Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds. Photographs of businessman and millionaire William F. Gettle, likely used in relation to his kidnapping case of May 9-14, 1934. Gettle was kidnapped from the grounds of his Arcadia ranch home during a party on the eve of May 9th. The kidnapping attracted a great deal of attention in the community, with Mrs. Gettle even addressing the kidnappers through the pages of the Los Angeles Times. The kidnappers demanded a $60,000 ransom for the return of Gettle, which Mrs. Gettle agreed to pay. However, before the ransom was paid, two detectives of the LAPD, Chester Burris and H.P. Gearhardt, broke the case after installing a dictaphone in the home of a bank robbery suspect. Information from the dictaphone led them to a La Crescenta home where Gettle was held. He was returned, unharmed, to his family on the eve of May 14th. Text from original nitrate sleeve: William F. Gettle's Children; Bobby, Betty, Jimmy and Billy.
Type
image
Format
b&w nitrate negative
Identifier
ark:/21198/zz002545bj
Language
No linguistic content
Subject
People Millionaires--California--Beverly Hills Crime Kidnappings--California Gettle, William F., 1887-1941
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