Baby Hunger and Sexual Pathology The Abductions of Robert Marcus and Stephanie Bryan

Abstract By the time the United States entered World War II, Americans had witnessed a full range of kidnap horrors. The loss of a child, his or her possible death and mutilation defined the terror of kidnapping. The issue of extortion, which had initially alarmed Christian Ross and his nineteenth century contemporaries, had receded in the context of the even greater threat to a child’s life and well-being contained in the newer twentieth century stories. Indeed, while ransom abductions had been the initial focus of publicity and had formalized the threat, kidnappings for ransom became, after the surge in the 1930s, increasingly less common as the source of concern. Because of the new federal laws and beefed-up local statutes, it had also become a very dangerous way to raise money.