 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents this is your FBI This is your FBI The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society is representative in your community Are you covered by social security then please listen carefully Public opinion polls by the Equitable Life Assurance Society show that millions of Americans know little about their social security Yes, according to these Equitable Society surveys, you may be failing to safeguard rights worth thousands of dollars Therefore as a public service the Equitable Life Assurance Society will devote this program's entire middle commercial due in just 14 minutes to information on social security Information that may mean money in your pocket Tonight's FBI file Operation Ransom The motives which lie behind the more than one and a half million major crimes committed every year in this country Are as varied as the types of crimes themselves Some criminals engage in illegal activities because of the temptation for so-called easy money Others commit crimes out of passion or because of a craving for revenge But whatever the motive every criminal believes that he will succeed without paying for his crime He is sure that circumstances will conspire to make his capture impossible Because as he sees it he has every advantage on his side Not only must he be captured, but he must then be proven guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt What he does not realize is that actually there are no advantages on his side except for one That single asset which always belongs to the criminal is the element of time For he alone is the one who decides when the crime is to take place He alone is the one who decides which is the proper moment for him to strike Night's file opens near a bridal path in a large park in a midwestern city Two men are strolling along a gravel path Take it easy Harry. Huh? For walks so fast we're not going anywhere. Yeah, okay Oh, it's a lovely spring morning, Harry. Mm-hmm. Man doesn't get enough of these. Yeah, look around you Isn't it glorious? George We didn't come out to admire the scenery. I know Harry. We've got work to do Still enjoy nature Just look at that grass Tiny green buds on the trees. Well, I meant George. There she goes. I see Right on time again He's been on time every day now for a week. Oh, she has Harry. Well It's about time. We made our move. We're not ready yet But you've been saying all week Ain't ready now will never be Harry. I've told you before the success of any venture rests on the planning We got plans if we haven't ensured them yet When will that be when we know everything there is to know about Alice Woods every habit She has every friend she has even every hat she wears Those things take time Harry, but they reduce the risk. That's the important thing. Very annoying. We'll be ready soon When we are the young lady will be kidnapped A few days later in the local FBI field office special agent Jim Taylor has just entered the office of agent and charge Evans Good morning, sir. Good morning, Jim. Sit down. Thank you. Here's the name and address of a woman who just called me I'd like you to go over and see her. All right, sir Mrs. Martha Woods 720 north 50th Street, Mrs. Wood said that her daughter is missing How did you happen to call here? She called the local police and they suggested that she get in touch with us Oh, I think there's a suspicion of kidnapping and that's why we're in it Now it may may not be the reason she's missing but we're better off playing it safe and getting in at the start I see sir. Um, did Mrs. Woods tell you anything? Yes, she said that she got a phone call from a girl named Rosemary Rice who's a friend of her daughter's. What's her daughter's name? Alice Woods The girlfriend said that she was riding a horse in the park this morning some hundred yards or so behind Miss Woods And she saw the missing girl stop in this mountain. Where was that sir? 53rd Street entrance to the park. She walked over to talk to a man who had called her. Well, she was riding Miss Rice didn't recognize this man. Did you know Jim? At any rate the man walked the girl over to a car that was parked at the roadside There they met another man and the three of them spoke for a few seconds Then Miss Woods was forced into the car and it drove off. Any description on the car? Yes It is a 1947 Buick sedan color black. Any license plate number? No, but it was an out-of-state license Go up and see if you can get a picture of Alice Woods for a mother. You can have some copies made All right, sir. I'm also putting Bob Clinton on this case to work with a gym Why as soon as you get back we can have a meeting and decide which move to make first Who's that sleep I was just in there you wake up at all. No Pills really put her away Wish I'd taken some what do you mean? Well, I couldn't hear that music What are they playing on washboards? Harry you just aren't a music lover. That's music customers think so you ought to go downstairs and see the business The joint story no, no, thanks bad enough up here. I just sent the note to Jaco What do you ask for 25,000? Wonder if you'll go for it. Got to this is his daughter. He loves the kids 25,000 is a lot of moona not to Jaco They say Supposed he goes to the cops Harry footmaker can't go to the cops. That's why we picked the guy That's one of the things I was trying to explain to you when I told you about calculated risks I know I remember What's our next move? Well, we wait for Jaco to answer the note with the add in the paper then we tell him where to plant the doll How long do you figure