The 1936 Kidnapping That Ended in Murder

A winter night in 1936 changed everything for one Tacoma family. What began as a quiet evening inside a comfortable Point Defiance home turned into one of Washington’s most haunting crimes. A young boy was taken, and the abduction quickly became front-page news across the Pacific Northwest. But despite frantic efforts to bring him home safely, the case would take a heartbreaking turn.
In this episode, we look closely at the kidnapping of ten-year-old Charles Mattson and the investigation that followed. Tacoma was still recovering from the effects of the Depression, and the Mattson family lived in a neighborhood known for its safety and affluence. The idea that someone could slip into their home and take a child shook the community to its core. As the hours turned into days, hope gave way to fear—and eventually to tragedy.