Kidnapping

Kidnapping is the unlawful transportation, asportation and confinement of a person against their will.

Motives

• Ransom
• Human trafficking
• Sexual assault or rape
• Murder
• Bride kidnapping (forcing marriage)
• Tiger kidnapping (force the victim to do the kidnappers bidding)
• Dognapping (kidnapping someone's dog or other pet)

Currently kidnapped

1970s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Megumi Yokota	October 5, 1964	November 15, 1977	13	Workers' Party of Korea	Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Jo Lynn Smith	June 7, 1959	November 20, 1979	20	Faelyn Ann Rogers	Tatum, Texas, U.S.

1980s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Johnny Gosch	November 12, 1969	September 5, 1982	12	Unidentified	West Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Anthonette Cayedito	December 25, 1976	April 6, 1986	9	Unidentified	Gallup, New Mexico, U.S.
Melissa Brannen	April 12, 1984	December 3, 1989	5	Caleb Hughes	Lorton, Virginia, U.S.

1990s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Michael Hughes	March 21, 1988	September 12, 1994	6	Franklin Delano Floyd	Choctaw, Oklahoma, U.S.
Morgan Nick	September 12, 1988	June 9, 1995	6	Unidentified	Alma, Arkansas, U.S.
Adam, Trevor, and Mitchell O'Brien	October 28, 1982 (Adam) May 8, 1985 (Trevor) November 29, 1991 (Mitchell)	November 9, 1996	14, 11, 4	Gary O'Brien	Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Patrick Warren and David Spencer	1985 (Warren) 1983 (Spencer)	December 27, 1996	11 (Warren) 12 (Spencer)	Unidentified	Solihull, West Midlands, U.K.
Mikelle Biggs	1987/1988	1999	11	Unidentified	Mesa, AZ

2000s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Madeleine McCann	May 12, 2003	May 3, 2007	3	Unidentified	Praia da Luz, Portugal

2010s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Kyron Horman	September, 2002	June 4, 2010	7	Unidentified	Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton	Unknown	November 26, 2010	9, 7, 5	John Skelton	Morenci, Michigan, U.S.
Alessia & Livia Schepp	October 7, 2004	January 30, 2011	6	Mathias Schepp	Saint-Sulpice, Vaud, Switzerland
Timmothy Pitzen	2004	May 11, 2011	6	Unidentified	Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
Lisa Irwin	2010	October 4, 2011	10 (months)	Unidentified	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.

2020s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Age	Kidnapper	Missing from
Óscar Denis	October 2, 1946	September 9, 2020	74	Paraguayan People's Army	Concepción, Paraguay

Survived kidnappings

1960s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Valerie Storie	November 24, 1938	August 22, 1961	August 23, 1961	James Hanratty	Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, U.K.
Paul Joseph Fronczak	April 26, 1964	April 27, 1964	December 18, 2019	Unidentified	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Franca Viola	January 9, 1948	December 26, 1965	January 2, 1966	Filippo Melodia	Alcamo, Sicily, Italy
Peggy Ann Bradnick	August 16, 1948	May 11, 1966	May 17, 1966	William Diller Hollenbaugh	Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Barbara Mackle	c. 1948	December 17, 1968	December 20, 1968	Gary Krist	Decatur, Georgia, U.S.

1970s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Martha Mitchell	September 2, 1918	June 22, 1972	June 26, 1972	Committee for the Re-Election of the President	Rye, New York, U.S.
Steven Stayner	April 18, 1965	December 4, 1972	March 1, 1980	Kenneth Parnell	Merced, California, U.S.
John Paul Getty III	November 4, 1956	July 10, 1973	December 15, 1973	'Ndrangheta	Rome, Italy
Françoise Claustre, Christophe Staewen and Marc Combe	Unknown	April 20, 1974	April 21, 1974 (Combe) June 11, 1974 (Staewan) February 1, 1977 (Claustre)	Hissène Habré	Bardaï, Chad
Patricia Hearst	February 20, 1953	February 4, 1974	September 18, 1975	Symbionese Liberation Army	Berkeley, California, U.S.
Colleen Stan	December 31, 1956	1977	1984	Cameron Hooker	Red Bluff, California, U.S.
Mary Vincent	1963	September 29, 1978	September 30, 1978	Lawrence Singleton	Berkeley, California, U.S.

