Gusty Spence, leader of the outlawed Protestant extremist organisation the Ulster Volunteer Force, was kidnapped [by UVF] a week ago. He was out in parole … World in Action go in search of Gusty Spence. World in Action: In Search of Gusty Spence, ITV 1972
Spence had served six years when last weekend he was paroled for forty-eight hours to attend his daughter’s wedding. On his way back to jail he was kidnapped. ibid.
Brian Keenan, seized 11th April 1986 on the streets of Beirut, a hostage for 1,316 days. World in Action: A Thousand Nights in Beirut, ITV 1989
John McCarthy, seized 17th April 1986 on his way to Beirut Airport, a hostage for 1,310 days. ibid.
Terry Waite, disappeared 20th January 1987 in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a hostage for 1,022 days. ibid.
Britain is not alone is suffering the emotional pain and political humiliation of seeing its citizens seized and held hostage in Beirut. ibid.
Only Britain has failed to bring out a single hostage alive ... Britain’s refusal to negotiate has left three men in prison for a thousand nights in Beirut. ibid.
Ballinderry Upper, 18 miles west of Belfast: ‘We are dealing with a travelling sexual predator.’ The Child Snatcher: Manhunt, rozzer, Channel 5 I, ITV 2023
Saturday, 14th July 1990, Slow, Scotland: ‘A man was mowing his lawn. When he looked up he saw a neighbour’s girl walk past … He saw a van. And this man had stopped his van; she disappeared into thin air. The van disappeared. He felt that something was seriously wrong. He raised the alarm. The police office comes down straight away … All of the sudden coming south is the same van … The policeman he was talking to ran in front of the van and stopped it. The policeman opened the van … A bundle of rags moving … He released the child, and it was his own daughter.’ ibid. reporter
Nine years earlier, Balliderry Upper … ‘Her [Jennifer’s] body was found in the lake. A full-scale murder hunt has got under way … ’ ibid. news
Portobello, Edinburgh, 1983: ‘Caroline Hogg, aged five, goes missing.’ ibid. rozzer
Morley West Yorkshire, 1986: ‘A child had gone missing – Sarah Jane Harper was 10.’ ibid.
‘The single biggest serial-linked murder investigation since the arrest of Peter Sutcliffe.’ ibid.
‘Robert Black appeared at the high court in Edinburgh in August 1998 within a month of his arrest. He was tried and convicted. He plead guilty for the offence at Stow. He was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence.’ The Child Snatcher: Manhunt II, rozzer
What happened to Madeleine McCann? The three-year-old disappeared from her bed during a family vacation in Portugal. She’s never been seen again. Over the years there have been many theories and suspects … Now the German police say they’ve solved this disturbing mystery. True Crime Recaps: Madeleine McCann, Youtube 18.09, 2022
The search for Sherri Papini had made national headlines. Her frantic husband begged for his wife’s safe return. True Crime Recaps: Did Sherri Papini Fake Her Own Kidnapping? Youtube 25.27, 2022
22 days after she vanished Sherri reappeared as mysteriously as she had disappeared ... Two Hispanic women had just let her go. ibid.
They say Sherri staged her own kidnapping so she could spend a little time with her ex in southern California, 600 miles away. ibid.
Steven Stayner was seven when he was abducted … Years later he emerged from the ordeal as a hero … The story of Seven Stayner is tightly intertwined with the story of his older brother Cary. True Crime Recaps: Steven & Cary Stayner: Hero vs Killer Brother, Youtube 21.10, 2022
Lisa Nowak: Her fixations morphed into a terrifying obsession after an affair with a fellow astronaut crashed and burned … The attempted kidnapping of her side piece’s new love. True Crime Recaps: NASA Astronaut Love Affair Turns to Insane Kidnapping Plot! Youtube 18.29, 2022
She became the first ever astronaut to be charged with a felony. ibid.
The sounds of a slumber party drifted out of open windows … A hairy madman was about to crash their sleepover with a knife, a bungle of binding and a promise he never intended to keep. True Crime Recaps: Kidnapped From a Slumber Party, Youtube 15.17, 2022
October 1st 1993: Petaluma, California: He was on them faster than they could react. He pulled strips of cloth out of his duffel bag and bound and gagged them … He promised them he was only there for money, he wouldn’t hurt them, but that was a lie. ibid.
He pulled Polly to her feet … [and] promised to bring her back.
