On the morning of May 12, 1932, the partly decomposed body of a small child was found in a wooded area near the Lindbergh family estate in Hopewell, New Jersey. The discovery came nearly two months after the March 1 abduction of 20‑month‑old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., son of famed aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The child’s body was identified by family members and investigators as that of the missing infant. The Lindbergh kidnapping had become a national sensation almost immediately after the infant disappeared from his second‑floor nursery. A ransom note demanding $50,000 was left on the family home. The case drew enormous public attention because of Charles Lindbergh’s celebrity as the first aviator to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. Local, state and federal authorities became involved in an intense search and investigation that included offers of reward money and large-scale public interest in any leads. When the body was recovered, it was found about four miles from the Lindbergh home on the rural backroad known as the Hackensack Turnpike area near Hopewell. Medical examiners determined the child had died of a massive skull fracture, consistent with a blow to the head. The condition of the remains indicated the child had been dead for some time. Identification was based on clothing and physical characteristics reported by the family and investigators; contemporaneous accounts note that identification was not without difficulty given the state of the remains. The discovery intensified public outrage and led to expanded investigative efforts. The case would eventually result in one of the era’s most notorious criminal prosecutions. In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant, was arrested and charged with the murder and kidnapping. He was convicted in a widely covered trial and executed in 1936. Hauptmann’s guilt has remained the subject of debate among historians and legal scholars, with questions raised over the evidence, trial procedures, and the possibility of other suspects or conspirators. Legislation and procedural changes followed in the wake of the Lindbergh case. The crime’s national impact contributed to the passage of the Federal Kidnapping Act (often called the “Lindbergh Law”) in 1932, which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal offense and broadened federal authority to investigate kidnappings. The case also influenced media coverage of high‑profile crimes and law‑enforcement practices. The discovery of the child’s body marked a tragic turning point in the episode and left a lasting imprint on American criminal history and the public imagination. While Bruno Hauptmann’s conviction closed the legal chapter for many contemporaries, debates about aspects of the investigation, evidence, and possible alternate theories have persisted among researchers and commentators. Sources: contemporary newspaper accounts and later historical studies of the Lindbergh kidnapping and trial. Where details remain disputed among scholars—such as aspects of identification and the sufficiency of forensic evidence—this summary notes those disputes rather than presenting contested assertions as settled fact.