Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - Brewing Empire Heir Ransomed: Adolph Coors III Pt. 1

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

In 1960, Adolph Coors III, heir to the Coors Brewing Company, left his Colorado ranch for work and vanished without a trace. This episode traces the Coors family’s rise from humble immigrant beginnings to beer empire royalty, before the winter morning that turned their legacy into a headline-making mystery. What followed was one of the largest manhunts in U.S. history. Scams, Money, & Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Scams, Money, & Murder! Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, Crime House community. It's Vanessa Richardson. And if you love digging into the most gripping true crime stories, then you need to listen to another Crime House original, Crimes of, with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Corinne Vienne. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season from crimes of paranormal, unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and more. Sabrina and Corinne have been covering the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror. villains, and this month they'll be diving into the paranormal. Listen to Crimes of every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This is Crime House. We all have an origin story, a person, a place, or a person, a place, or a even an idea that shaped us. For Adolf Coors, that origin story began in the late 1800s in Germany

with a bottle of beer. From that moment onwards, he was determined to open his own brewery. But he didn't think Germany was the place to do it. In search of more opportunities, he stowed away on a ship bound for America. He arrived with nothing more than a dream and a whole lot of grit. generations later, that dream had flourished into a multi-million dollar empire. By then, the Corps' name and the man who started it was known around the globe. The company had weathered countless storms from prohibition to two world wars. Through it all, the Corps' family stood tall, seemingly untouchable. Until 1960, when Adolf Coors III was abducted near his home in Morrison, Colorado.

It was a twist that no one saw coming. And one that rewrote the Corps family story forever. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It's not just a saying. It's a means of survival. Because in the world, we're entering trust. is a trap, and betrayal is often fatal. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Scams, Money, and Murder. And I'm Vanessa Richardson. Every Thursday, we'll explore the story of a money-motivated crime gone

wrong, whether it's a notorious con, fraud, burglary, or even murder. From the archives of Crime House, The Show, Murder True Crime Stories, and Killer Minds, These are some of our favorite cases that have kept us lying awake at night wondering, if money didn't make the world go round, could all this have been avoided? And as always, at Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following scams, money, and murder wherever you get your podcasts. This episode comes from the archives of murder true crime stories. This is the first of two episodes on the 1960 abduction and murder of Adolf Kors III in Morrison, Colorado.

Today, we'll meet the Kores family. After their humble beginnings in Germany, they became rulers of a beer empire on the American frontier. But the whole business was put in jeopardy when Adolf Kores III, better known as Ad, suddenly vanished in the winter of 1960. Next time, we'll follow detectives as they search for ad. Within days of its disappearance, the FBI launched its largest manhunt since the Lindberg baby kidnapping. Eventually, they did find ad, but the investigation wasn't over, not even close.

All that and more coming up. With Instacart, you get groceries that over deliver, and with Instacart's in store prices at select stores, you can do more this winter without paying more. So double down on your shortbread production without upping the price. Add more chilies to your chili without the added sting. Go completely ham on candy DMs and celebrate the season of being extra without paying extra. So download the app today and get $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. By 1960, 45-year-old Adolf Coors III was living out his dreams.

His family owned and operated the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado. Adolf, better known as Ad, was the company's CEO. But he was more interested in the ranch he'd recently built in nearby Morrison. There, he raised horses and tended to the land because the truth was, the brewery had never been his ultimate goal. It had been his grandfathers. That's where the Korz story began, back in 1847. Add's grandpa, the first Adolf Kors, was born in Germany in 1847, then called Prussia. It was a time when the region was marred by famine and fighting to help his family get by. Adolf started work at a very young age.

mostly he took whatever odd jobs he could get but at 15 he got an opportunity that changed his life in 1862 Adolf apprenticed with a master brewer learning the craft of beer making from then on it was his dream to open his own brewery but that would be easier said than done back then Germany wasn't a country yet. It was more like a loosely affiliated collection of nation states that were constantly at war with one another. The political and economic instability made it nearly impossible to start a business. And eventually, Adolf realized he'd have to look elsewhere to make his dreams come true. Six years later, the 21-year-old was ready to take the leap. In 1868, he stowed away on a

ship bound for America. Adolf first landed in Baltimore, Maryland. From there, he took whatever jobs he could get, moving around the country to make ends meet. Eventually, he made his way to Colorado in 1872. For a while, he lived in Denver, working six days a week as the manager of a bottle-making plant. He saved all his money, and by 1873, he was one step closer to his ultimate. goal. That year, 26-year-old Adolf and a friend purchased an old tannery building, a place where animal hides are turned into leather. It was located in a small town called Golden. Founded in