1980s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Timothy White	November 1, 1974	February 14, 1980	March 1, 1980	Kenneth Parnell	Merced, California, U.S.
Jody Plauché	1973	February 19, 1984	February 29, 1984	Jeff Doucet	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Katsuhisa Ezaki	???	March 18, 1984	March 21, 1984	The Monster With 21 Faces	Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

1990s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Fusako Sano	1981	November 13, 1990	January 28, 2000	Nobuyuki Satō	Sanjō, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Jaycee Dugard	May 3, 1980	June 10, 1991	August 26, 2009	Phillip Garrido	Pittsburg, California, U.S.
Katie Beers	December 30, 1982	December 28, 1992	January 13, 1993	John Esposito	Bay Shore, New York, U.S.
Thomas Hargrove	March 3, 1944	September 23, 1994	August 22, 1995	FARC	Cali, Colombia
Thad Phillips	1982	July 29, 1995	July 31, 1995	Joseph Clark	Baraboo, Wisconsin, U.S.
Natascha Kampusch	February 17, 1988	March 2, 1998	August 23, 2006	Wolfgang Přiklopil	Vienna, Austria
Jhon Frank Pinchao	Unknown	November 1, 1998	April 28, 2007	FARC	Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

2000s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Singanalluru Muthuraj (Dr. Rajkumar)	April 24, 1929	July 28, 2000	November 15, 2000	Koose Veerappan	Gajanur, Tamil Nadu, India
Alicia Kozakiewicz	1988	January 1, 2002	January 4, 2002	Scott Tyree	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Elizabeth Smart	November 3, 1987	June 5, 2002	March 12, 2003	Brian David Mitchell & Wanda Barzee	Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Kara Robinson	1986/1987	June 24, 2002	June 25, 2002	Richard Evonitz	Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Shawn Hornbeck	1990/1991	October 6, 2002	January 12, 2007	Michael J. Devlin	Richwoods, Missouri, U.S.
Michelle Knight Amanda Berry Gina DeJesus	April 1, 1981 (Knight) April 22, 1986 (Berry) February 13, 1990 (Dejesus)	August 22, 2002 (Knight) April 21, 2003 (Berry) April 2, 2004 (Dejesus)	May 6, 2013	Ariel Castro	Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Shasta Groene	?	May 16, 2005	July 2, 2005	Joseph E. Duncan III	Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, U.S.
Reigh Rockefeller	2001	July 27, 2008	August 2, 2008	Christian Gerhartsreiter	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
David Rohde	Unknown	November 10, 2008	June 19, 2009	Taliban	Kabul, Afghanistan
Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki	Unknown	July 3, 2009	October 18, 2009	Janjaweed	North Darfur, Sudan

2010s

Name	Born	Disappeared	Found	Kidnapper	Location
Hannah Anderson	July 22, 1997	August 3, 2013	August 10, 2013	James DiMaggio	Lakeside, California, U.S.
Bethany Arceneaux	Unknown	November 6, 2013	November 8, 2013	Scott Thomas	Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
Kala Brown	Unknown	August 31, 2016	November 3, 2016	Todd Kohlhepp	Moore, South Carolina, U.S.
Jayme Closs	July 13, 2005	October 15, 2018	March, 2019	Jake Patterson	Barron, Wisconsin, U.S.

Deaths from kidnappings

Pre-1900

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Fanny Adams	April 30, 1859	August 24, 1867	8	Frederick Baker	Alton, Hampshire, United Kingdom

1920s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Bobby Franks	September 19, 1909	May 21, 1924	14	Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Madge Oberholtzer	November 10, 1896	April 14, 1925	28	D. C. Stephenson	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Marion Parker	October 11, 1915	December 17, 1927	12	William Hickman	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Grace Budd	1918	June 3, 1928	10	Albert Fish	New York City, U.S.

1930s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Vera Page	April 13, 1921	December 14, 1931	10	Unidentified	Kensington, London, UK
Charles Lindbergh, Jr.	June 22, 1930	March 2, 1932	20 months	Bruno Hauptmann	Hopewell Township, New Jersey, U.S.

