Mary McElroy

Mary McElroy (November 25, 1907 – January 21, 1940) was an American kidnapping victim. She was the daughter of Henry F. 'Judge' McElroy, City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri. Kidnapping Twenty-five-year-old McElroy was kidnapped while taking a bubble bath in her father's home on the evening of May 27, 1933. Her abductors were brothers George and Walter McGee, Clarence Click, and Clarence Stevens. Walter McGee, a divorced ex-con from Oregon, was the gang leader. McGee and Stevens donned masks, forced their way into the house with a sawed-off shotgun, and allowed McElroy time to dry herself and get dressed. She apparently did not take them very seriously; when told that $60,000 was going to be demanded in exchange for her release, she joked "I'm worth more than that!" McElroy was taken to a farmhouse in Shawnee, Kansas owned by Click, where she was chained to a wall in the basement. After demanding the original sum of $60,000, the kidnappers settled for $30,000, which Judge McElroy paid on May 29. Mary McElroy was released unharmed near the Millburn Golf Course after twenty-nine hours in captivity. George McGee and Clarence Click were apprehended some time before June 21. Walter McGee was arrested in Amarillo, Texas on June 2 after attempting to purchase a car with some of the ransom money. Of the original sum, about $9,000 was recovered from McGee's person. About $16,000 of the original ransom was recovered. Trial The kidnapping and subsequent trial were a media sensation. The trial took place in Jefferson City. According to reports, McElroy evinced crippling shame and embarrassment when questioned. She related that Walter McGee had ordered her to strip naked before releasing her so that they could be sure she was not smuggling evidence; she refused and they did not force her. She also displayed difficulty in identifying her abductors in court when called to do so. She insisted that she had been well treated and had even been given flowers by Walter before her release. During the trial, McElroy met with relatives of her kidnappers and publicly expressed sympathy for them.