Nancy Guthrie's abduction has drawn national attention.
But this isn't the first time Tucson has been put in the national spotlight for a high-profile kidnapping and ransom.
One such incident, the case of 6-year-old June Robles, goes back 92 years.
"(He) took me to a great big hole and he told me to hide my eyes, so I hide my eyes," a young June said in an archived interview, recalling her abduction and 19-day ordeal.
Robles had been kidnapped and held in a metal box, buried in the desert, on the edge of Tucson.
She was the daughter of one of Tucson's wealthiest families.
Her father, Fernando Robles, owned Robles Electric Company.
The kidnapping took place on April 25, 1934.
June was coaxed by a man to get into his car on her walk home from school.
"So I got in the car and he took me way out in the country," June said.
Two hours later, Fernando Robles received the first ransom note, delivered by a child who was paid 25 cents, reportedly by the kidnapper.
The note demanded $15,000 for June's safe return.
Soon, law enforcement launched one of Tucson's largest-ever searches.
The FBI would get involved.
It became national news, even appearing in the New York Times.
Several more ransom notes arrived.
There was an attempt to make payment, but the kidnapper failed to show.
Meantime, June was chained inside a small metal box in the desert.
In the archived interview, Fernando asks his daughter if anything was inside the box.
"A lot of food," she said.
"What kind of food did he have?" Fernando asked.
"He had jam and bread and cookies and potato chips and crackers," June responded.
June spent 19 days in the box, buried in the desert.
Finally, on May 14, the governor of Arizona received a letter postmarked from Chicago.
It had directions of where to find June.
Law enforcement raced to the area near Broadway and Wilmot. It was all desert then.
After a two-hour search, they stumbled on a small metal box, sunken three feet into the ground.
June was reunited with her family.
Nobody was ever charged in the kidnapping.
It was the first major case that J. Edgar Hoover's FBI was unable to solve.
In the newsreel filmed right after her release, June said she wanted to do just one thing: go to school for he last day before summer break to get her report card.
June married and lived in Tucson until her death in 2014, at the age of 84.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