that'll be? Well goes well about another day How many times a day do they play that music down there from nine to closing about six hours? Just about me Yes, Jim, I got Alice Woods photograph from a mother good. Have you ordered any copies? Yes, sir Oh, I found out something about the girl that might give us the moody for the kidnapping What's that you her father is Jaco Morgan the bookmaker. That's right, sir That you find that out. Well, Mrs. Woods told me that she'd received a phone call from her ex-husband He said that he'd gotten a ransom note and wanted to know whether or not the girl really had been kidnapped And Jaco Morgan is her ex-husband. That's it, sir They've been divorced for 15 years and Mrs. Woods has resumed her maiden name Oh, incidentally, she told me that her daughter believes that her father is dead. Have you been to see Morgan? Yes, sir I went over to his apartment. Did he give you the note? No, not at first. In fact, he denied any knowledge of it He was probably going to pay them money and not say anything to the police I imagine so yes, but he finally agreed to talk about it In fact, he wound up begging us to help him find his daughter That's a bit ironically the man like Morgan asking the law to help him. Yes, isn't it? Well, we have to give the same cooperation we give to any other citizen I realize that sir so I advised Morgan to follow the kidnappers instructions and place the ad in tomorrow morning's papers Where's the ransom note? I have it right here, sir Send it down to the lab for a check against the paper and typewriting standards. All right, sir. Mr. Evans. Oh, come in, bud Yes, sir. Hello, Jim. I just interviewed the rice girl, sir Alice Woods girlfriend. Yes, sir She told me she could recognize one of the men if she saw him again. Did she describe him to you? Oh, no, not very well, but I'm going to meet her tomorrow morning at police headquarters and have her go over some pictures for us Jim, sir, you take Bob out to your desk and bring him up to date on the new elements in this case And when you finish check back here with me You had a good sleep, didn't you? Where am I? In a room. It's a building. I want to go home Don't blame me. Why are you keeping me here? Matter of money What do you mean? We're holding you here till your old man pays off My father. That's right But my father's dead since when he died when I was a little girl. Oh Had me scared for a minute, so you won't be collecting from him. Oh, yes, we will how he ain't dead What I just seen him last week My father yes, your old man is Jaco Morgan the biggest bookmaker in town But if you think he's dead you can get three to one from him personally that he ain't You're lying. Well, now look, I can prove it. Yeah. Hey, who's that? Happy right with you. But wait a minute. I'll see you later We can cry. What's she crying about? I don't know. I just told her old man was a bookmaker. She busted the tears Sure wouldn't make me cry if my old man was a bookmaker. Yeah, look at this What is it? Jaco ran the ad see it. Oh, yeah When we get the door you're going for it tonight Come in Jim. Well, the ransom money has been planned. Good. We went to the vacant lot We're supposed to be left Morgan put the package beside the big rock with a white cross on it Clinton stayed up there Yes, we did he has a good vantage point. He'll call in just as soon as the money is picked up Then oh did anything come back from the lab on that ransom note, sir Yes, but it wasn't much help the paper is a cheap common brand and the typing was done in a typewriter without too many distinguishing marks Heaven's talking hello, sir. This is Clint. Yes, Bob. What have you got the money was just picked up Nobody tells you know that's five miles. I was the only car in the road Want me to help you how come to money? I can do it all that green stuff And it's real and it's now all we got to do is return the girl the job's over I forgot to tell you we're not returning them. Why not? Well, I had a talk with her it seems she's not willing just to go home and forget all about this. Oh She says she's going to the police and tell them that we did the job. She don't know who we are That's what we look like What are we gonna do with it? You're gonna take a part way back to town to the Smith Park Bridge Then what then you get rid of it on our look Harry all I said in the note was that when we got the money We'd release it. Well when you get to the bridge Release her into the river We will return in just a moment to tonight's file which shows how your FBI provides national security Now a timely announcement on social security Equitable life assurance society surveys indicate that most people know little about their rights under social security To correct this situation the equitable society offers listeners a special service consisting of three steps first step Full information your equitable society representative is an expert on social security He's qualified to answer such puzzling questions as Suppose a widow waits three years after her husband's death before making a claim for social security Can she collect all the back payments? She might have received the answer is no your equitable representative Will explain why does a man automatically start to receive social security benefits on his 65th birthday again? The answer is no your equitable representative will explain why the second step in this equitable service is an immediate checkup on your Position under social security since some errors cannot be corrected after four years the social security Administration advises you to protect yourself by