878

F.B.I. 1937 List of Ransom Bill Serial Numbers Used in the Famous Charles Ross Kidnapping Case.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Paper Money - United States Start Price:230.00 USD Estimated At:325.00 - 450.00 USD
F.B.I. 1937 List of Ransom Bill Serial Numbers Used in the Famous Charles Ross Kidnapping Case.
PLEASE CONTACT US TO REGISTER FOR LIVE BIDDING OR ABSENTEE BIDDING AT:

PH: 1-201-944-4800
FAX: 1-201-871-4345
Web: www.archivesinternational.com
Email: info@archivesinternational.com

Snail Mail: Archives International Auctions
1060 Main Street, Suite 202, River Edge, NJ 07661

The auction will take place on Thursday, November 21st, 2019 at AIA's office located at 1060 Main St., Suite #202, River Edge, NJ 07661 beginning at 10:30 AM
Washington, D.C., October 8, 1937. A 14-page document with a cover letter by John Edgar Hoover, FBI Director at the time, and bearing his facsimile signature. The letter states that the $10 and $20 currency notes described in the list were paid in a kidnapping case, and the recipient is requested to check against the list in case any may have been received by the recipient's institution (presumably, such letter was circulated among various financial institutions such as banks). Very Fine and unusual. One evening in late September 1937, Charles S. Ross, the wealthy president of a greeting card company, was driving towards Chicago when he was pulled over and kidnapped at gunpoint by a pair of criminals. The ensuing investigation quickly became one of the largest for the young FBI. It did not end well for Ross, who was murdered on October 10 (along with one of the criminals) after a fight broke out between the two kidnappers. It didnÕt end well for the mastermind of the plot, either. John Henry Seadlund (pictured above), who had a long history of run-ins with the law, crisscrossed the country after obtaining $50,000 in ransom money but was ultimately tracked to Los Angeles using serial numbers from the bills. Agents posed as cashiers at a local racetrack where the ransom money had been used and arrested Ross on January 10, 1938 after he tried to place a bet with one of the bills. Seadlund confessed to the kidnapping and murders and was later executed. For almost four months each clue was looked at to identify and locate the individual responsible for the crime. The wide ramifications of the investigative activities of the FBI reached beyond the territorial limits of the continental United States. Thus was conducted one of the most widespread and intensive manhunts ever engaged in by the FBI, utilizing the most modern means of scientific crime detection. The pursuit of the FBI was maintained until Seadlund was located and apprehended as the result of a carefully planned trap set into operation by special agents under the direct personal supervision of J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, at the Santa Anita Race Track near Los Angeles, California on January 14, 1938.