Machine Gun Kelly | The Kidnapping of Charles Urschel | 3

It's late in the evening on April 2nd, 1932 in New York. Darkness fell on the Bronx hours ago, but 71-year-old John Condon is standing alone on the corner of East Tremont and Whittemore. John, a semi-retired teacher, peers down Whittemore.

The unpaved avenue is all shadow, right the way into St. Raymond Cemetery. John's not a fearful man by nature, but he doesn't like the thought of walking that way alone.

The trouble is, that's exactly what he's been ordered to do. The letter in his hand specifically said to come alone, and with the money.

See, John's found himself in the middle of a case that the country's calling the crime of the century, the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son.

About four weeks ago, right after the kidnapping, John wrote an open letter to his local newspaper, The Bronx Home News. In it, he pleaded with the kidnappers to return little Charles to his parents.

He pledged to give them $1,000 of his own savings and act as a neutral party between them and the Lindberghs.

To John's surprise, the kidnappers responded, agreeing to his offer to facilitate the handoff, though they told him he could keep his $1,000. They only want the $50,000 they've demanded from the Lindberghs.

That's why John's standing outside a cemetery. It's where the kidnappers want to meet for the handoff. A couple of blocks away, Colonel Lindbergh is sitting in a car with a box full of cash, eager to be reunited with his son.

But John can't see anyone waiting for him. Maybe they got cold-feedy things. Or maybe he misread the note.

He turns back towards the car, figuring he'll check the instructions again when he's got a little light overhead. But then he hears a man call out from the dark, Hey, doctor! The man's accent is thick, European.

Peering into the shadows, John can just make out a figure standing behind the first row of headstones in the cemetery. He walks towards the man, down Whittemore and out of sight of the car.

There, on the edge of the cemetery, the two men negotiate for the return of the Lindbergh baby. The kidnapper crouches behind hedges and keeps his face tilted away from the light so John can't get a good look at him.

Still, John takes the man at his word when he promises that Charles Jr. is alive and safe. This is wishful thinking, but John asks if he can take the child's place as a hostage, with a promise that the Lindberghs will pay once Jr.

is home. But that's a non-starter. The best the kidnapper is going to offer is a sealed letter containing directions to the baby's location.

He'll hand that over only when John brings him the money. John thinks about this for a moment, but he knows that he's got to accept. He's got no leverage.

So he tells the other man that he'll go get the money and return in ten minutes. Then, as quickly as he can, he heads back the way he came. As he gets closer to the car where Colonel Lindbergh is waiting for him, John feels a swell of pride.

He's helped bring an end to the nightmare that's had the entire country on edge. Thanks to him, this whole ordeal is about to be over. Or so he thinks.

From Airship, I'm Jeremy Schwartz, and this is American Criminal.

4:08

The Urschel Abduction

During the summer of 1933, George Kelly and his wife got together with Albert Bates to plan a kidnapping. Over the past few years, countless other criminals pulled off abductions that had netted them thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.

Hell, just a year earlier, Charles Lindbergh, arguably the most famous man in the country, had paid 50 grand for the return of his son. The Kellys had watched all this unfold with envy.

They were smart enough to pull off a big kidnapping, they thought, but they wouldn't stoop so low as to take someone's kid. Instead, they decided to target one of Oklahoma City's wealthiest, most prominent men, Charles Urschel.

But the Kellys and Albert Bates were in for more than they bargained for with the Urschels. Though they meticulously planned the actual crime, they didn't account for all the variables. For starters, Charles Urschel was the wrong man to target.

Plus, there was a federal agency desperate to prove its worth at exactly that moment. And finally, some people the Kellys thought they could trust were just waiting to betray them.

All of that added up to a crime that was about to blow up in everybody's faces. This is episode 3 in our 4-part series on the life and crimes of George Machine Gun Kelly, the kidnapping of Charles Urschel. It's Saturday, July 22nd, 1933.

At their mansion in Oklahoma City, Charles and Baroness Urschel are playing bridge with their friends, Walter Jarrett and his wife Clyde.

