Child abductions have always been a terrifying reality. Netflix’s new original series, Stranger Things, is exploring this real-life horror with a paranormal twist. Here are a list of 10 true child abduction cases that it could have been influenced by.
Charles Lindbergh Jr.
You can’t have a list of notable child abductions without including the Lindbergh baby. Charles Lindbergh Jr. was the 20-month-old son of the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh. He was taken right from his crib in 1932 in New Jersey, and a ransom note was left in his place that demanded $50,000. Tragically, his body was later found in the woods, dead from a head wound. The case was a national sensation and went unsolved until 1934 when Bruno Hauptmann used a marked bill from the Lindbergh ransom money. He was convicted and executed in 1935. It was after this sensational crime that kidnapping was officially made a federal offense.
Etan Patz
Etan Patz is a significant case because he was the first child to have his face placed on a milk carton following his disappearance. The 6-year-old disappeared in 1979 in Manhattan. He was walking to the bus stop alone, but the neighborhood was safe and it was one of those places where everybody knew each other. His parents had an exhaustive search, but it wasn’t until 2001 that they got any update on their child’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, he was declared legally dead by a judge. Almost 30 years after the disappearance, Pedro Hernandez, who was 18 years old and was working at a store in Manhattan at the time of the disappearance, admitted to killing Etan in the basement of his store.
Adam Walsh
Adam Walsh is another well-known adduction that ended extremely tragically. Adam Walsh was the 6-year-old son of John Walsh, who now hosts America’s Most Wanted because of his son’s disappearance. Adam was abducted from a department store in 1981. Two weeks later, a fisherman found only his head, but they were never able to find the rest of his body. The case went unsolved for years until brutal serial killer Ottis Toole admitted that he was the one who kidnapped and murdered the boy. Otis maintained this admission and then recanted the confession before his death in 1996.
Jaycee Lee Dugard
Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted in 1991 when she was only 11 years old. She was running to catch the school bus and was snatched right off the street and into a car. Jaycee was held for 18 years in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido’s house. She was repeatedly raped and had two children during her ordeal. She was eventually found when Garrido’s parole officer aroused suspicion when Garrido couldn’t accurately identify who the blond girl was he had with him.
Amber Hagerman
Amber Hagerman is the Amber who inspired the creation of the Amber Alert system that we use now to inform the public of a missing child. In 1996, 9-year-old Amber was kidnapped while riding her bike. Someone actually witnessed the kidnapping and called the police, but tragically, her body was found by a dog walker days after her disappearance. Her kidnapper has never been found, but the system put in place that bears her name has helped find over 700 children and continues to be an invaluable resource today.
Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Smart was 14 years old when she was taken from her bedroom in 2005. She went missing for nine months until she was found in Utah. Her captors were religious fanatics Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, and they had taken her to a remote campsite in the mountains. She was raped multiple times a day and was abused for the duration of her captivity.
Natascha Kampusch
Natascha Kampusch was 10 years old when she was kidnapped on her way to school. Wolfgang Priklopil had thrown her into the back of his white van and brought her to his home, where he abused, raped and enslaved her for eight years. Natasha was only able to escape because her abductor had her vacuuming his car outside and made the mistake of going inside to take a phone call. She took her chance and ran to a neighbor, who called the police. Priklopil immediately laid across some train tracks and committed suicide once he had realized she escaped.
Pauline Picard
Pauline Picard was a 2-year-old who disappeared from her home in Brittany, France, in 1922. Several days went by without answers, but suddenly news broke that a little girl who matched Pauline’s physical description was alive and wandering in a town far away from the family’s home. The parents were brought to identify whether the girl was their Pauline, and they confirmed that it was indeed their daughter. This seems like a great ending to a scary story, but it gets weirder. Even though her own parents and family friends confirmed that this girl was Pauline, the girl didn’t appear to recognize who her parents where and didn’t seem to understand the language they spoke to her. They chalked it up to the possibility of her being in shock. Well, about a month later, a neighbor stumbled upon the mutilated remains of a young girl with a stack of neatly folded clothes placed beside her. When Pauline’s parents were brought to the remains, they immediately recognized that the stack of clothes was exactly what Pauline had been wearing the day she disappeared. To make this even weirder, an adult male’s skull was found near her body. Unfortunately, there is no record that states whether any of these questions were answered.
Morgan Nick
Morgan Nick was 6 years old when she disappeared. She attended a Little League baseball game with her mother in Arkansas in 1995. She was playing with a group of children off in the fields, and when the rest of the children returned to their parents, Morgan was nowhere to be found. Witnesses have said that there was a man leering at the children playing, and some of the children said that that same man had spoken with Morgan. The case is still being actively worked on, but no trace of her has been found.
Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Chris Byers
This case shocked the entire country. In 1993, Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Chris Byers went out for a bike ride and never came back. A massive search went underway, and the three 8-year-olds were eventually found in a secluded stretch of woods called the Robin Hood Hills. They had been sexually assaulted, murdered and mutilated. Their bodies were found hogtied with their own shoelaces and their bikes were thrown in the river. After some serious pressure from the community, Arkansas police arrested three outcast teenagers for the crime with little to no evidence tying them to it. The three teenagers, 18-year-old Damien Echols, 16-year-old Jason Baldwin and 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley, became known as the “West Memphis Three” and after 18 years in prison (with Damien on death row), they were allowed to sign an Alford plea and be released.
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