Little William "Billy" Ranieri was abducted one day in September 1928, while he was on his way from school to his Northwest Chicago home. The youth was later able to provide eyewitness testimony against his kidnappers. The Sicilian boy was held by several men who worked in association with a former employee of Billy's father. Alex Frank Ranieri was a wealthy sewer contractor. Soon after learning about his son's abduction he began working on his own with the kidnappers. One of the ransom notes he received looked to have been written by "Little Billy".