The city's been in the grip of a heat wave for days now, so even though it's after 11 p.m., the group are sitting on the Urschel screened-in porch, where they can at least feel a slight breeze.

Charles has just finished dealing another round when Berenice looks over her shoulder. She could have sworn she just heard someone moving in the backyard.

The rest of the party are peering into the dark when the outside door swings open and two men rush inside. They look to be in their 30s and are dressed in press slacks, button downs and Panama hats. And they're armed.

One of them has a revolver, the other's got a Thompson machine gun. Berenice cries out, but the man with the machine gun, George Kelly, points his weapon at her and orders her to stay quiet. Then he asks, which of the men is Charles Urschel?

Neither Charles or Walter say a word and their wives stay perfectly still. They're all well aware what this is, a kidnapping, and they don't want to make it any easier for these thugs.

But George and his partner, Albert Bates, don't have time for games. So when they can't get an answer out of anyone, they simply order both men to stand and come with them.

Charles and Walter do as they're told, walking slowly out of the door in front of Albert, his gun trained on them. Before he leaves, George fixes Berenice and Clyde with a hard stare. He warns them not to call the authorities.

If he hears that the police are involved, he'll kill both of their husbands. The women say nothing, and the last thing George sees before he backs out the door is Berenice Urschel's face, her chin brought up in silent, stubborn rebuke.

It's the look of a woman who won't be told what to do. But George doesn't have time to worry about that right now. He's got to work out who the hell he's just kidnapped.

Despite making plans for how to carry out their kidnapping, it seems that neither George or Albert thought to find out what their target looked like.

If she were here, George's wife Catherine might have known, but she's at home in Fort Worth right now, so the guys have to figure it out on their own.

After forcing their captives into the back seat of their 33 Chevrolet, the men steer the car out of the Urschel's driveway and speed down the street. They drive through Oklahoma City, finally pulling over several miles outside of town.

There, George turns to Charles and Walter and demands each of their wallets. That's when they finally work out who's who. And they don't need this Walter guy.

His second victim's just going to complicate things, so they take the money from Walter's wallet and leave him on the side of the road.

8:32

A Captive Gathers Clues

Once Walter's out of sight, George leans over and tapes Charles' eyes shut and makes him lie across the back seat. That way, no one will see him back there. As far as kidnappings go, that's pretty sound logic.

But here's the thing about Charles Urschel. He's an accountant. Ever since he was a kid, he's had a great mind for numbers and small details.

And at 53, his memory is as sharp as it's ever been. So even though he can't see anything anymore, he's paying very close attention to everything.

He's already made a mental note of the bridge they crossed before Walter was turned loose, what intersection they left him stranded at, of the lights from a specific power plant he saw before he was blindfolded.

Now, as the Chevy drives through the night, he continues making a list of things. There's the way the car is bumping and rattling, which tells him that his captors are driving on unpaved back roads to avoid the highways.

From what he can tell, they're taking the long winding route to their destination, probably to throw off a sense of direction. And while the driving is disorienting, Charles doesn't let it disrupt his plan.

His mind races when he smells the distinct odor of an oil field. About 30 minutes later, that same smell again. Having spent his life working in Oklahoma's oil industry, he thinks about which two fields they might have passed in that span of time.

But it's not just what's outside the car that Charles is paying attention to. He's also listening for any clues that his captors might let slip about their plan, their destination or even their identities.

George and Albert have thought of that, though. Albert keeps calling George Floyd, probably because George has been mistaken for the gangster Pretty Boy Floyd in the past. Charles wasn't born yesterday, though.

He sees right through the ploy. So while he doesn't know who these guys are, he's absolutely certain that neither of them is Pretty Boy Floyd. After about four or five hours of driving, the car stops.

Charles hears one of the men get out. Moments later, the car pulls forward, then stops again. The guy gets back in the car.

Hmm, he was opening a gate. A few minutes later, another gate. This must be a farm, Charles thinks.

They pull into a building that smells like a barn, and Charles is left alone while he listens to the men working with tools a few feet away. Sounds like they're changing a license plate.

