243:, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover claimed that George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Kelly's wife Kathryn Kelly, and Edward Doll, aka Eddie LaRue, had kidnapped a wealthy businessman in South Bend. While Hoover did not name Woolverton in the articles or book, it was clear to media at the time that he was referring to Woolverton. Following publication of the February 1937 article, The South Bend Tribune telegrammed Hoover asking for more information about his allegations. Hoover replied with a telegram a few days later, stating, "I regret that the confidential nature of the information in our files makes it impossible to disclose further information with respect to the Woolverton kidnapping."
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life, a singular, growing crime wave in which no one was safe. Pasley labeled
Woolverton's kidnapping a "spectacular" crime that "climaxed a series of such crimes in the Middle West" and "which for brazen audacity has no parallel." Catton's article included pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Woolverton and asserted that "The amazing way in which kidnapping has become a major underworld industry is nowhere better shown than in the events of the past few months in the middle-west," adding, "The seizure of Woolverton . . . is evidence of this."
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Bend and was informed that he was being kidnapped for $ 50,000 (an amount equal to about $ 2 million in 2020 dollars). Mrs. Woolverton was given a ransom note and told to drive her husband's car back to South Bend to collect the money, while Mr. Woolverton was ordered into the kidnappers' car. He was forced to put on painted goggles, and he was driven further west, where he was held overnight in an unknown location. The farmhouse has never been found.
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orders of the kidnappers not to talk, further, Woolverton was similarly reticent with law enforcement officials. His silence and his friendship with Frank Mayr, Jr., Indiana
Secretary of State and head of the Indiana state police, virtually quashed any investigation of the crime, with state officials declaring that if Woolverton wouldn't talk, they could do nothing more.
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Mrs. Woolverton returned to South Bend in her husband's car and immediately reported to police that her husband had been kidnapped, and by the next morning, the press had been notified. The story received front-page coverage in newspapers across the region published on
January 27, 1932, including the
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automobile, pointed a gun through the car's slightly open window, and demanded to be let into the back seat. Once in the
Woolvertons' car, the man ordered Woolverton to drive as instructed. As they drove, a second car followed. Woolverton was ordered to stop in a remote area a few miles west of South
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Once home, Woolverton refused to speak to the press, providing an incomplete account of his abduction through his attorney, G. A. Farabaugh, who claimed
Woolverton was blinded throughout his ordeal, never heard his kidnappers' voices and could say nothing about who abducted him. Claiming to be under
133:
company. At about 11 p.m. on that date, while the
Woolvertons were driving back to their own home a few blocks away, a car skidded to a stop next to them (or blocked their path, according to some reports) while simultaneously a male pedestrian jumped on the running board of Woolverton's five-seat
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of New York City, were ready for publication within a day or two of the
Lindbergh kidnapping. Both series, which ran in papers across North America, offered statistics, histories and noteworthy cases (particularly the Lindbergh case), and described kidnapping as an existential threat to American
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Because initial news reports were stymied by
Woolverton's reticence, and Hoover declined to name the victim in his accounts of the crime, or provide further details to the press, the kidnapping of Howard Woolverton was virtually forgotten over the ensuing decades despite its initial prominence.
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According to extensive newspaper coverage at the time, Howard
Woolverton and his wife, Florence Flannery Woolverton, had gone to the theater with close family friend Bessie Studebaker on the evening of January 26, 1932. After the movie, they drove to the mansion of Mrs. Studebaker, a member by
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In his 1934 federal statement, further, Woolverton acknowledged being advised by the FBI "that it is absolutely necessary that the investigation of this matter be held in strict confidence and I have advised my relatives to keep this matter quiet and not to divulge any information to anybody
86:, the evening of January 26, 1932, and concluded when Woolverton returned to his home unharmed about 24 hours later, received extensive contemporary newspaper coverage, impacted the way the press covered kidnapping in the following weeks, and played a leading role in passage of the
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At the time of the kidnapping, Woolverton was secretary and treasurer of the
Malleable Steel Range Manufacturing Company, based in South Bend, Indiana. The firm, founded by his father, Jacob Woolverton, lives on as Southbend, a division of the
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Woolverton's kidnapping featured prominently in several newspaper series researched and prepared in the weeks following his abduction, and were quite possibly inspired by it. Two such projects, by
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Neither Doll and the Kellys nor anyone else was ever charged with Woolverton's kidnapping, but by the mid-1930s, all three were serving life sentences for other crimes.
