Author’s Note
88 Words
Author’s NoteThe word ‘kidnapping” is a compound of two slang words expressing – ‘kid’ meaning a child and ‘nap’ or ‘nab’ meaning to snatch or seize. The word was originally coined in 1680 to describe the then-prevalent practice of stealing children and sending them to servitude on British plantations in America.
Kidnappers with the growth of organised crime in the U.S.A. during Prohibition are offered all the rewards of bank robbery with few of the risks.
In the late 1920s it became commonplace for wealthy persons or their children to be ‘snatched’ and held for ransom.
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