The Case Against Bruno Richard Hauptmann — NYC Department of Records & Information Services
After his 1927 solo flight from Long Island to Paris, Col. Charles Lindbergh won both fame and fortune. The $25,000 in prize money for the feat (which he shared with his backers), plus fees as a consultant and spokesperson for the now booming aviation industry made him a very wealthy man. By 1932, he had married the daughter of a diplomat, and they were living in Hopewell, New Jersey with their first child, a son.
Most sources agree on the essential facts of the abduction. On the night of March 1, 1932, the family nurse, Betty Gow, alerted Col. Lindbergh that she could not find his son. Lindbergh discovered that the child was missing from his crib and found a ransom note. The note demanded $50,000 for the safe return of the boy (about $1 million in 2025 currency). Soon after, he and the family butler noticed a hand-made ladder leaning against the second-floor bedroom window.
Almost from the start, the crime scene was mis-managed as the household and neighbors scoured the grounds looking for clues, perhaps trampling usable evidence. Then there was the press. They quickly descended on the property and the subsequent headlines whipped the public into a frenzy. President Herbert Hoover authorized the U.S. Department of Justice, Division of Investigation (DOI), precursor to the FBI, to investigate. Sleuths, both real and amateur, volunteered their services and offered opinions to the press. A huckster claiming to have inside knowledge of the kidnapping managed to talk heiress Evelyn McLean out of a sizable sum of money.
The first ransom note contained a mysterious symbol to identify future communications. On March 7th the Lindberghs received a second ransom note with the symbol, demanding $70,000. A third note was sent to Lindbergh’s lawyer. Both notes were postmarked from Brooklyn.