1950s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Bobby Greenlease, Jr.	February 3, 1947	September 28, 1953	6	Carl Hall and Bonnie Heady	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Emmett Till	July 25, 1941	August 28, 1955	14	Roy Bryant & J.W. Milam	Money, Mississippi, U.S.
Peter Weinberger	June 1956	July 5, 1956	One month	Angelo LaMarca	Long Island, New York, U.S.
Maria Ridulph	March 12, 1950	December 3, 1957	7	Unidentified	Sycamore, Illinois, U.S.

1960s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Graeme Thorne	December 18, 1951	July 7, 1960	8	Stephen Bradley	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Edward Bartels	March 6, 1926	July 11, 1960	34	Victor Feguer	Illinois, U.S.
Michael Gregsten	December 28, 1924	August 23, 1961	36	James Hanratty	Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, U.K.
Adolf Eichmann	March 19, 1906	June 1, 1962	56	Mossad	San Fernando, Argentina
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman & Michael Schwerner	May 30, 1943 (Chaney), November 23, 1943 (Goodman), November 6, 1939 (Schwerner)	June 21, 1964	21 (Chaney), 20 (Goodman), 24 (Schwerner)	Ku Klux Klan	Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S.
Roy Tutill	1954	April 23, 1968	14	Brian Lunn Field	Surrey, U.K.

1970s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Susan Blatchford and Gary Hanlon	July 7, 1958 (Blatchford) 1957 (Hanlon)	March 31, 1970	11 (Blatchford) 12 (Hanlon)	Ronald Jebson	Enfield, London, U.K.
Thomas Niedermayer	1928	December 27, 1973	45	Irish Republican Army	West Belfast, Ireland
Rosemary Papper	August 2, 1965	June 10, 1974	8	Ronald Jebson	Hatfield, Hertfordshire, U.K.
Charles Dean and Neal Sharman	Unknown	December 14, 1974	24 (Dean) 23 (Sharman)	Pathet Lao	Vientiane, Laos
Lesley Whittle	1957	January 14, 1975	17	Donald Neilson	Highley, Shropshire, U.K.
Lesley Molseed	August 14, 1964	October 5, 1975	11	Ronald Castree	Rochdale, Manchester, U.K.
Francis Crossen	1941	November 24, 1975	34	Shankill Butchers	Belfast, Northern Ireland, U.K.
John Dawson Dewhirst	1952	c. August 1978	26	Khmer Rouge	Phnom Penh, Cambodia

1980s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Tina Sharp	July 22, 1968	April 11 - 12, 1981 (assumed)	12	Unidentified	Keddie, California, U.S.
Adam Walsh	November 14, 1974	July 27, 1981	6	Ottis Toole	Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Tina Harmon	June 9, 1969	October 29, 1981	12	Robert Anthony Buell	Lodi, Ohio, U.S.
Vicki Lynne Hoskinson	February 2, 1976	September 17, 1984	8	Frank Atwood	Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena	July 26, 1947	February 9, 1985	37	Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo & Rafael Caro Quintero	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Nicola Fellows & Karen Hadaway	December 21, 1976 (Fellows) February 27, 1977 (Hadaway)	October 9, 1986	9 (Fellows) 9 (Hadaway)	Russell Bishop	Brighton, England
April Tinsley	March 18, 1980	April 1, 1988	8	John Miller	Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
Junko Furuta	January 18, 1971	January 4, 1989	17	Junko Furuta's Murderers	Adachi, Tokyo, Japan
Mark Kilroy	March 5, 1968	March 14, 1989	21	Adolfo Constanzo	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Jacob Wetterling	February 17, 1978	October 22, 1989	11	Danny Heinrich	Paynesville, Minnesota, U.S.
Amy Mihaljevic	December 11, 1978	October 27, 1989	10	Unidentified	Bay Village, Ohio, U.S.
Donna Callahan	July 30, 1960	August 6, 1989	29	Mark Riebe	Gulf Breeze, Florida, U.S.
Lee Iseli	January 29, 1985	October 30, 1989	4	Westley Allan Dodd	Portland, Oregon, U.S.

