The headline of the Boston Herald said it all. Lindbergh Baby Is Kidnapped. Multiple article headlines preceded the actual article. Noted Flier’s Son Taken From His Crib In Home At Hopewell, N.J. ALARM BROADCAST: PARENTS PROSTRATED. Abductors Carry Away 20-Months-Old Child In Motor Car Stolen In Atlantic City. BABY TAKEN FROM NURSERY: FIVE PERSONS IN HOUSE AT TIME.
Col. Charles Lindbergh (promoted to Brigadier General in 1954) was a famous aviator, credited with the first solo transatlantic flight (1927) and pioneer of international commercial aviation and air mail. On May 27, 1929, he married Anne Morrow. They had six children, the first being born on June 22, 1930. They named him Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
March 1, 1932. Anne put her 20-month old child in his upstairs crib before going to take a bath. Shortly after that at 9:00 p.m., the family nanny, Betty Gow, went to check on the baby. Charles was not in his crib. Anne came out of the bathroom about the time Betty was checking and when it was found that Anne didn’t have young Charles, they raced to tell his dad. When dad came upstairs, a crudely written ransom note was found on the windowsill and pieces of a wooden ladder on the ground. The note said:
Dear Sir! Have 50.000$ redy 25 000$ in 20$ bills 15000$ in 10$ bills and 10000$ in 5$ bills After 2–4 days we will inform you were to deliver the mony. We warn you for making anyding public or for notify the Police the child is in gut care. Indication for all letters are Singnature and 3 hohls.1
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. had been kidnapped.
Called The Crime of the Century, it didn’t end well. On May 12, the body of Charles Jr. was found in a grove of trees about 4 ½ miles away from his home. The investigation eventually led police to Richard Hauptmann, an immigrant carpenter with a criminal record in Germany. The trial concluded that Hauptmann was guilty, and he was executed on April 3, 1936.
Many believe that Hauptmann didn’t act alone but the person suspected of being a co-conspirator with a friend who had returned to Germany and died in 1934. Others, like Hauptmann’s wife, believed he was completely innocent and petitioned for posthumous exoneration.
From this crime came something known as The Lindbergh Law. Congress passed the law, making kidnapping a federal offense.
I can’t imagine the grief and torment a parent must endure when they find out their child was kidnapped. There is a dad in Scripture, though, who could sympathize with the Lindbergh family. First, a bit of background before getting into the Scripture.
Jacob had a large family of boys. The second youngest was named Joseph and God had a special plan for Joseph’s life that began unfolding in his teenage years. As Joseph gave God’s messages given to him through some amazing dreams, the brothers were less than impressed. In fact, they were absolutely angry – angry enough to kill
Joseph was going to the fields to check on his brothers, sent by his dad. As he approached, the brothers were so disgusted with him that they devised a plan to kill him. One brother who was a bit more rational than the others suggested selling him instead. So, that’s what they did. They tossed him into a pit and waited for a band of nomadic Midianites to come wandering by, at which time they sold Joseph.
They didn’t think this through very well. How are they going to explain this to their dad?
Genesis 37:31-36 says, “And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; (32) And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. (33) And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. (34) And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. (35) And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. (36) And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.”
A dad’s heart is broken! Jospeh’s brothers had no conscience. How could they have done this to their brother and how could they have put their elderly father through such anguish? If you know the story, though, it ends well. Joseph and his family are reunited in Egypt years later.
I don’t know the spiritual condition of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. There is no way to justify the crime committed against their baby or any way to ease the pain a parent must experience when given this kind of news. But what is certain is that Charles Jr. is in Heaven and if dad and mom knew Jesus as their Savior, they were reunited with their baby on August 26, 1974 and February 7, 2001, respectively.
If you’ve ever lost a little one, know that they are safe in the arms of Jesus and if you are a born again believer, you will see them again.
1Zorn, Robert (2012). Cemetery John: The Undiscovered Mastermind of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. The Overlook Press. p. 68.