When they're done, they stand them up and lead them to a different car, a bigger one with more room to spread out in the back. They cover them with a heavy blanket and tell them to keep quiet.

Then they're off again, driving on winding back roads for another three hours until they have to stop for gas. Hidden in the back, Charles can hear one of the men talking to the attendant.

He asks about the weather if the heat's been affecting the crops. She tells him that the summer sun's done some damage to the harvest for sure, but they might have some luck with the broom corn.

Now Charles knows that broom corn isn't a particularly common thing to grow around these parts, so he files that tidbit away for later, adding it to the long list of details he's holding in his mind. Charles Urschel is determined to remember it all.

Through the dawn and into the morning they drive, through sheeting rain and blistering heat. In the back of the car, Charles gets hungry and thirsty, not to mention exhausted. When they finally bring the car to a stop again, he asks what time it is.

It's 2.30. He's been there captive for 15 hours, and it's only just beginning. At this point, the men leave Charles alone in the car for a while, then move him into some kind of garage to wait.

After several hours, he's finally let out into the fresh air, night air. He can tell that the sun's gone down. He's led through a gate, along a boardwalk, and into what he assumes is a house.

He counts his steps along the way, from the car to the gate, the gate to the house, the front door to the bedroom. They sit him down on an iron bedstead and tell him to hold still while they push cotton wool in his ears and tape it in place.

He can still hear, but he has to strain. Even though his hearing's muffled, Charles is still focused on everything around him. He can make out farm animals in the distance, horses, chickens, dogs, quails.

Charles notes all of them as he sits there, waiting for whatever's next. Turns out that the next thing is dinner, a cup of black coffee and a ham sandwich.

While he eats, Charles listens to one of the kidnappers explain that they're keeping him in the dark about his whereabouts for his own safety.

If they thought there was any chance he could tell the authorities anything about who they were or where they'd brought him, they'd just kill him and be done with it. But they've thought of everything, the man explains.

And on the off chance Charles manages to tell the cops something useful, the man says they'll find him and dole out brutal punishment. Charles listens to all of this, impassive. He's not intimidated by this younger man, he's analyzing him.

His accent has a slight southern twang, and it's clear he had a decent education. He's smart, meticulous. But he's not smarter than Charles Urschel.

The next day, Charles has moved to another house about 15 minutes drive away. But he's certain that they're on the same property. He's handcuffed to a chair and left to sleep as best he can, but it's difficult.

He's sleeping in a chair, it's not comfortable for one thing, and for second, there are more voices around now. Two more men and a woman.

The other men who refer to themselves as boss and potatoes are less intense than the two guys who grabbed Charles.

When it's just them around, he chats with boss and potatoes, asking innocent questions about their hobbies, how many animals are on the farm, what the weather's like outside, all collecting more information.

He even convinces them to take off the handcuffs so he can stand up and stretch his legs. He doesn't try and run, he knows he'll just get himself shot.

Instead, he measures the house with his steps and casually touches surfaces to leave his fingerprints where they can be found later.

On the second afternoon, the Monday, he notices something new, the sound of a twin engine plane flying directly overhead. On Tuesday morning, he hears the same sound and he's sure the plane's going back the other way.

Tuesday afternoon, the plane again. This must be a daily route. And he wants to know more, like exactly when the plane flies each day.

So each time he hears it, after that, he waits about 10 minutes, then casually asks whoever's in the room with him for the time. Over a couple of days, he puts together a schedule. The plane flies in one direction mid morning around 930 or 945.

Then it makes the return journey between 530 and 545. At some stage of the ordeal, the kidnappers come to Charles and tell him that his wife has made things difficult for them.

There's too much heat in Oklahoma City for them to make contact with her right now. So if Charles wants to see his family again, he needs to come up with a trustworthy person outside the city they can send the ransom letter to.

Charles agrees to write to a friend who lives in Tulsa. He's brought to a desk and handed some paper and a pencil. One of the men lifts his blindfold slightly so he can see, but warns Charles not to get clever and look around the room.