checking up regularly your equitable society Representative will supply you with the special form approved by the social security Administration and show you what to do it then you're ready for the final step that step is to help you build Social security into full security after you found out where you stand in social security Your equitable society representative will show you how a comparatively modest investment in life insurance will build social security Into full security He'll show you how life insurance and social security Working as a team can give you and your family a future free from money worries. There's no obligation whatsoever So see your equitable society representative or right care of this station to the equitable life insurance society That's equi TA BLE the equitable life insurance society of the United States And now back to the FBI file operation ransom Those who have made the field of crime their life work Who study constantly in an effort to understand the mind of the criminal and the forces which impel him to break the law? Have agreed that there is no common prototype among the seven and a half million persons with arrest records in the United States Some dress well some dress badly Some are well educated some are totally unschooled Some are tall some are short The various discrepancies between any two criminals can be as wide as those between any two law abiding citizens And yet they do have their common bond the things which make every criminal kin to every other criminal one of those things and this applies to those who commit crimes against property or crimes against the person is That he has insulated against any feeling of compassion for his fellow man To him To the true criminal the world exists so that he may live and the easier that living comes The better he likes it lights file continues at the local FBI field office What time is it Jim? I have 1223 so if I let my watch that Opening has gone wrong but a virgin Girl should have been released by now unless they've been holding her an awful long way from town. Yes, I know How long do you think we ought to wait sir before we start searching? We don't hear anything by one o'clock. We'll go into action We got the serial numbers on the bills that Morgan used to pay the ransom Yes, the stenographic section is making copies of the list now As soon as it's prepared we'll start printing the ransom list for distribution When the clock will send a copy to each of the newspapers has been to print it No, it's too bad. We can't mark the money in cases like this. Yes, it is But we don't dare gamble with the victim's life Mr. Evans, can I come in? Yes, Bob. What have you got? Alice Woods has been found where we're in She ran up to the toll gate at the Smith Park Bridge a few minutes ago. She all right, Bob Well, she was exhausted and suffering from shock. Where's she now at the memorial hospital, sir? Jim you and Bob get over there at once We've calling up for why what happened hell Go on. How could she do that she was tied up wasn't she? Yeah, but I guess she must have worked herself loose. What did you catch her? It was dark. She got away. You stupid fool. I'd planned everything perfectly. I'm sorry, George A lot of good that'll do us. There's no telling how much she knows about where she was being held She could lead the cops right back here. No, no, no, she can't. She was still blindfolded just before I stopped it Come on back here as fast as you can Now first we'd like to know how the kidnappers approached you Well, I was riding in the park when a man standing on the side of the bridal path called after me Did he know your name miss woods? Yes, mr. Clinton. He did. That's why I stopped I see I Rode back to where he was standing and said that I had to come with him right away My mother been in a serious accident. It didn't say where did no sir. I didn't what happened then I Dismounted and the man led me to a car I got there. I saw another man this Second man was he behind the driver's way? Yes, that's right I asked what kind of an accident mother hadn't the man said she'd been driving her car down Oak Avenue And hit by a truck. I knew then that they were lying to me because mother doesn't drive Oh, I started to scream that the man had called me clapped his hand over my mouth and threw me into the car And that's when they drove away with you. Yes What did they do once they had you in the car miss woods the man in back with me blindfolded me and put a gag in my mouth Then he covered me with a blanket I see and it both men drive you back to the Smith Park bridge tonight. No, sir only one of them That's how I was able to escape I heard them planning to kill me. So when I got in the car I used all my strength and Finally I got my hands. Were you gagged and blindfolded on the return trip to yes, sir until I got my hands Loosen that wasn't until just before we got to the cliff by the bridge Miss woods, you don't know where you were held Haven't the faintest idea. Well, is there anything you can tell us about the ride after you got in the car park Did you hear any odd sounds or any conversation between the men? Let me think A little while after we started one of the men asked the other one for a quarter for the bridge Must be the Smith Park bridge. It's all there's a quarter Miss woods, would you know which way you turned when you got off the bridge? No, I don't but but I remember after we rode a while I heard some planes warming up as if they were about to take off. You're sure they weren't flying above you Oh, no, sir. I've done some flying and I can tell the difference. Good