Edward Cudahy, Jr. - Kidnapping

Kidnapping

On the evening of December 18, 1900, 16-year-old Edward Cudahy, Jr. left his house to run an errand in his Old Gold Coast neighborhood. As he walked home, a carriage pulled beside him and a man jumped out and grabbed him, pulling him inside. His father, the millionaire owner of Cudahy Packing Company at the Omaha Stockyards, returned from a dinner engagement at 10:30pm that evening to discover his son missing. The next morning the Omaha Bee, the Daily News and the World-Herald all carried the story across their front pages.

The next morning Cudahy closed his plant and encouraged his 2,000 workers to look for his son. His competitors did the same, and soon there were 7,000 people searching Omaha. At 9:00am he received a phone call advising him to search his front yard, where his coachman found a ransom note demanding $25,000.

"Mr. Cudahy: We have kidnapped your child and demand $25,000 for his safe return. If you give us the money he will return as safe as when you last saw him, but if you refuse, we will put acid in his eyes and blind him... Get the money all in gold, 5, 10 and 20 (dollar) pieces... Get in your buggy alone on the night of December 19 at 7 o'clock p.m. Follow the paved road toward Fremont. When you come to a lantern...by the side of the road, place the money by the lantern and immediately turn your horse around and return home."

The kidnapper foresaw the possibility of Cudahy not paying the ransom, and also referred in his note to the most infamous kidnapping case in American history up to that point, which was that of Charley Ross, aged 4, in Philadelphia on July 1, 1874. After being advised by police not to pay the ransom, his father, Christian Ross, a wealthy merchant, never saw his child again. The Cudahy kidnapper noted that Christian Ross regretted for the rest of his life that he took the advice of the police. Their note continued,

"Ross died of a broken heart, sorry that he allowed the detectives to dictate to him. Cudahy, you are up against it, and there is only one way out - give up the coin. Money we want and money we will get. If you don't give up...you can lead your boy blind the rest of your days."

At 7:00pm on the night of the 19th, Cudahy arrived at the lantern, which was located near the Little Papio Creek. Finding everything in order, he left the money along with a note in reply to the captors. They returned to the Cudahy mansion at 9:30pm. Eddie Jr. returned home at 1:00am, unharmed.