He's to face the wall and write what they tell him. Even within those orders, Charles finds useful details to file away. The wallpaper in front of him is peeling.

His captor's hand has dark hair on it, and he wears a gold ring with a red stone.

Charles knows that none of the things he's committing to memory can help the authorities find him, but he has faith that they will help lead him back here to this place and these men. And when he returns, he wants to make every one of them pay.

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22:35

A Tense Ransom Exchange

It's just before 1130 p.m. on July 22nd, 1933. In Oklahoma City, Baranese Urschel is standing on her screen porch.

She's just watched her husband be led away at gunpoint by two thugs. Her mind is racing. The last thing one of the men said to her was not to tell anyone.

But Baranese won't just sit around and wait. As soon as she hears the kidnapper's car drive away, she rushes into the house and upstairs to her bedroom. She has the sense of mind to lock the door behind her just in case the men decide to come back.

Then, she grabs the phone off its stand and places a call to the Oklahoma City Police. Breathlessly, she tells the chief about what's happened and he promises to send officers over right away. After that, Baranese has one more call to make.

She recently read a magazine article about the Justice Department's efforts to fight kidnappings across the country.

The piece mentioned a new hotline that people can call to report kidnappings and ransom demands directly to the Bureau of Investigation, which we now know as the FBI. She flips through the magazine to find the article and the hotline number.

Then, seconds after Baranese dials, the Bureau's director, J. Edgar Hoover himself, answers the call and asks what he can do to help. Minutes after Baranese makes her first phone call, investigators start showing up at the Urschel house.

There are officers from the Oklahoma City PD and a local sheriff at first, and then an agent from the Bureau of Investigation arrives from the local field office. Hoover called him personally to send him to the scene of the crime as soon as possible.

He doesn't want local police getting in his way like they did with the Lindbergh kidnapping a year ago. The Bureau agent speaks with the cops when he gets to the house and they agree that the feds will be taking the lead on the case.

But that doesn't mean that the federal agents have to do everything by themselves. Police vehicles are quickly dispatched to two of the major highways out of the city to keep an eye out for the kidnappers.

Everyone knows it's not likely they'll catch them so easily, but it's worth a shot. Of course, at this very moment, George Kelly and Albert Bates are taking unpaved back roads to make their escape from Oklahoma. George got his start as a bootlegger.

He's had a lot of practice staying off cops' radar while on the road. Just after 1 a.m., as investigators are busy taking statements from Baronese Urschel and Clyde Jarrett, Walter arrives back at the house. He's a little rattled, but basically fine.

He explains what happened, how he was dropped off about 10 miles outside of town and left to find his own way back. He hitchhiked, paying a couple of kids in an old Ford 250 to drive him back here.

Once he's had a glass of water and given descriptions of the kidnappers in their car, he takes a couple of police officers to the intersection where they kicked him out, tells them the car headed south after that.

Not that any of this information will prove useful. George and Albert have been taking a winding route, doubling back sometimes, so there's no telling where they are by the time Walter points the cop south.

And soon enough, they'll have changed into a different car altogether. The rest of the night is frantic, but ultimately fruitless.

And by the morning, news has leaked that one of Oklahoma City's most prominent citizens and one of the wealthiest men in the oil business has been kidnapped. Soon after sunrise, reporters start gathering in the Urschel's front yard.

They ask questions of police officers as they come and go and take photos of the porch Charles was snatched from. For the next few days, investigators monitor all the calls that come into the Urschel home. And there's a lot of them.

Plenty of hoaxes, some genuine tips, but nothing from the kidnappers. Before anyone knows it, Charles has been gone for two days, and they still don't know when or if a ransom demand will come. Then a call comes through that feels different.

At least it does to Bernice. When she gets on the line, the caller tells her that for $50,000, they'll give her Charles' watch as proof of life. Then they'll tell her where he is in exchange for a second ransom.

Something about the demand peaks Bernice's interest, and she makes arrangements to prepare the cash. At the agreed upon time, she gets into a car with her brother-in-law and heads to the rendezvous point.

