Lindbergh's Childhood: A Case Study

Charles and Anne Lindbergh's son was abducted from their home on March 1, 1932 in New Jersey. The only evidence left in their infant son's room were muddy footprints, a ransom note, a chisel found a short distance from the house, and a homemade ladder. Even though the ransom was paid, the body of the infant was found two months later half buried in the woods. No other evidence was found, so there was no substantial evidence pointing to any possible suspect.

Arthur Koehler, a wood technologist, sent a letter to the family offering to look at the wooden ladder. Shivers of the ladder with traces of wool fibers were analyzed by Koehler, but the analysis resulted in no evidence pointing to a suspect. A year later Koehler was asked to travel to where the ladder was being kept, in order to deeply analyze the ladder. He took apart the ladder to use microscopes and a variety of lightening and photographic techniques to examine the wood and cleats.
A portion of the ladder contained holes made by a penny nail, so it was determined they were from a prior use. The type of wood with the holes, were determined to be from the interior of a barn, attic, or garage. He also used a microscope to look at the defected ridges created on the wood that would occur when the wood went through a planner in the wood