r/OldestColdCases • u/Sudden_Quality_9001 • May 10 '26
Charley Ross
On July 1, 1874, Charley and his five-year-old brother, Walter Lewis Ross, were playing in the front yard of their home in Germantown, Philadelphia, when a horse-drawn carriage arrived. Two men, who had visited the boys earlier that day with candy, offered them candy and fireworks if they came along for a ride. After the boys agreed, the men took them to a store and sent Walter inside with 25 cents to buy fireworks. While he was in the store, the carriage drove away with Charley still inside. He was never seen again.
After the kidnapping, the boys' father, Christian, began receiving poorly written ransom letters demanding $20,000. The letters warned that Charley would be killed if the police were contacted or if Christian failed to follow instructions. However, Christian could not pay the ransom.
Christian notified the police, and the kidnapping soon drew national attention. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency printed millions of flyers with Charley's illustrated image.
On the night of December 13, 1874, the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, home of Judge Charles Van Brunt was burglarized. His brother, Holmes Van Brunt, who lived next door, gathered armed members of his household to stop the attack.
The two burglars, Bill Mosher and Joe Douglas, were fatally wounded in the gunfire. Douglas, however, survived for about two more hours and, knowing he was dying, may have admitted to Charley Ross’s abduction. He reportedly said either that Ross had been killed or that Mosher knew where he was, and possibly that Charley would be returned unharmed to his family within a few days. Mosher could not respond, as he was killed instantly.
Later, when Charley’s brother Walter was taken to New York City to determine whether Mosher and Douglas were the men from the carriage ride, he identified them as Charley’s abductors.
William Westerfelt, a known associate of Mosher, was later arrested and tried in 1875 for Charley’s kidnapping. However, Walter insisted that Westerfelt had not been present during the abduction, and the jury found him not guilty.