now. Is there anything else? Oh, yes a little bit after that we went past what sounded like a waterfall. What? Yeah, there are no waterfalls in this section. That's what it sounded like to me I'm sorry, please go on We rode for a little while more and and then we got on a bumpy road Do you remember which way you turn to get on to this bumpy road? I don't remember turning We only went a very short way on it though before we stopped and I was carried into a building and taken upstairs They're blindfolded. Yes Now did you hear anything in this building? Well, not then but but later on after they fed me my dinner. I heard some music You'll remember where it came from miss woods it seemed to come from underneath where I was first I thought it was just a radio, but they played so badly. I decided it was real music Miss woods, can you describe these two men to us? Good suppose you start right now. Yes, Jim Alice woods identified the two pictures I brought her as the men who kidnapped it. Oh good. Who are they one of them is a George pain The other is Harry Rollins. Here's some copies of the pictures Now our job is to find out where they took the girl Oh, I picked up that map you wanted Here's where the trip started and this is the exit they used to leave the park right and they went up the drive to the Smith Park bridge Now the problem is which way did they turn when they got off the bridge? We know they went past an airport very soon after they left the bridge Look, there's Hurley Field right that have gone by that if they turn left Jim if they turn right they'd have gone by Western Airport They could have gone either way Now the next thing this woods remembered was that waterfall. That's a real baffler. I know that section. There's no water for the only Bob I know what it was but it was the barrel point dam I remember seeing a story in the paper this week that they opened the sluice gates on the dam because the water got too high Well, then they must have turned right off the bridge check And the next thing is that bumpy road if we find that we can find out where she was held She said the only one a short way on it I know that highway there are no side roads on it and I drove it last summer. It's as smooth as glass I should Hey, wait a minute. What is it got an idea Bob? Let's get to a phone. I Told you I was sorry. Didn't I doesn't make up for your mistake. There was nothing I could do I could have seemed to it that she didn't get away You need brains in this business Harry. I know George I know how smart you are when I'm kind of tired of hearing about it Suppose you give me my money and we'll call it quits, huh? What money my cut you better forget Well, you're not getting anything. That's a joke. I ain't laugh. I'm dead serious George You can't do this to me Harry. I have a gun here that permits me to do anything Who's that? All right, step back The FBI you let him tell you back. I didn't All right, come on you. Yeah, but we're not going to blindfold you like you blindfolded miss woods Oh, we're gonna let you see where you're going and I have a hunch you'll recognize the jail when we get there George Payne and Harry Robins were tried convicted and sentenced to serve 50 year terms in a federal prison for kidnapping Your FBI was led to the Roadhouse where miss woods had been held captive because every clue no matter how slim it appeared Was followed to its conclusion One of those clues was that miss woods remembered that she had been driven by the kidnappers over a bumpy road And that the car had stopped shortly afterwards a check with the State Highway Commission showed that there was a part of the highway under repair But open to traffic the Roadhouse was situated beside that section of the highway And so your FBI was able to close another file To close it the way almost every kidnapping file has been closed with the word convicted stamped across it In just a moment we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI Now a quick review of the three-point social security service offered by your equitable society representative First he gives you a clear picture of what social security can accomplish for you Second your equitable society representative Supplies you with the special form of proof by the Social Security Administration for checking up on your position Third he shows you how easy it is to build social security in a full security Take advantage of the special service offered without charge by your equitable representative and the equitable life assurance society of the United States Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation a Factual account of the operation of a stolen car ring its subject Interstate theft its title The unwilling partner The incidents used in tonight's equitable life assurance societies broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation However, all names used are fictitious and any similarity thereof to the names of persons living or dead is accidental Tonight the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner the author was Jerry Lewis Your narrator was William Woodson and special agent Taylor was played by Stacy Harris This is your FBI is a Jerry divine production This is Larry Keating speaking for the equitable life assurance society of the United States and the equitable society is representative in your community and Inviting you to tune in again next week at this same time when the equitable life assurance society Will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation the unwilling partner on This is your FBI This is ABC the American Broadcasting Company