Of all the types of crime that happen on a regular basis in and around L.A., kidnapping is probably among the least common. It was years ago that kidnapping seemed to have its "heyday," when big ransom demands and famous victims combined to captivate the media and in turn the public. Nowadays, it seems fairly rare to hear of a kidnapping amongst all the reports of assaults, homicides, drunk driving accidents and other staples of Los Angeles crime.