1^st On this day in 1874, 4-year-old Charles Brewster Ross became the first child in the United States to be kidnapped for ransom —a tragic case that stunned the nation and introduced America to the horrifying crime of child abduction for money.

Charles and his 5-year-old brother, Walter, were playing outside their family’s home in Germantown, Pennsylvania, when two men approached in a horse-drawn carriage. Lured by candy and promises of fireworks, the boys went willingly. Only Walter returned.

Shortly after the abduction, Charles’s father, Christian Ross, received the first of 23 handwritten ransom notes demanding $20,000—a staggering amount at the time. The kidnappers warned him not to involve the police. But as the case gained attention, a nationwide manhunt ensued, with newspapers following every lead.

The case took a dramatic turn in December 1874, when two career criminals, William Mosher and Joseph Douglas, were shot during a botched robbery in Brooklyn. Before dying, Douglas allegedly confessed that they had kidnapped Charles—but claimed the boy had died in their custody.

Despite decades of tips, false confessions, and even adults claiming to be the missing boy, Charles Ross was never found. His father chronicled the tragedy in a book and spent the rest of his life campaigning for child safety.