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On May 18, 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared from off Venice Beach, California after going for a swim. She was found in Mexico five weeks later, stating she escaped from kidnappers holding her ransom there. The reported kidnapping, escape through the Mexican desert and subsequent court inquiries precipitated a media frenzy that changed the course of McPherson's career. ==Kidnapping on Venice Beach== On May 18, 1926, McPherson went with her secretary to Ocean Park Beach north of Venice Beach to swim. Soon after arriving, McPherson was nowhere to be found. It was thought she had drowned. McPherson was scheduled to hold a service that day; her mother Minnie Kennedy preached the sermon instead, saying at the end, "Sister is with Jesus," sending parishioners into a tearful frenzy. Mourners crowded Venice Beach and the commotion sparked days-long media coverage fueled in part by William Randolph Hearst's ''Los Angeles Examiner'' and a stirring poem by Upton Sinclair to commemorate the tragedy. Daily updates appeared in newspapers across the country and parishioners held day-and-night seaside vigils. One parishioner drowned while searching for the body, and a diver died of exposure. Kenneth G. Ormiston, the engineer for KFSG, had taken other assignments around late December 1925 and left his job at the Temple.〔Cox, Raymond L. The Verdict is In, 1983. pp. 37–38. Note: Ormiston presented himself to the police headquarters May 27 to deny that he "went into hiding;" he also indicated his name connected to the evangelist was "a gross insult to a noble and sincere woman." He gave a detailed description of his movements since May 19, 1926, but did not mention Carmel.〕 Newspapers later linked McPherson and Ormiston, the latter seen driving up the coast with an unidentified woman. Some believed McPherson and Ormiston, who was married, had become romantically involved and had run off together. Several ransom notes and other communications were sent to the Temple, some were relayed to the police, who thought they were hoaxes and others dismissed as fraudulent. McPherson "sightings" were abundant, as many as 16 in different cities and other locations on the same day. For a time, Mildred Kennedy, McPherson's mother, offered a $25,000〔about US $315,000.00 in 2012 dollars〕 reward for information leading to the return of her daughter. The ransom demands sent included a note by the "Revengers" who wanted $500,000〔about US $6.3 million in 2012〕 and another for $25,000〔 conveyed by a lawyer who claimed contact with the kidnappers. The handwritten "Revengers" note later disappeared from the LA Police evidence locker and the lawyer was found dead in a possibly suspicious accident before his claim could be adequately investigated.〔Lately, Thomas ''The Vanishing Evangelist: the Aimee Semple McPherson Kidnapping Affair'' (Viking Press, 1959) p. 26〕〔Cox, pp. 17–18〕〔Epstein, pp. 295, 312〕 A lengthy ransom letter from the "Avengers" arrived around June 19, 1926, also forwarded to the police, demanded $500,000〔 or else kidnappers would sell McPherson into "white slavery." Relating their prisoner was a nuisance because she was incessantly preaching to them, the lengthy, two-page poorly typewritten letter also indicated the kidnappers worked hard to spread the word McPherson was held captive, and not drowned. Kennedy regarded the notes as hoaxes, believing her daughter dead.〔Cox, pp. 41–42〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kidnapping of Aimee Semple McPherson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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