For safety, they've got two bags, one with the 50 grand and a second dummy bag containing mostly shredded newspapers and $1,000 of decoy bills on top.

When they arrive, they're confronted by a man with a gun who threatens to shoot them if they don't hand over the money. He hasn't got Charles' watch. He hasn't got Charles.

Terrified, Bernice's brother-in-law hands the man the dummy bag and they drive off. They've been swindled. Turns out the men who kidnapped Charles weren't the only people looking to steal some of the Urschel's fortune for themselves.

On July 25, Agent Gus T. Jones of the Bureau of Investigation arrives in Oklahoma City to take charge of the investigation.

It's been nearly three days since Charles was taken, and there's been no solid leads on who's behind the plot, where they took him, or if he's even still alive. But Gus is one of the best men Hoover's got.

Until now, he's been in Kansas City investigating a bloody massacre there. Just over a month ago, on June 17th, a group of law enforcement officers were transporting notorious bank robber Frank Nash to Leavenworth.

They were ambushed by armed men who shot indiscriminately into the cop's car, killing four of the law men, as well as Nash. The crime has left the country outraged, and the Bureau of Investigation has been working the case ever since.

But now, with the clock ticking on a kidnap man's life, the Urschel case takes precedence. Besides, it's in every newspaper, and J. Edgar Hoover is desperate for a win for his agency.

If he can prove the Bureau's worth, he'll be able to increase its scope moving forward. And the very next day, Gus's first chance to take action arrives. On the morning of July 26, John Catlett of Tulsa receives a package from Western Union.

There are several letters inside, including a handwritten note from Charles, asking John to secretly bring the enclosed ransom note to his wife in Oklahoma City.

As soon as he's finished reading, John sets out to meet with Berenice and two other friends Charles named in the letter. The kidnappers are demanding $200,000 and use $20 federal reserve bills. It's an eye-watering amount of money.

Adjusted for inflation, it would be around $4.8 million today. And if it's paid, it'll be the largest ransom amount in US history to date. Immediately, Berenice knows two things.

They have to show the letter to Gus Jones, and she'll pay whatever it takes to bring her husband home. But it's not that simple. When Gus and the rest of his team read through the ransom letter, they're concerned.

The considered way it's written, the specificity of the instructions, it smacks of experienced kidnappers. It's not likely they'll be able to pull one over on these guys. Still, Berenice isn't deterred.

So as the letter instructs, she places an ad in the Daily Oklahoman under the Farms for Sales section, signaling to the kidnappers that she agrees to their terms. Then she asks her brother to secure the cash as quickly as possible.

Two days later is a Friday, six days since the kidnapping. A letter arrives at the home of Ernest Kirkpatrick, one of the men Charles recommended as an intermediary.

The note orders him to pack the ransom into a leather bag and catch the number 28 train bound for Kansas City, Missouri the next night. He's to watch for a signal fire on the right side of the tracks.

That'll be his cue to throw the bag from the train. And if all goes well, Charles Urschel will be returned soon after that. So, the next evening, Ernest boards the train at 10 p.m.

and spends hours waiting to see a fire by the tracks. But he gets all the way to Kansas City and nothing. He doesn't panic, though.

The kidnappers gave instructions to follow in case something went wrong. He proceeds from the station to a hotel in the city where he takes a room and waits to be contacted.

Later that evening, he receives a phone call from a man who gives him directions to a meeting spot elsewhere in the city, close to the LaSalle Hotel.

It's a few hours shy of seven days since Charles was taken when Ernest gets out of his cab on a twilight street in the middle of Kansas City. Close by, he can see two large cars, each with three men inside, all of them watching him.

He spots a third car a short distance down the block. One of its windows is open a sliver, and Ernest is sure he can see a shotgun barrel poking out. He swallows, wondering if he's about to be murdered.

But then, a tall man in a press suit and a Panama hat approaches him. In a polite but unyielding tone, the man tells Ernest that he'll take the bag of cash from him. At that, Ernest summons his courage.

He tightens his grip on the bag and asks for information. At the very least, he wants to know when they can expect to see Charles. The tall man snorts and says that if the money is all here, then Charles Urschel will be home within 12 hours.

