The Nation - News from Sept. 8, 1987

As funeral services were held for Stephen B. Small, 40, victim of a bungled kidnaping, officials looked into the possibility that the abduction was a “copycat” crime based on a 1968 Georgia case. Small died near Kankakee, Ill., after being buried in a wooden box with a faulty air-supply system. Three kidnap suspects are in custody. Almost 20 years ago, a debutante was buried alive in a similar fashion by kidnapers but survived. A ransom was paid in that case, the subject of a book and many articles, but the kidnapers were caught and most of the money was recovered.