American aviation and military officer Charles Lindbergh made history on May 20, 1927, when he flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time as a pilot.

Less than five years later, on March 1, 1932, tragedy struck his family when his 20-month-old baby, Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was kidnapped from his New Jersey home. He left behind a $50,000 ransom note.

The kidnapping and the upcoming trial received a lot of media attention.

As the search for the 20-month-old baby began, many ransom notes were received, until by chance the remains of Lindbergh, Jr. were found.

1. When was Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. kidnapped?
2. Did they ever find Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.?
3. What happened during the Lindbergh kidnapping trial?

1. When was Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. kidnapped?

Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was kidnapped on March 1, 1932, when he was only 20 months old.

According to FBI.gov, Lindbergh’s baby was abducted from his second-floor nursery of the family’s home near Hopewell, New Jersey, around 9 p.m.

About an hour after he disappeared, the baby’s nurse, Betty Grow, alerted his parents, famed aviator Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow, that the 20-month-old was missing.

There was little evidence in the room the baby was abducted from, other than a ransom note on the windowsill demanding $50,000.

The New Jersey State Police began investigating the high-profile case, which lasted for many months. Numerous ransom notes followed shortly after the first.

A search of the crime scene yielded no incriminating evidence. Indistinguishable muddy footprints and two broken pieces of a ladder used to reach the second-story window were found at the scene.

According to FBI.gov, no fingerprints were found.

On March 6, 1932, a second ransom note was received, postmarked Brooklyn, New York, according to the Library of Congress. This ransom note increased the requested amount to $70,000.

Shortly after finding a third ransom note, Lindbergh appointed Dr. John F. Condon, a retired teacher from the Bronx, to act as mediator between himself and the kidnapper.

By March 10, 1932, Condon was in possession of the $70,000 ransom and began negotiating payment through newspaper columns under the code name “Jafsie,” according to FBI.gov.

Condon followed detailed instructions to meet the alleged kidnapper, who went by the name “John.”

On March 16, Condon also received a sleeping suit from Lindbergh Jr. along with the seventh ransom note, according to FBI.gov.

On April 2, 1932, Condon received two more ransom notes, the 11th and the 12th, which prompted him to meet with “John” for the last time. At this meeting, $50,000 was paid in exchange for the safe return of Lindbergh, Jr.

Condon received a 13th note detailing the location of the kidnapped child, who was reportedly being held on a boat named “Nellie” near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, according to FBI.gov.

A search was conducted around Martha’s Vineyard for the baby, but the boat was not found.

2. Did they ever find Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.?

Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was found, but not because the ransom note led investigators to his location.

On May 12, 1932, a truck driver accidentally came across the badly decomposed body of Lindbergh, Jr., about four miles from the family’s home, according to FBI.gov.

According to FBI.gov, a coroner’s investigation determined that the cause of death was a blow to the head. The 20-month-old baby had been dead for approximately two months when he was found.

3. What happened during the Lindbergh kidnapping trial?

After the body was found, New Jersey police offered a $25,000 reward for anyone with valuable information about the case, the Library of Congress said.

According to the source, the FBI gained jurisdiction over the case in 1933 and it took nearly a year before any discoveries were made regarding the murder.

An executive order was issued requiring that all gold and gold certificates be returned to the treasury. This proved helpful to the cause, as a large portion of the ransom paid was in gold certificates.

Additionally, the New York City Bureau Office provided copies of a revised flyer containing ransom note serial numbers to employees handling cash at banks, grocery stores and gas stations, among other locations, according to FBI.gov.

The gold certificate report eventually led to the arrest of a German-born carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

According to FBI.gov, a gas station attendant suspected a $10 gold certificate was being used as payment and wrote down the license plate number of the man using the certificate.

Hauptmann’s home was then monitored by authorities, according to FBI.gov, and on the night of September 18, 1934, a man matching the description of “John” as provided by Condon and the description of the man who had purchased the gasoline with the $10 gold certificate was spotted there.

When Hauptmann was arrested, he admitted to making several purchases using ransom notes, and his home was searched. According to FBI.gov, more than $13,000 worth of ransom notes were found in his garage. In his defense, Hauptmann claimed the money was being held for a friend who had died, according to Britannica.

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According to FBI.gov, Hauptmann was indicted on September 29, 1934, in Brox County, New York, for extortion and on October 8, 1934, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, for murder.

The trial, dubbed “The Trial of the Century,” began on January 2, 1935, in Flemington, New Jersey.

The wood from the ladder used in the abduction matched the wood from Hauptmann’s attic floor. Condon’s phone number found in a closet door frame in his home and handwriting samples were also used as evidence against Hauptmann.

The trial concluded on February 13, 1935, and the jury found Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder after eleven hours of deliberation.

Hauptmann was sentenced to death and, after unsuccessful appeals, electrocuted on April 3, 1936.

This case led to the passage of the Federal Kidnapping Act, also known as the Lindbergh Law, in 1932. This law made kidnapping a federal crime and allowed the FBI to be involved in kidnappings where victims were taken across state lines.

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