Jim Axelrod

In March 1932, the whole world was captivated and terrified by the kidnapping of 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr., the baby son of the famed aviator.

He was mysteriously taken from his nursery on the second floor of the family's home in New Jersey while his parents were downstairs.

Little Lindy's disappearance, along with the discovery of his body, the arrest and prosecution of Bruno Hauptmann was the original true crime story of the modern media age, yielding countless theories about what really happened to the baby.

of the most famous man in America.

I'm CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod, and welcome to a special episode of the 48 Hours Podcast.

I'm joined today by Free Press senior editor and writer Jonah Serra, who's out with a new six-part podcast series about the kidnapping called The Lindbergh Conspiracies.

And we welcome in Jonah Serra.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

Great for you to be here.

94 years since this kidnapping.

So much news has...

developed and unfolded since then.

So why this?

Why does the Lindbergh kidnapping still claim so much interest?

But in terms of Lindbergh as this enormous world hero, he's also a deeply flawed man.

All right, so take us to March 1, 1932, by Hopewell, New Jersey.

What happens?

Charles Lindbergh was married to Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who was an heiress and very wealthy.

It was bizarre.