While Miss Ellen M. Stone and Mrs. Tsilka were held captive, news of their kidnapping caused great alarm in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and throughout the country. In the United States, the public reacted with deep concern. People organized public meetings in many cities and towns. A large number of donations were collected to help raise money for a ransom to free the two women.
The U.S. government also acted quickly. The Secretary of State ordered Mr. Charles M. Dickinson, the American Consul-General in Constantinople, to travel to Sofia. His mission was to do everything possible to help secure the safe release of the captives A Talented but Unstable Young Man.
A Desperate Search for the Missing Women
On the morning of September 4, one day after the kidnapping, Mr. Tsilka, his father-in-law, and the other men from the group began searching the area. They carefully explored the land around their camp but found no sign of the captives or the brigands, except for a trail that led back over the mountains toward Bulgaria.
They spent the entire day looking, and the search continued into the night. Grief-stricken and desperate, the husband and father of Mrs. Tsilka searched through the darkness with no success. Finally, when there was no further evidence to follow, they decided to return to Bansko to raise the alarm.
News Spreads Before It Is Official
Surprisingly, when they reached Bansko, they discovered that word of the kidnapping had already spread. It was being whispered in the streets by Cyril Vaciloff and other known Macedonian revolutionaries. These individuals seemed to know everything—even the amount of ransom that would be demanded, before the captors had made any official contact Sofia Tour Guide.
A Letter with a Ransom Demand
Soon afterward, a ransom letter arrived. It was written in Bulgarian and signed by Miss Stone, though clearly dictated by someone else. The language and writing style were not typical of Miss Stone’s usual writing, suggesting the letter had been guided by an educated individual working with the brigands.
However, the handwriting was undeniably hers. The letter was thrown through the window of missionary Haskell’s home in Samakov during the night. Haskell’s daughter reported that she had seen Vaciloff by moonlight, trying to open the window.
Leaked to the Public
Before the missionaries could respond or even confirm the content of the letter, a local newspaper that supported the Macedonian cause published the main details, including the ransom amount. This raised even more suspicions about who was behind the kidnapping and showed that the revolutionaries were trying to control the story and possibly win sympathy for their political cause.
The kidnapping of Miss Stone quickly became a matter of international concern. The organized efforts, the political connections, and the leaked ransom letter all pointed to a deeper purpose behind the crime. It was not just a simple act of robbery—it was a calculated political move by revolutionaries trying to gain attention, funds, and support for the Macedonian struggle for independence.
