Kidnapping of Peggy Ann Bradnick

Hollenbaugh had been convicted of burglary in 1939 and spent the next 20 years in prison and an insane asylum.

Peggy Ann was born August 16, 1948, the oldest of six children of Eugene and Mildred Bradnick.

At the time she was kidnapped, she had a brother Jim (age 16); a sister Mary Louise (11); twin brother and sister Donnie and Debbie (9); and a Sister Carol Jean (8).

The family lived near Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, a small village in Huntingdon County.

Peggy Ann attended Southern Huntingdon County High School.

In 1962, he came to Shade Gap and was known as "The Bicycle Man" or "Bicycle Pete" because he rode a bicycle all around the area.

Hollenbaugh claimed to Peggy Ann that he was responsible for several incidents prior to kidnapping her.

In August 1964, he broke into the home of Mrs. Christine Devinney, shot a rifle out of her hand, then bound her wound and left.

Shortly thereafter, a woman driving on a back road was blocked by a pile of logs, whereupon a man fired a shot, breaking her baby's nursing bottle.

On April 16, 1965 (Good Friday), Ned Price surprised a trespasser on his property, was shot, and lost a leg.

These incidents and others led to this sniper being known as "The Mountain Man".

The kidnapping of Peggy Ann Bradnick took place near Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1966.

Bradnick, who was 17 years old at the time, was kidnapped by William Diller Hollenbaugh and held captive for seven days before she was rescued by Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at a farm in Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania.

Her ordeal made national headlines, and the search was the largest manhunt in United States history at the time.

One FBI agent, Terry R. Anderson, was shot and killed in pursuit of Hollenbaugh.

On May 11, 1966, as Peggy Ann and her five siblings were walking home from the school bus stop, Hollenbaugh intercepted them, grabbing Peggy Ann and dragging her into the woods.

Leaving Mary Louise to tend to the younger children, Jim Bradnick ran home and told his father, who was home frying chicken for dinner.

(Their mother was at a housecleaning job.) Eugene Bradnick went to the woods to find Peggy Ann; when he was unable to find her, he went into town to notify the police.

Stopping in a clearing in the woods, Hollenbaugh took off his goggles and stowed them in a haversack he was carrying.

He then took out a cheek-filler made from two wooden discs wired together.

Peggy Ann, startled, said, "I think I know who you are," and identified him as the "Bicycle Man."

He then removed a second jacket and pair of pants and ordered Peggy Ann to wear them over her dress, saying, "That red dress sticks out like a sore thumb."

Hollenbaugh guided Peggy Ann under the Pennsylvania Turnpike through a culvert and out of the search area, but then became worried about his dogs and took her north of the turnpike again.

He fetched a chain, chained her to a tree, and attempted to get his dogs, but was unsuccessful.

Hollenbaugh instead took Peggy Ann to a cave that he had dug into an area in the Tuscarora Mountains, known as Gobbler's Knob and acquired a couple of cans of food, which he shared with her.

A few days later, he was able to fetch his dogs.

On May 16, Hollenbaugh forced Peggy Ann to accompany him as he burglarized a house, in which he found a .32 automatic.

On May 17, FBI agent Terry Ray Anderson spotted one of the Mountain Man's dogs and called to it.

The Mountain Man (Hollenbaugh) opened fire, killing Anderson.

He then shot two tracking dogs, killing one.

Some of the other searchers spotted Peggy Ann, confirming that she was still alive.

Hollenbaugh and Peggy Ann disappeared into the forest before the searchers could reach them.

That evening, after being unable to escape the search area by going under a bridge near Fort Littleton, Hollenbaugh came to a hunting lodge in Burnt Cabins with a car parked outside.

The lodge had an outside wash house, in which he made Peggy Ann hide with him.

Shortly after dawn, Cambria County Deputy Sheriff Francis Sharpe came out to use the wash house and was shot and wounded by Hollenbaugh, who then forced Sharpe to drive him and Peggy Ann toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The car was stopped by a closed cattle gate.

Hollenbaugh ordered Sharpe to open the gate.

Sharpe called out to officers near the gate that Hollenbaugh was in the car.

Hollenbaugh began firing through the car windows, left the car, and eventually got away, taking Peggy Ann down to US 522 to a farm owned by Luther Rubeck.

A massive manhunt of over 1,000 federal, state and local law officers, National Guardsmen, and civilian volunteers (the largest manhunt conducted in United States history up to that time ) scoured the hills surrounding Shade Gap for any sign of Peggy Ann and her abductor.