List of kidnappings

The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.

By date

List of kidnappings before 1900

List of kidnappings (1900–1929)

List of kidnappings (1930–1939)

List of kidnappings (1940–1949)

List of kidnappings (1950–1959)

List of kidnappings (1960–1969)

List of kidnappings (1970–1979)

List of kidnappings (1980–1989)

List of kidnappings (1990–1999)

List of kidnappings (2000–2009)

List of kidnappings (2010–2019)

List of kidnappings (2020–present)

Modern kidnappings of celebrities or their relatives

Kidnappers interested in getting a large ransom or a political effect often target celebrities or their relatives. Here are some of the people affected by these crimes:

Mordechai Oren was an Israeli politician who was taken hostage while visiting Czechoslovakia during the Cold War in 1951 and sentenced to 15 years in prison as part of the Slánský trial, before being released.

Leon Ames: Film and television actor who, together with his wife, was held hostage at their home on 12 February 1964. They were rescued by police, who had been alerted to the case by his business partner.

Pedro Eugenio Aramburu: former de facto President of Argentina. Aramburu was kidnapped by members of Montoneros and killed by firearm.

Leonard Firestone (57–58), American businessman, philanthropist, diplomat was the target of an aborted kidnapped plan that was to take place in 1966.

Cindy Birdsong: A member of the Motown supergroup The Supremes. Birdsong was kidnapped in December 1969, aged 30, at knife-point from her Hollywood apartment and escaped two hours later by jumping from the car at a freeway exit.