Search for Skeegie Cash

The search for James Bailey “Skeegie” Cash, Jr. began in a driving rain.  Throughout the first day, June 2, 1938, thunderclaps rocked the sky and torrents of water drenched southern Florida.  More than 2,000 farmers, World War I veterans, Seminole Indians, FBI agents, local lawmen, and everyday citizens plowed through miles of swamp, desperate to locate Skeegie.  Crop-dusters and military planes flew precision patterns over the Everglades and divers worked grottos, lakes, and rivers.

A five-year-old boy, treasured by his parents and well-known to his small community, had once been anonymous to the rest of the world.  But on Saturday night, February 28, an unknown kidnapper snatched Skeegie from his home.  As newsmen flocked to Princeton, Florida, the boy’s parents paid a ransom of $10,000, then waited for their son's return.  After two days, it became obvious that Skeegie would not be coming home alive.  Finally, the largest search in Florida history began. 

The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida’s Lindbergh Case by Robert A. Waters and Zack C. Waters describes this poignant story of a grieving father and mother caught in the heart-killing grip of a monster's mad plan. 

Order the book from University of Alabama Press or Amazon.com.