3. Joe Douglas
The kidnapping of four-year-old Charley Ross in 1874, was the first case of its kind to garner large-scale press attention, mainly due to his parents’ wealth and the fact there was a ransom involved. Months passed, and there were still no real leads in the case, despite Charley’s father spending tens of thousands of dollars in an attempt to find him. Then, in December of the same year, two professional criminals were caught red-handed attempting a burglary.
Bill Mosher was killed at the scene, but his partner in crime Joe Douglas, survived his gunshot wounds for another few hours; long enough to confess that it was he and Mosher who had kidnapped Charley Ross. Charley’s brother Walter, who had been with him when the abduction took place, was taken to see the dead bodies of Douglas and Mosher, and confirmed that they were indeed the culprits. Despite this, unfortunately Charley was never found, and exactly what took place that fateful day remains a mystery.
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