CREATORS
February 10, 2026
The
desperate search for Nancy Guthrie continues in Tucson, Ariz. Guthrie is the
mother of NBC's "Today Show" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Guthrie has
been missing for over a week, and concern grows about her physical health and
the possibility of her kidnapping for ransom.
Kidnapping
for ransom is a relic of a bygone era. The most notable kidnappings of the last
century have been resolved in various ways, including returned unharmed,
battered, deceased and incarcerated. With past kidnappings as a guide, it is
anyone's guess as to the outcome of Guthrie's disappearance.
Maybe the
most well-known kidnapping of the twentieth century was the abduction of
Charles Lindbergh, Jr. The 20-month-old Lindbergh was abducted on March 1,
1932, from his crib in the family's posh New Jersey home.
Lindbergh's
father, Charles Lindbergh, Sr., was an international celebrity as a result of
completing the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.
His celebrity made his family a target.
A ransom
note was left in the child's crib, and several other notes were sent over
several weeks. A ransom was paid in April, and the child was not returned. On
May 12, the child's battered body was discovered on the side of a road by a
truck driver not more than five miles from the Lindbergh home.
More than
two years after Lindbergh's murder, a German immigrant, Bruno Hauptmann, was
arrested. He was convicted of first-degree murder and executed in 1936.
Little
more than 30 years later, Frank Sinatra, Jr. was kidnapped after a performance
in Lake Tahoe in 1963. Sinatra was the 19-year-old son of the renowned singer
and actor Frank Sinatra.
The
kidnappers demanded a large sum of money. Frank, Sr., gathered the ransom of
$240,000 and delivered the money as directed. His son was safely returned.
A police
investigation revealed that Barry Keenan, Joe Amsler and John Irwin conspired
to kidnap Frank Jr. for ransom. Apparently, Keenan was a former classmate of
Frank Jr.'s sister Nancy Sinatra. The conspirators were convicted and sentenced
to prison.
About 10
years later, John Paul Getty III, the grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, was
kidnapped in Rome, Italy. Getty's abductors had originally demanded $17
million. Getty's grandfather, once the richest man in the world, refused to
pay.
After the
refusal, Getty's severed ear was mailed to a newspaper. The family relented and
paid a renegotiated ransom. Getty was released about five months after his
kidnapping. After his return, Getty's life spiraled into alcohol and drug
addiction. He overdosed in1981 at the age of 25, leaving him severely disabled
for the rest of his life.
Patricia
Hearst was kidnapped in 1974. She was the granddaughter of newspaper magnate
William Randolph Hearst. Her kidnapping did not unfold like other high-profile
kidnappings.
Hearst was
kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Initially, the SLA had
offered to release Hearst if authorities would release a jailed SLA member.
When the state of California refused, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family
give every needy Californian $70 for food.
However,
something strange happened while Hearst was in captivity. She became
sympathetic to her captors; she joined the SLA and was involved in criminal
activity, including a bank robbery where she appeared on video surveillance
with an automatic weapon.
Hearst was
later found by police. Instead of being reunited with her family, she was
jailed. At her trial, the prosecution suggested that Hearst had willingly
joined the SLA. However, she testified that she had been sexually assaulted and
threatened with death while held captive.
In 1976,
she was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Her
sentence was commuted by former President Jimmy Carter, resulting in her
release from prison. She was later pardoned by former President Bill Clinton.
Other than
Sinatra, the kidnappings chronicled here — good, bad or tragic — were not
resolved for months.
Matthew T.
Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book
"The Executioner's Toll," 2010, was released by McFarland Publishing.
You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter
@MatthewTMangino
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