1859, the frontier mining town had recently been named the capital of the Colorado Territory. It was nestled in a valley at the base of the southern Rocky Mountains and built around a river called Clear Creek. And while many people were drawn to the town because of a gold rush, Adolf was focused on liquid gold. Any decent brewer knows that to make good beer, you need good water. And according to Adolf, the water in golden was unlike anything he'd ever tasted. At that moment, he knew, this was the place he'd been looking for. The same year he and his partner purchased the tannery in 1873, they converted it into golden brewery. Thanks to the soft water that flowed from Clear Creek, Adolf's beer was light and bright.

It was much more refreshing and easier to drink than other popular beers, which tended to be rich and filling. That also meant people bought a lot more of it. By 1880, seven years after first opening, the brewery was doing so well that 32-year-old Adolf was able to buy out his partner. As the sole owner, he renamed it Adolf Kor's Golden Brewery. But that wasn't the only big change in his life around that time. In April of 1879, Adolf married 7,000. 17-year-old Louisa Weber. She was the daughter of a high-level employee at the local railroad

company, and their family grew just as quickly as the brewery. By 1890, they had six children, three sons and three daughters. The boys were primed to become executives at their father's company with the oldest Adolf Jr. set to inherit the title of CEO, and he had some pretty big shoes to fill. Adolf Sr. wasn't like other businessmen. He was passionate about making beer, not money. His background as a working-class immigrant made him more sympathetic to his employees, paying them a decent salary and allowing them to unionize. But even though the business side of things wasn't his priority, Adolf was still a savvy entrepreneur. Like other brewer, owners, he paid close attention to the growing temperance movement in the early 1900s. As it gained

momentum, politicians started to push for a nationwide ban on alcohol production and consumption. Other brewery owners tried to fight back, lobbying against the proposals, but Adolf had a different strategy. He decided to diversify his products. In 1915, the owner was a owner of the Harold Pottery and China Company, located near the Corps Brewery, retired. Adolf had invested in them years before and took the opportunity to buy out the business. 31-year-old Adolf Jr. was named CEO, and that's when the work really began. A year later, Colorado's prohibition law went into effect. While they weren't the first state to outlaw the sale and transport of alcohol, they were among the earliest. But that wasn't the family's only challenge. In compliance

with the law, the Coors Brewery shifted production to malted milk. It wasn't nearly as profitable, and many breweries were forced to let workers go. Luckily for Coors' employees, they were simply moved from the brewery to the newly renamed Coors Porcelain Company. There, they answered to Adolf, Jr. After one year at the helm, he'd already made some pretty big changes. With his degree in chemical engineering from Cornell, he knew most specialized lab equipment was made of ceramics. He also knew that almost all of that equipment was imported from Germany, which was a problem

for most of the country, because in April 1917, the U.S. officially entered World War I, and one of its main aggressors was Germany. That meant the U.S. was no longer importing any products from them, including ceramics. So Adolf Jr. decided to increase the company's production of lab equipment. It was a very smart move. Before long, Corps' Porcelain was one of the biggest suppliers in the U.S. Thanks to the porcelain business, the Corps family was doing well financially. But that didn't mean the brewery was. At that point, they were barely breaking even.

Adolf Sr. knew he'd have to slash salaries. He hoped his workers would stand by him the way he'd tried to stand by them. Instead, they went on strike. After all the damage that Prohibition had already done, it must have felt like salt in the wound. It might have been why Adolf Sr. listened when his son told him to fire the strikers. It was one of the final actions he took as head of the company. In 1923, 76-year-old Adolf Korr Sr. officially signed his entire company over to his son, 39-year-old Adolf J.

