Danny Goldman

* Living photo
* Age progressed

**Daniel "Danny" Jess Goldman** was a teenage boy who was abducted from his family home by an unknown man at gunpoint. The abductor never contacted the family again, even after a request for ransom was made.

## Background

Danny Goldman was the only child of Aaron and Sally Goldman and a senior at Miami Beach High School at the time of his disappearance.

Aaron was a shareholder with the Five Points national bank at the time of Danny's disappearance. He complained about the conduct of the bank directors and the FBI had interviewed him about a month before Danny's disappearance in relation to the bank's activities.

## Case

### Abduction

Danny Goldman was abducted from his home at the 100 block of 88th street in surfside Florida on March, 19, 1966. The abductor was armed with a gun but what kind is not specified.

The abductor entered the home through an unlocked patio door at approximately 5:35 a.m. and first went to wake up Danny’s parents. He was able to address them both by their first names and demanded $10,000 in cash. As they did not have this much money in the house they instead offered to write him a cheque. It is unclear if the man agreed to this but it seems like he probably did not.

The man then tied up Aaron and Sally, bounding their wrists behind their backs with venetian blind cord. He stuck a pair of scissors and a knife in the knots so they would cut themselves if they struggled or tried to undo the knots. He also covered their mouths with adhesive tape. He then woke up Danny, forced him to get dressed at gunpoint, bound him and drove off with him in Danny’s own white ramble sedan.

Before leaving the man explained that he wanted a ransom of $25,000 for Danny and that if it was not payed by 6:00 a.m. on March, 29 then the price would double. He also threatened to kill Danny if these demands where not met. The abductor said he would call the family to arrange delivery instruction for the money but never did.

Danny’s car was found hours later in a parking lot on Harding Avenue. However, Danny was never seen or heard from again.

Aaron did not get a good look at the abductor in the dark but would tell police that he felt like he might have known the man. The abductor was described as Caucasian with a midweastern accent. He was between 5’8 and 5’11, 180 to 200 pounds, had grey hair and was probably in his fifties. He was wearing glasses with silver, metal rims, a baseball cap and dark clothing when he abducted Danny.

The abductor did not ramsack the house and treated the family with “gentleness”. He even checked that Sally could breath in her gag and that her bindings weren’t too tight.

### Initial investigation

When police searched the house they found the fingertip of a surgical glove. They believe that the abductor may have accidentally cut or tore this off when tying up Danny or his parents. The glove was a Sterling brand designed for medical use. It would have been manufactured and distributed exclusively in Canada and could not have been purchased in the United States. As southern Florida was a popular destination for Canadian tourists the glove may have been taken locally from someone traveling in from Canada.

Police sent a letter about the glove to the Canadian Medical association with a description of the abductor in the hope of getting new leads and the letter was published in Canadian medical journals. Nothing came of this though.

Three months after Danny was abducted, nineteen officers and directors at the Five Points National bank were indited for federal fraud, although Aaron was not among them. The possibility  that Danny was abducted by someone who had a grudge against Aaron over the bank was investigated but no connections could be made.

### Issues in the initial investigation

The Miami-Dade police department, who were investigating Danny's case, where known to have issues with sever corruption in the 1960s. Seven months after Danny was abducted five officers were indicted on burglary and larceny charges. These included Sergeant David Helman who was working on Danny's case at the time. The officers weren't charged due to a legal technicality but this would later cause concerns as to how well Danny's case was actually handled.

## Characteristics

* Dark brown, wavy hair.
* Brown eyes.
* Clean shaven.
* Moon shaped scar on the right ankle.
* Vaccination scar on the upper left arm.

## Clothing

* A tan windbreacker jacket.
* Green pants.
* A plain gold ring with the initials DG etched into it.

## Sources

* Danny Goldman at the *Charley Project*
* Danny Goldman at the *Doe Network*
* Danny Goldman at *NamUs*