On May 24, 1935, George Weyerhaeuser, the nine-year-old son of prominent lumberman J.P. Weyerhaeuser of Tacoma, Washington, disappeared on his way home from school. Although the students at Lowell School, which he attended, were released for lunch earlier than usual, George followed his regular practice of immediately walking to the nearby Annie Wright Seminary to meet his sister Ann. The family's chauffeur generally met George and Ann at the Seminary to drive them home for lunch at noon. Arriving at the Seminary 10 or 15 minutes early that day, George apparently decided to walk home rather than wait for his sister. But George never reached home that day; somewhere between the Seminary and his house, George Weyerhaeuser was kidnapped.

When the Weyerhaeuser family realized that George was missing, they searched for him and notified the police department of his disappearance. That evening, a special delivery letter, addressed "To Whom It May Concern", arrived at the Weyerhaeuser home. It listed a series of demands, including the payment of $200,000 ransom in unmarked twenty-, ten-, and five-dollar bills in exchange for the boy. George's signature appeared on the back of the envelope in which the letter arrived.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Portland, Oregon, Field Office was advised of the facts in this case, and Special Agents were sent to Tacoma to investigate. Adhering to the kidnappers' instructions, an advertisement, signed "Percy Minnie", was placed in the personal column of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper to indicate that the Weyerhaeusers would comply with the kidnappers demands. Similar messages were placed in the same newspaper on May 27 and May 29, 1935.

Mr. Weyerhaeuser received a letter from the kidnappers on May 29, 1935. He was instructed to register at the Ambassador Hotel in Seattle, Washington, as James Paul Jones and to await further contact. Also enclosed with the kidnappers' letter was a short note from George, stating that he was safe. Mr. Weyerhaeuser followed instructions, and at ten that night, a taxicab driver delivered another letter to him at the hotel.

Complying with directions given in the note, Weyerhaeuser drove to a designated point, where he found two sticks driven into the ground with a piece of white cloth attached. There he found a message directing him to another signal cloth further down the road. However, when he reached the second signal cloth, he found no message. He waited there for two hours before returning to the hotel.

On the morning of May 30, 1935, an anonymous party telephoned Mr. Weyerhaeuser, saying that he had not followed orders the previous night. George's father assured the caller that he wanted to cooperate but that he could not find the last note.

At 9:45 that night, a man with a European accent telephoned Mr. Weyerhaeuser and advised him to proceed to an address where he would find a note in a tin can. Thereafter, he proceeded from one point to another, following directions he found at each place.

On a dirt road off the main highway between Seattle and Tacoma, he found a flag and another note advising him to wait for five minutes with the dome light of his car burning and then to go to another white sign on the same road. The note he found there told him to leave his car and walk back toward Seattle. If the money was in order, George would be released within 30 hours.

Mr. Weyerhaeuser had walked about 100 yards when he heard a loud noise from the bushes. A man ran out, got in the car and drove away with the $200,000 ransom money.

Young George Weyerhaeuser was released at a shack near Issaquah, Washington, on the morning of June 1, 1935.

When the FBI started investigating this case, every precaution was taken to ensure the safe return of the victim. During the period of negotiation, Special Agents conducted the investigation quietly. Serial numbers of the ransom bills were sent to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where ransom lists were prepared. Immediately after the kidnappers received the money, these lists were sent to all of the Bureau's field offices for distribution to commercial enterprises, including banks, hotels and railway companies.

On June 2, 1935, a $20 ransom bill was tendered in payment of a railway ticket from Huntington, Oregon, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Investigation by FBI Agents determined the purchaser to be Harmon Metz Waley.

Shortly thereafter, many ransom bills appeared in discount stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. Due to the limited number of Special Agents available there, police officers were placed in each downtown discount store, and each store was furnished a copy of the ransom list. As a result, on June 8, 1935, a police detective stationed at a Woolworth store was notified by a cashier that a woman had presented one of the ransom bills. The detective took the woman, who proved to be Margaret E. Waley, wife of Harmon Waley, to the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office.

Upon her arrival at the field office, another ransom bill was discovered in her pocketbook. Although she told a number of conflicting stories, her correct home address was obtained.

Later that day, Harmon Metz Waley was arrested at home. After making several false statements, he confessed that he and William Dainard, whom he had met in the Idaho State Penitentiary, had kidnapped the boy. He added that his wife had no knowledge of the kidnapping until their arrival in Spokane, Washington. She had been at the hideout house and helped them negotiate the ransom.

Approximately $3,700 of the ransom money was found to have been burned in the Waleys' stove. The ashes were sent to the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C., where it was determined that a sufficient number of the bills remained to positively identify them.

Waley claimed that he and Dainard planned to split the money evenly, but that Dainard cheated him out of $5,000. After further questioning at the field office, Waley said that he bought a Ford Roadster, which he registered as Herman Von Metz, when he arrived in Salt Lake City. Under a clump of trees or bushes, he had buried $90,790, which Special Agents recovered on June 11, 1935.

Learning that Waley arranged to meet Dainard at the home of Margaret Waley's parents, agents proceeded to that house. Her grandfather advised that a man answering Dainard's description had come to the house asking for the Waleys. The grandfather told him that the Waleys had been there earlier to pick up their suitcase but they returned to Salt Lake City and had been arrested. The man exclaimed, "My God, did they get everything they had?" before returning to his car and driving off.

Physical evidence found in the hideout, the holes and the kidnappers' homes was examined by personnel of the FBI Laboratory. Fingerprint identification positively linked the Waleys and Dainard to the shack where the ransom had been divided. Also, Harmon Waley's fingerprints appeared on the cans in which notes for Mr. Weyerhaeuser were placed, and a fingerprint identified as Margaret Waley's was found at the hideout.

On June 19, 1935, a federal grand jury in Tacoma, Washington returned an indictment charging William Dainard, Harmon Metz Waley and Margaret E. Waley with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.

On June 19, 1935, a federal grand jury in Tacoma, Washington returned an indictment charging William Dainard, Harmon Metz Waley and Margaret E. Waley with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.

Harmon Waley entered a plea of guilty on June 21, 1935, and was sentenced to serve concurrent prison terms of 45 years on charge of kidnapping and 2 years on charge of conspiring to kidnap. He was sent to the United States Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington. Waley later was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California.

On June 22, 1935, Margaret Waley pleaded not guilty to both charges. She was brought to trial in United States District Court, Tacoma, Washington, on July 5, 1935. Four days later, she was sentenced to serve two concurrent 20-year terms in the United States Detention Farm, Milan, Michigan.