A Mother Walked Tacoma Handcuffed to Her Daughter
After two alleged kidnap attempts, Edna Reed fastened herself to her 9-year-old with silver-chained handcuffs—and dared the city to separate them.
Tacoma, Wash., May 10. — Mrs. Edna Reed, divorced wife of R. T. Reed, a wealthy real estate man of Denver, created a sensation on the streets here, where she appeared with her 9-year-old daughter handcuffed to her. Twice since the divorce was obtained, Mrs. Reed says, attempts have been made to kidnap the child. She believes the silver-chained handcuffs will guarantee the child's safety.
“She believes the silver-chained handcuffs will guarantee the child's safety.”
Custody fights have always turned public streets into theaters of fear and defiance; Reed's handcuffs are an extreme ancestor of today's parental-abduction panics. The image also asks who gets believed when a divorced mother says her child is in danger.
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