1990s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
William R. Higgins	January 15, 1945	July 6, 1990	45	Hezbollah	Beirut, Lebanon
Junny Rios-Martinez, Jr.	May 6, 1979	April 18, 1991	11	Mark Dean Schwab	Cocoa, Florida, U.S.
Shanda Sharer	June 6, 1979	January 11, 1992	12	Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, & Toni Lawrence	Madison, Indiana, U.S.
Karmein Chan	5 November 1977	April 13, 1992	13	"Mr Cruel"	Templestowe, Victoria, Australia
Ebony Simpson	August 6, 1983	August 19, 1992	9	Andrew Garforth	Bargo, New South Wales, Australia
James Bulger	March 16, 1990	February 12, 1993	2	Robert Thompson and Jon Venables	Liverpool, England, U.K
Charlie Keever & Jonathan Sellers	November 1, 1979 (Keever) April 18, 1983 (Sellers)	March 27, 1993	13 (Keever) 9 (Sellers)	Scott Erskine	San Diego, California, U.S.
Mary Eileen Sarmenta & Allan Gomez	?	June 28, 1993	?	Antonio Sanchez	Calauan, Laguna, Philippines
Derrick Robie	October 2, 1988	August 2, 1993	4	Eric M. Smith	Steuben County, New York State, U.S.
Polly Klaas	January 3, 1981	October 1, 1993	12	Richard Allen Davis	Petaluma, California, U.S.
Giuseppe Di Matteo	January 19, 1981	January 11, 1996	14	Giovanni Brusca and Leoluca Bagarella	Palermo, Italy
Amber Hagerman	November 25, 1986	January 17, 1996	9	Unidentified	Arlington, Texas, U.S.
Miguel Ángel Blanco	May 13, 1969	July 13, 1997	29	ETA	Basque Country, Spain
Marijoy & Jacqueline Chiong	?	July 16, 1997	?	Francisco Juan Larrañaga	Cebu, Philippines
Matthew Shepard	December 1, 1976	October 12, 1998	21	Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson	Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S

2000s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Sarah Payne	October 13, 1991	July 1, 2000	8	Roy Whiting	Kingston Gorse, Sussex, U.K.
Iriana DeJesus	January 30, 1995	August 3, 2000	5	Alexis Flores	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Milly Dowler	June 25, 1988	March 21, 2002	13	Levi Bellfield	Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, U.K.
Holly Jones	September 14, 1992	May 12, 2003	10	Michael Briere	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Daniel Morcombe	December 19, 1989	December 7, 2003	13	Brett Peter Cowan	Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Nick Berg	April 2, 1978	May 7, 2004	26	Al-Qaeda	Baghdad, Iraq
Jessica Lunsford	October 6, 1995	February 27, 2005	9	John Couey	Homosassa, Florida, U.S.
Dylan Groene	July 16, 1995	July 4, 2005	9	Joseph E. Duncan III	Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, U.S.
Ilan Halimi	October 11, 1982	February 13, 2006	23	Youssouf Fofana	Paris, France
Channon Christian and Chris Newsom	April 29, 1985 (Channon) September 21, 1983 (Chris)	January 6, 2007 (Chris) January 8, 2007 (Channon)	21 (Channon) 23 (Chris)	Lemaricus Davidson and his gang	Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

2010s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Suzanne Pilley	1972	May 2010	38	David Gilroy	Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.
Sian O'Callaghan	June 3, 1988	March 19, 2011	22	Christopher Halliwell	Swindon, Wiltshire, U.K.
Samantha Koenig	August 30, 1993	February 2, 2012	18	Israel Keyes	Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Peter Kassig	February 19, 1988	November 16, 2014	26	The Islamic State	Deir Ezzour, Syria
Kayla Mueller	August 14, 1988	February 16, 2015	26	The Islamic State	Raqqa, Syria
Alesha MacPhail	October 22, 2011	July 2, 2018	6	Aaron Campbell	Rothesay, Scotland, U.K.
Mollie Tibbetts	May 8, 1998	July 18, 2018	20	Cristhian Bahena Rivera	Brooklyn, Iowa, U.S.
Hania Aguilar	March 21, 2005	November 27, 2018	13	Michael Ray McLellan	Lumberton, North Carolina, U.S.

2020s

Name	Born	Died	Age	Kidnapper	Location
Faye Marie Swetlik	June 13, 2013	February 10, 2020	6	Coty Scott Taylor	Cayce, South Carolina, U.S.
Sarah Everard	1987	March 2021	33	Wayne Couzens	Brixton Hill, London, U.K.
Charles Opindo & Junior Mutuku Musyoka	Unknown	June 30, 2021 (Opindo), July 7, 2021 (Musyoka)	13 (Opindo), 12 (Musyoka)	Masten Wanjala	Nairobi, Kenya