Kidnapping of Aimee Semple McPherson

Date: May 18, 1926 • Location: Venice, United States

Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (pictured) was reportedly kidnapped near Venice Beach in Los Angeles before reappearing five weeks later in Mexico.

Pentecostalism, also known as classical Pentecostalism, is a movement within the evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.