[Steely Tom]

The group of five went missing in December 1958 in a case that gripped America.

I don't remember it. But I was three years old at the time.

The first thing I remember that "gripped America" was the kid who fell into the open vertical pipe. I think that was before the Kennedy assassination.

[Fledermaus]

Baby Jessica.

She just got arrested for something.

[telescope115]

Are you thinking of “Baby Jessica”? That was in the early 80s.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Baby Jessica! I was RIVETED. I could NOT look away from the TV...everything stopped. What an amazing rescue!

I guess her life didn’t turn out all that great, though. Arrested 3 days ago. :(

‘Baby Jessica,’ who made headlines when she fell down a well, arrested

A Texas woman who grabbed national headlines after being stuck in well three decades ago when she was just 18 months old has been arrested on domestic violence charges.

Jessica McClure Morales, who became a household name, known as “Baby Jessica,” was picked up Saturday night following a reported domestic disturbance at her home in Midland County, police said.

Officers arrived at the residence just before 10 p.m., according to arrest records, and Morales, 40, was reportedly taken into custody at the scene.

She has been charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence, according to KMID, though further details are limited.

The Independent has contacted the Midland County Sheriff’s Office for more information on the incident.

Morales garnered widespread attention in October 1987 when she fell into a well in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, Texas. She became lodged in a pipe that was just eight inches wide and was 22 feet underground.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/baby-jessica-who-made-headlines-when-she-fell-down-a-well-arrested/ar-AA20RXDx

[SteveH]

That sounds like a typical Lassie tv episode

[Inyo-Mono]

The first thing I remember that "gripped America" was the kid who fell into the open vertical pipe. I think that was before the Kennedy assassination.

I have dim memories of that too, I was 13 when Kennedy was assassinated. I do remember reading about a kid who fell into a well in Los Angeles, in I think, 1949 and was the first live TV broadcast on KTLA channel 5 of of a disastrous situation.

[Dr. Zzyzx]

One vertical-pipe kid was Baby Jessica in Texas. She just got arrested this week as it turns out. Domestic violence I think.

[Theodore R.]

Just think if they had used artificial decorations, none of this would have probably happened. But not many used artificial trees in 1958.

[unread]

"The first thing I remember that "gripped America" was the kid who fell into the open vertical pipe."

Didn't that turn out to be a hoax.?