Then he reaches down, rests the bag from Ernest and strides away. Ernest takes a moment to steady himself, then looks around for a cab to take him to his hotel. He has to call Bernice and then get himself back to Oklahoma.

Charles Urschel isn't home 12 hours later. The next day, Sunday, drags on with no sign of him and no communication from his captors. By the time the sun sets on Monday, July 31st, some are wondering whether they should give up hope.

But then, at 9:20 p.m., Charles walks up the street to his house. He weaves through the gaggle of reporters waiting on his lawn, and none of them recognizing him, and strides into the house, shocking everyone.

Shouts of delight fill the mansion as everyone realizes that their long wait is over. Charles Urschel is home, and he is ready to get justice. Hey, all, it's Jeremy Schwartz from American Criminal.

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It's late at night on July 31st, 1932, and in Oklahoma City, Charles Urschel is embracing his wife for the first time in over a week. Nearly 200 miles away is a farm near Paradise, Texas.

Catherine Kelly's stepfather owns the place, and it's been a useful resting point for her and her husband over the last couple of years. Now, it's where she, Charles, and their friend Albert Bates have come to divide up their money.

A couple of days ago, they collected the ransom from Ernest Kirkpatrick in Kansas City.

Exactly who they used to take the bag and stand watch over the exchange is a detail lost to history, but the Kellys aren't thinking about their place in the record books right now. All they care about is the cash.

None of them are strangers to handling large sums of money at once, but this is another level altogether. This is almost 200 grand. They already counted it back in Missouri, so now it's just a matter of splitting it up.

Half for Albert and half for the Kellys. Once everything's square, Albert grabs the keys to his car, which has been sitting in a garage on the farm for the last couple of weeks. He shakes George's hand, then hits the road.

He's an experienced criminal. He doesn't want to stay in one place for too long. Not after pulling one of the biggest kidnappings the US has ever seen.

With Albert gone, Catherine turns to George with a squeal. They've got $100,000 in cash. It's all theirs, and neither of them can wait to start spending it.

38:47

An Astonishing Debrief

While the Kellys and Albert Bates are dividing up cash and deciding their next moves, Charles Urschel is sitting down with agent Gus T. Jones of the Bureau of Investigation.

Gus was hoping to get a few details that might possibly help their investigation. Who knows? Maybe Charles noticed something that will crack the case.

But what he finds out is that Charles Urschel remembers everything about his ordeal. Not only that, he made a point of finding out as much as he could about where he was and who was with him.

He starts with the drive, talking about how many hours it took to reach their final destination, what he smelled along the way, how many times they stopped, and when they switched cars.

He recalls the gas station attendant who talked about growing broom corn. He lists the different kinds of animals he heard on the farm where they held him.

He couldn't hear cows, but guesses there were some there because he was given plenty of fresh milk to drink. He also drank water that came from a well with a squeaky pulley, and the water had a distinct mineral flavor to it.

He says that eventually, the cotton wall taped to his eyes came loose and he could see slivers of the house he was in. The wallpaper was peeling in places, and there was a porch out front with a dilapidated ceiling.

He lists the furniture in the rooms, the size of the building, the number of people who guarded them each day, and the places where he left his fingerprints within the house.

He'd even heard the men discussing a local sex worker by name and conversations with the mailman. Then he gets to the plane. Twice each day, it flew directly over the house.

Once around 9.45 in the morning, and then again around 5.45 in the evening. The only day it didn't pass overhead was Sunday, July 30th, the day before Charles was set free.

There was a heavy rainstorm all day, and he thinks maybe the plane was rerouted. All of the details that Charles remembers are gold, but the plane is what gets Gus really excited.

He dispatches agents to check on records for flights in the Oklahoma City-Dallas corridor. Charles said the drive back to OKC from the farm only took about two hours, so they can't have been outside that area.

Specifically, they're looking for any planes that were canceled or diverted because of weather on the 30th. Of course, Gus doesn't stop there.

