Before Nancy Guthrie, the Lindbergh Baby Caused a Media Frenzy
It's not very common for a celebrity's family member to be abducted, but it's happened a few times before. Before Nancy Guthrie, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby caused a media frenzy.
The Lindbergh baby kidnapping case bears some resemblance to the non-stop media coverage of Savannah Guthrie's missing mom; The “media circus” around the Lindbergh baby case "helped propel the evolution of the 24/7 news cycle and modern true crime," according to A&E. Of course, the baby's abduction occurred before the age of podcasts and social media.
Although they are at the opposite ends of the age spectrum, Charles Lindbergh's son and Savannah Guthrie's mom were both snatched from their beds in the middle of the night. In addition, ransom notes featured in both cases, according to the FBI. "A search of the premises was immediately made and a ransom note demanding $50,000 was found on the nursery window sill," the FBI wrote, referring to the Lindbergh kidnapping. In the Guthrie case, a series of ransom notes demanding bitcoin were sent to media outlets.
Vanity Fair sees "echoes" of the Lindbergh baby story in the Nancy Guthrie saga.
Charles Lindbergh Was a Worldwide Celebrity When His Baby Son Was Abducted
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As with Savannah Guthrie, Charles Lindbergh was a beloved celebrity when his family member was abducted, driving enormous public sympathy for him and his wife. Although Savannah Guthrie has a loyal audience of millions and name recognition from her time on the TODAY Show, Charles Lindbergh was a bigger celebrity; he became a global star after completing the "first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927, A&E reported.
His familiarity to the public drove enormous sympathy for him when the baby disappeared.
“They come together with a story of just extraordinary appeal, because we know [Lindbergh], we’re emotionally involved with him, and we feel anguish that the baby has been kidnapped,” Thomas Doherty, author of Little Lindy Is Kidnapped: How the Media Covered the Crime of the Century, told A&E Crime + Investigation.
What Happened to the Lindbergh Baby?
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According to Vanity Fair, Charles Lindbergh Jr. "disappeared from his crib in Hopewell, New Jersey, on the night of March 1, 1932. His parents, nanny, and several other staff were in the house, and the boy’s bedroom was on the second floor." Nancy Guthrie also disappeared in the middle of the night from her home.
"Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped about 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey," the FBI wrote on a website page devoted to the story. "The child’s absence was discovered and reported to his parents, who were then at home, at approximately 10:00 p.m. by the child’s nurse, Betty Gow."
His mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was also prominent. She was "the first woman to earn a glider pilot license, and was a socialite, the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, and a writer," Vanity Fair reported.
In the Guthrie case, authorities have released photos of a masked suspect who was captured on Guthrie's door camera. They also have DNA and are analyzing gloves discovered discarded in the area.
The Lindbergh baby case also revolved around forensic evidence, although technology was not as advanced, and DNA testing did not exist. "During the search at the kidnapping scene, traces of mud were found on the floor of the nursery. Footprints, impossible to measure, were found under the nursery window," the FBI wrote. "Two sections of the ladder had been used in reaching the window, one of the two sections was split or broken where it joined the other, indicating that the ladder had broken during the ascent or descent. There were no blood stains in or about the nursery, nor were there any fingerprints."
Multiple ransom notes were sent in the case, the FBI noted.
How Did the Lindbergh Baby Die?
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Although Guthrie's fate is not known, the Lindbergh Baby suffered a tragic fate. The baby’s body "was discovered not far from the family’s home on May 12, 1932, 72 days after he had been taken," reported Vanity Fair, adding that he "likely died of a head trauma the night he vanished."
The scene was gruesome. "On May 12, 1932, the body of the kidnapped baby was accidentally found, partly buried, and badly decomposed, about four and a half miles southeast of the Lindbergh home, 45 feet from the highway, near Mount Rose, New Jersey, in Mercer County," the FBI wrote. "The discovery was made by William Allen, an assistant on a truck driven by Orville Wilson. The head was crushed, there was a hole in the skull and some of the body members were missing."
A suspect was eventually identified by tracing gold certificates used as ransom notes. He was Bruno Richard Hauptmann, "a German carpenter who had been in this country for approximately 11 years," the FBI wrote. The evidence included analysis of his handwriting, comparing it to the ransom notes, as well as the description of a car at the scene, and comparisons of wood in the ladder to his floor. Hauptmann was convicted after a trial and electrocuted, according to the FBI.