174
K
idnapping is the illegal
transportation of a non-
consenting person through
the use of force or fraud. In the US
and UK, the majority of kidnap
victims are taken by a loved one,
such as a parent or spouse. Motives
for kidnapping include securing
custody of a child, monetary
ransom, sexual abuse, and slavery.
None of the cases described
in this book were designed to end
with murder: the intent was either
to extract a ransom payment or to
keep the victim alive in sexual
slavery. In cases where kidnap led
to the death of the victim, such
as the 1932 abduction of toddler
Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr,
the son of the American aviator,
evidence indicated that death
resulted from the kidnapper(s)’
incompetence rather than design.In the US, the botched kidnapping
of the Lindbergh baby led to new
laws to combat abduction. Later
the same year, the US Congress
passed the Federal Kidnapping Act
18 U.S.C. § 1201, known as the
Lindbergh Law. This allowed federal
officers to pursue kidnappers who
crossed state lines with their victim
or victims. The FBI could bring its
experience, training, and overriding
authority to bear on such cases,
although parental kidnapping was
excluded from the act. Until the
revision of the law in the 1970s,
convicted kidnappers could face the
death penalty in some states if the
victim had been harmed.Stockholm syndrome
Even victims who are kept for
a relatively short time may suffer
psychological trauma, such asanxiety attacks, phobias, or post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The symptoms this trauma can be
physical, mental, or both.
Being held over long periods
of time can change the victim’s
character to the extent that they
become unrecognizable to friends
and family. This may occur as a
result of Stockholm syndrome –
a psychological phenomenon in
which captives begin to identify
with the motives of their captors.
This famously happened in the 1974
case of American heiress Patty
Hearst, who joined the cause of her
kidnappers, the revolutionary
Symbionese Liberation Army.
Within 10 weeks of her kidnap, most
of which Hearst spent in a closet,
she helped her captors rob a bank.
A now-iconic photograph of Hearst
appeared several months after sheINTRODUCTION
1613
In Jamestown,
Virginia, Captain
Samuel Argall
kidnaps Pocahontas,
the daughter of a
paramount chief.1897
In a case known as the
Tichborne Claimant,
Arthur Orton claims to
be the lost son and heir of
Lady Tichborne.1932
US aviator Charles
Lindbergh’s baby son
is kidnapped from
their house in
New Jersey.174-175_Timeline_5.indd 174 17/01/2017 14:13
175
was captured by the kidnappers.
She was pictured holding an
automatic weapon in front of the
Symbionese Liberation Army’s logo,
and only repudiated her allegiance
to the group once she had been
separated from them for some time.
Of course, not all kidnap victims
escape their kidnappers. Some are
forced to adjust to their lives with
their captors – as was the case
for Pocahontas, the daughter of
a 17th-century American Indian
chief, who was kidnapped by
English colonists in 1613 and never
returned to her old life.Technological advances
Uncovering the identities of
anonymous abductors can be
extremely difficult for police.
Success often hinges on the ability
of witnesses or the victim to givea physical description of their
attacker after their release.
Sometimes, kidnappers slip up
and inadvertently provide clues
that reveal the whereabouts of the
victim’s location.
The advent of forensic document
identification, allowed in evidence
in the US since the Supreme
Court’s landmark Bell v. Brewster
ruling of 1887, which recognized
the importance of handwriting as
a means of identification, enabled
police to employ trained experts to
compare the writing on ransom
notes with that of suspects.
Marking the banknotes used to pay
a ransom, or recording their serial
numbers, are other ways in which
abductors may be traced.
In recent years, advances in
digital technology have made it
significantly more difficult tocommit kidnappings successfully.
CCTV cameras play an important
role in detection, while tracking
software in cell phones can locate
victims and their abductors.
Removing or neutralizing tracking
devices is of paramount importance
to a kidnapper; otherwise, it is just
a matter of time before police
officers arrive at the abductor’s door.
Such developments have led to
a market for wearable GPS child-
tracking devices. Most look similar
to a wristwatch, and allow the child
to contact a parent at the push of a
button. However, many are clunky
and easy for an abductor to spot.
In theory, as man and machine
become ever more interconnected,
tracking technology could one day
be incorporated into the human
body – which raises important
questions regarding civil liberties. ■KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION
1974 1998–2006
In Austria, Natascha
Kampusch is imprisoned
in the home of her
abductor for eight years.Patty Hearst, daughter of
US media tycoon William
Randolph Hearst, is
kidnapped by the Symbionese
Liberation Army.1973
Kidnappers seize John
Paul Getty III, the
16-year-old grandson of
billionaire Jean Paul
Getty, from Piazza
Farnese in Rome.1976
Twenty-six children
are kidnapped and
buried alive in a truck in
Chowchilla, California.174-175_Timeline_5.indd 175 13/01/2017 15:18