Another house, another 1930s kidnapping. This time the victim was 65-year-old Mary B Skeele, wife of Dr Walter F Skeele who was Dean of Music at USC (NB. the caption below gives Dr Skeele's middle initial as "K", but the 1929 CD and the article I link to both say "F").
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There was no need to research this story and look for press clippings because someone beat me to it. The whole story can be found in three parts on derangedlacrimes.com. They calculated that the $10,000 ransom was currently equivalent to nearly $180,000.
Mary Skeele kidnap part 1
Mary Skeele kidnap part 2
Mary Skeele kidnap part 3
SPOILER ALERT: Mrs Skeele was released safely within 24 hours and the kidnappers were all caught. Police also discovered that the original target was someone else.
This time, thanks to the 1929 CD, I was able to find the address of the house. Other than the addition of a carport and some new roof tiles, 136 S Avenue 55 hasn't changed much since 1933.
GSV