Charles Brewster Ross, affectionately known as Charley, was just a four-year-old boy when this incident occurred. He was born on May 4, 1870 and had an older brother named Walter who was five years old. The boys were the sons of Christian K Ross and a woman whose name was never revealed. She was not involved in the case, and information pertaining to her may have been lost as the story passed down from generation to generation.
 
On the morning of July 1, 1874, the brothers were playing outside their home in Germantown, an upper-middle class neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of them. Inside sat two men, one of which spoke to the kids.