bill
that came in. Other agents, in the
guise of track hangers-on, fingered
nearby, watching for a signal to close
In on anyone observed passing a ran
som bill.
The checking process was difficult
one, because of the rapidity with
which bets were being made. The
agents made the best of the situation
keeping patient watch for the bettor
who would lay down one or more of
the "hot" bills on counter.
THE vigil finally proved fruitful. A
shifty-eyed, dark-complexioned
man, about 80 years old, walked up to
a betting window, asked for a pari-
mutuel ticket on a certain horse, and
produced in payment bill which, on
quick inspection proved to be a part
Of the Ross ransom.
The agents, at signal, closed in on
the man without attracting general
attention. Before he could resist,
he was rushed to waiting automo-
bile and taken to the Los Angeles
ofice Of the F. B. I. Approximately
$4,000 Of the Ross ransom money was
found in this mans possession.
The prisoner, who gave his name as
Peter Anders, but whose real name is
Seadlund, former logger of the Pa
cific Northwest, was fiabbergasted by
the sudden turn Of events and by the
mass Of damaging evidence against
him, but at first he denied his guilt
When Director Hoover and his assist
ant. Clyde Tolson, arrived by plane
from Washington, Anders turned to
Mr.. Hoover and said: II know who
you are-you're big shot-but you
annoy me just as much as these other
G-men." To gain the mans conf
dence. Mr.. Hoover ordered u steak
dinner for Anders and allowed him to
take long sleep. On awakening he
sent for the head Oman and made
lengthy confession-not only to the
Ross crime, but to another kidpaping
TO bank robberies and TO other out
lAwry.
Mr.. Hoover and his agents could
scarcely credit some OF the thinga