Richard Allen Davis: 1976 Robbery, Kidnapping and Assault with intent to commit Rape; 1978 Kidnapping and Assault with a deadly weapon; 1984 Kidnapping and Assault with a deadly weapon including the use of a firearm … Richard Allen Davis … promptly placed in custody: it was a surprise to no-one when his palm print matched the one left behind … Richard eventually confessed to the crime sort of … He led investigators to Polly’s remains. ibid.
Richard’s criminal record and abduction of Polly Klaas helped inspire the Three Strike and You’re Out Law. ibid.
It was a warm sunny afternoon when the unthinkable happened. 26 children and their driver were forced off their school bus at gunpoint and buried alive for 16 hours before they managed to escape. The Chowchilla bus kidnapping in 1976 is the biggest, most brazen mass abduction in American history. True Crime Recaps: 26 Kids Buried Alive in School Bus Kidnapping, Youtube 14.42, 2022
The kidnappers were three rich 20-somethings who wanted some extra cash. ibid.
The mastermind, Fred Woods, a trust fund kid who the sheriff called a sociopath, is about to be set free. ibid.
The ransom demand: $3 million from the state of California. ibid.
And when the three criminals woke up from their nap they tuned into the nightly news just in time to learn that their plan had spectacularly failed. ibid.
It didn’t take long for them to be caught. ibid.
When it comes to the safety of your kids, you’ll do whatever it takes to protect them. And when one brave little girl was almost kidnapped from her front lawn, her parents had to act fast to stop the brazen attack in its tracks. That day started as an ordinary day for the family, but it quickly turned into anything but. True Crime Recaps: Heroic Parents in Action: A Brave Fight Against Kidnapping, Youtube 4.41, 2023
June 5th 2023: Paige & Carlos Ortiz … The man, 62-year-old Steven Bayse … got out of his truck … Steven picks her up … He tells Carlos, You’re not the father to this child … She [Paige] calls 911 and grabs a kitchen knife … She puts the knife against Steven’s throat saying, You’d better put my daughter down or I will end your life … The cops know exactly who they’re looking for. ibid.
He [Steven] struggles with Bipolar Disorder and Paranoid Schizophrenia. ibid.
It’s a Christmas miracle! Melissa Highsmith was abducted as a baby in 1971. And after a half century of searching she was finally reunited with her family. True Crime Recaps: It’s a Christmas Miracle: Abducted Child Returns Home, Youtube 4.14, 2023
Her daughter was alive and well and still living in Forth Worth under the name Melanie Walden. And she had no idea she’d been kidnapped as a baby until she got a strange Facebook message claiming to be her long-lost father. ibid.
Moreau Lake State Park: This weekend camping trip turned into every parent’s worst nightmare … 9-year-old Charlotte Sena was snatched off her bike, held captive, then rescued 2 days later. True Crime Recaps: A Weekend Gone Dark: Charlotte Sena’s Frightening Abduction, Youtube 8.09, 2023
Police watches a car pull up to the mailbox around 4.30 a.m. Inside is a chilling ransom note … The kidnapper left behind a fingerprint … The fingerprint on the ransom note belongs to Craig Ross junior. ibid.
Police wonder if Craig Ross could be connected to 19-year-old Christina White and 18-year-old Jennifer Hammond. ibid.
This documentary deals with the disappearance of Ursula Herrmann. Current analysis raises new questions in one of the most notorious German criminal cases. The Child in the Box: Who Killed Ursula Herrmann? Sky Documentaries 2023
‘It is still unclear who was actually responsible for the death of my little sister.’ ibid.
‘One of the most notorious criminal cases in German history.’ ibid.
‘It was a particularly evil crime. 10-year-old Ursula is kidnapped. Weeks later the child is found suffocated in a wooden box buried in the woods.’ ibid.
‘News came out very quickly that Ursula’s bicycle had been found.’ ibid. forest searcher
‘It was only on this third day that that we received the first ransom note.’ ibid. older brother
‘It was only a small lid. I opened it. There was the girl. She was sat there.’ ibid. forest searcher
‘Mazurek was known to be very skilled at woodworking. He was initially very hesitant with his alibi … Not the slightest speck of evidence.’ ibid. older brother
In 1989 the investigation of Horst Fischer and Harald was closed. ibid. caption
‘In 2005 DNA analysis had become very advanced so we re-examined the evidence.’ ibid. rozzer
‘It turned out that this DNA was linked to another murder case in Munich’ ibid. lady
‘In May 2006, 59-year-old Charlotte Bohringer was murdered in her apartment.’ ibid. newspaper extract audio