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Woolverton negotiated the ransom down to $ 8,000, which he agreed to pay in accordance with further instructions. The kidnappers dropped Woolverton off in
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concerns. The law, passed in summer 1932, is typically called the "Lindbergh Law", with credit for its passage attributed solely to its namesake,
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Despite the absence of an investigation or much information about the kidnapping, the crime revived discussion of the Federal Kidnapping Act in
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see for example "Kidnappers Seize South Bend Couple: Release Manufacturer's Wife to Produce $ 50,000 Ransom on Pain of Husband's Death."
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195:. The act, which would make the transporting of kidnap victims over state lines a federal crime, with punishments including the
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551:"Kuespert Pushes Search for Kidnapers; Family Reluctant; State Police Also Lose Interest; Pat Roche Joins in Hunt."
536:"Kuespert Pushes Search for Kidnapers; Family Reluctant; State Police Also Lose Interest; Pat Roche Joins in Hunt."
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see for example "Kidnaping Becomes Major Underworld Industry; Chicago Pays Over 2 Million Dollars in Ransom."
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see for example "Hunt Woolverton Spotter: Kidnapers Hold Howard Woolverton; Demand $ 50,000 of Wife,"
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Under Penalty of Death: The Untold Story of Machine Gun Kelly's First Kidnapping
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627:"Woolverton Case Solved: Hoover Indicates It In Magazine Article."
612:"Woolverton Case Solved: Hoover Indicates It In Magazine Article."
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161:. Hundreds more papers throughout the United States, including the
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435:"Wealthy South Bend Manufacturer is Held for Ransom of $ 50,000."
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Statement of Howard A. Woolverton, February 10, 1934. Source:
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Statement of Howard A. Woolverton, February 10, 1934. Source:
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see, re. Eddie Doll: "Convict Complains Promise Not Kept."
174:, and he traveled by train from there back to South Bend.
566:"Woolverton Case Revives Kidnaping Bill in Congress."
362:"Woolverton Case Revives Kidnaping Bill in Congress."
239:in February and August 1937, and in his 1938 book
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380:. J. Edgar Hoover. 1938. pp. 152-153; 292-293.
264:Kevin E. Meredith; David W. Hendry Jr (2023).
317:"Howard Woolverton Business Leader, Dies"
347:see for example "Manufacturer Kidnapped"
129:marriage of the family that founded the
701:1930s kidnappings in the United States
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332:"Woolverton Freed, Denies Ransoming."
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676:1932 crimes in the United States
508:"Confirms Story of Woolverton."
404:"Stove Firm has 250 Employees."
247:concerning this investigation."
216:Newspaper Enterprise Association
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600:The Scranton Times-Tribune
350:Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
102:George "Machine Gun" Kelly
681:Kidnapped American people
633:, January 16, 1937, p. 1.
618:, January 16, 1937, p. 1.
572:, January 28, 1932, p. 1.
557:, January 28, 1932, p. 1.
542:, January 28, 1932, p. 1.
512:. February 6, 1932. p. 4.
456:. January 27, 1932. p. 1.
441:. January 27, 1932. p. 1.
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395:. January 27, 1932. p. 1.
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283:Hoover, J. Edgar (1938).
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499:. January 27, 1932, p. 2
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411:. August 16, 1936. p. 8.
338:January 28, 1932, p. 44.
100:attributed the crime to
16:American kidnapping case
603:, March 7, 1932, p. 18.
527:January 28, 1932, p. 1.
268:. Red Lightning Books.
218:and Fred Pasley of the
630:The South Bend Tribune
615:The South Bend Tribune
554:The South Bend Tribune
539:The South Bend Tribune
524:The South Bend Tribune
510:The South Bend Tribune
320:The South Bend Tribune
146:The South Bend Tribune
88:Federal Kidnapping Act
152:South Bend News-Times
659:. 11 Oct 1948, p. 7.
143:evening editions of
118:Middleby Corporation
64:manufacturer, banker
686:January 1932 events
84:South Bend, Indiana
47:South Bend, Indiana
35:South Bend, Indiana
569:South Bend Tribune
468:South Bend Tribune
453:South Bend Tribune
438:Indianapolis Times
423:South Bend Tribune
407:South Bend Tribune
392:South Bend Tribune
365:South Bend Tribune
335:The New York Times
124:Kidnapping details
32:September 26, 1880
378:Persons in Hiding
285:Persons in Hiding
275:978-1-68435-199-2
241:Persons in Hiding
236:American Magazine
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53:Nationality
670:Categories
585:Daily News
305:References
297:B000855M6E
221:Daily News
155:, and the
131:Studebaker
583:New York
96:Director
193:Congress
56:American
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293:ASIN
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