He also sends agents to investigate who grows broom corn in the region, or who might have sold broom corn recently.

And finally, agents are sent to the US Weather Bureau to research counties or regions that match the conditions Charles described in his account. Anything that will help narrow their search even further.

While all this is going on, Charles and Gus sit down to sketch out a map of the farm as Charles imagines it. The gate, the barn, the boardwalk, the two houses, the two chicken coops he could hear and smell out back.

With all this information to work with, Gus Jones is sure that it won't be long until they've tracked down the farm where Charles was held. And from there, it will be a cinch to find the culprits.

42:03

The Farm is Found

But the Bureau is already closer than Gus realizes, thanks to the help of two friendly cops in Fort Worth. Okay, here's what happened. On July 23rd, the day after Charles was kidnapped, officers Ed Weatherford and JW.

Swinney of the Fort Worth PD stopped by Catherine Kelly's house for a visit. They didn't have anything specific to discuss, but they've been keeping an eye on her for a couple of years, and they like to stay on good terms with her.

That day, Catherine couldn't help boasting that George was about to come into a lot of money.

She didn't offer any more details, but given the couple's criminal records and the fact that they'd been planning a kidnapping earlier that year, it got Weatherford and Swinney's attention.

And with the news of Charles Urschel's abduction filling the papers that morning, the pair started to suspect that the Kellys might just be involved.

The next day, they took those suspicions to the Dallas office of the Bureau, where they told agents all about Catherine Kelly and all about her stepfather's large farm about 40 miles outside Fort Worth.

To them, it seemed like the perfect place to hold a person captive. At that stage, the Bureau sent someone to check out the farm owned by RG. Shannon.

But from the outside, it didn't seem like anything was going on there. Still, the Bureau kept tabs on the Shannons and on Catherine Kelly throughout the kidnapping.

Now, with the information provided by Charles Urschel, it looks like Weatherford and Swinney's Hunch was right on the money. Agents narrowed their search area down using recent weather information and crop history.

Using that, they find a plane that flies from Fort Worth to Amarillo and back every day. And it passes directly over the Shannon farm at exactly the times Charles guessed, except for Sunday the 30th, when the plane was diverted due to a storm.

Once the investigators work this out, they send Agent Edward Dowd to look into the Shannons. In the town of Decatur, Dowd speaks with a banker who's done business with Catherine's stepfather, RG.

He looks at the map Charles drew and says, yeah, it looks a lot like the Shannon's place. He agrees to take Dowd to the farm and conduct a little undercover investigation.

When they arrive, Agent Dowd pretends to be a bank official with questions for RG about an existing loan. But RG's not home. So instead, they speak with his son, Armand, who's 21.

As Armand chats away amiably, Dowd clocks that the porch ceiling of Armand's small house looks in serious need of repair.

Thinking back on the other details he's heard about the place, he asks for a drink of water, which Armand obligingly gets from a nearby well. The pulley squeaks loudly as he raises the water up.

And then, when Dowd takes a sip, it has a strong mineral taste. Already, Dowd's seen enough. He thanks Armand for his time, and the two men head back to Decatur.

Dowd urges the banker to drive faster once they're out on the open road. He's eager to get to a phone so he can call this into headquarters. They found the place where Charles Urschel was held.

Now, it's time for a raid. From Airship, this is episode three in our series on George Machine Gun Kelly. On the next episode, with the whole country watching, the hunt for George Kelly begins.

We use many different sources while preparing this episode. A few we can recommend are George Machine Gun Kelly by Bart L. Largen, The Year of Fear by Joe Urschel, and Hopman's Ladder by Richard TK.

Hill Jr. This episode may contain reenactments or dramatized details. And while in some cases we can't know exactly what happened, all our dramatizations are based on historical research.

American Criminal is a co-production of Airship and Evergreen podcasts. It's hosted, edited, and produced by me, Jeremy Schwartz. Audio editing and sound design by Sean Ruhl Hoffman.

Music by Thrum. This episode is written and researched by Joel Callan. Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive producers are Joel Callan, William Simpson, and Lindsey Graham.