Junior. By then, Adolf Sr. was unmoored. Prohibition dragged on with no end in sight. His beloved brewery was a shell of its former self, just like him. Six years later, in June 1929, 82-year-old Adolf fell from the window ledge of his sixth-th floor hotel room in Virginia Beach, Virginia. as part of his will he specified that his bill at the hotel be paid in full his death was considered a suicide it was a hard pill to swallow for the rest of the family eduff senior had died thinking his life's work was gone forever his empire in ruins but just four years later prohibition ended and the brewery was still standing the future was was no longer as hopeless as Adolf Sr. had imagined. But the fate of the Corps' legacy was now entirely in his son's hands. And these hands ruled with an iron grip. In 1933, four years after Adolf Korr's senior's tragic death, prohibition ended. By then, the Colorado-based Coors business, including the brewery and the ceramics factory, rested on the

shoulders of his eldest son, 49-year-old Adolf Korz Jr. Adolf Jr. immediately got to work restoring the brewery to its former glory. And although he wasn't starting over from scratch, there was still a lot to do. First, he needed to track down which suppliers and distributors had survived the prohibition and renegotiate those contracts. After that, he wanted to redesign and expand the brewery itself. The bigger brewery meant more staff. But it wasn't as simple as just hiring more employees. Years ago, Adolf Sr. had fired a group of workers who'd gone on strike.

Since then, Cors had been essentially blacklisted by the union. Not only did that make it harder to hire, new employees. It was also bad optics. Coors beer was meant for the working man. No self-respecting laborer would drink a union-busting beer. So Adolf Jr. put aside his personal feelings and made nice. He agreed to the 36-hour workweek they requested and even promised Christmas bonuses worth an extra month's pay. Thankfully, it was enough to get the company back and the union's good graces. That was just the first step in a very long to-do list, but thankfully, Adolf Jr. wasn't doing it alone. His two brothers were also executives at the company, and then there were Adolf Jr.'s

own sons who were nearing adulthood at this point. As a parent, Adolf Jr. was incredibly strict. His work ethic was all-consuming, and his standards were very high. especially when it came to his three sons. Coors men were expected to be perfect, both in academics and in business, which brings us back to Adolf Coors, the third, better known as Ad to family and friends. At 18 years old, Ad was Adolf Jr.'s eldest,

and he was headed to his dad's alma mater, Cornell, where he studied chemical engineering like his father. but he never got his master's degree like Addof Jr. wanted him to. Ad was also allergic to beer, which Adolf Jr. took as some sort of personal affront, as if Ad had any choice. To make matters worse, Ad also had a pretty severe stutter as a kid. It had gotten better over the years, but it still came out when he was nervous or agitated. So while the plan was for Ad to someday be named, CEO, in accordance with the family tradition, it would almost be a symbolic title.

His younger brother, Bill, would have to step in as brewmaster and company spokesman. It seemed like a compromise both boys were okay with. And by 1939, they graduated college, which meant it was time to get to work. 24-year-old ad and 23-year-old Bill took their places at the brewery, but if they thought being college graduates would earn them some independence, they were sorely mistaken. Adolf Jr. maintained rigid control over his sons, from their salaries down to what they wore. While Adolf Jr. wore a three-piece suit every day, he required ad and bill to dress more modestly. That meant khakis and button downs. They blended right in with the other employees. And that was exactly the point. Adolf Jr. didn't want his children to

stand out in any way. It was partially about reputation. Coors beer was for the working class, so he didn't want the Coors family to come off like snobs. But it was also a security measure, something Adolf Jr. could be a bit paranoid about. It wasn't all in his head, though. In the months after prohibition was repealed, kidnapping for ransom became rampant. The exact reason is unclear, but one possible explanation was that bootleggers had lost a lot of their profits. Now they were looking for new ways to make money. In February of 1933, a friend of Adolf Jr.'s was taken and held captive for two weeks. He was. He was eventually released unharmed, but the experience shook Adolf Jr. He was worried he was next.

He was right to be afraid. A few months later, around September 1933, Denver police uncovered a plot against Adolf Jr. himself. They'd learned that two former agents of the defunct Federal Bureau of Prohibition were planning to take him for $50,000. That's over $1.2 million in today's money. From then on, Adolf Jr. was fixated on keeping the targets off his family's back. So, even though Ad was the heir to a multi-million dollar empire, he looked like any other middle class guy. He was tall, like his father and brothers, and built like an athlete, But unlike the other men in his family, he had interests and hobbies outside of brewing and business. Ad liked sports, baseball mostly, so much so that he wore a tan baseball cap every day, even to the office.

He also loved anything to do with the outdoors. He dreamed of someday owning a ranch and breeding horses. His father would never let him follow that dream, though. And he wasn't the only person in Ad's life who didn't approve. His girlfriend, Mary Grant, was more of a city girl who preferred dinner parties to riding horses. Like Ad, she came from money. Her family had been among the first to settle the Colorado Territory, and her grandfather was its third governor once it became a state.

Mary was also impressive in her own right. after attending a prestigious girls high school she went on to study at vassar college in new york at the time vassar was known as one of the few women's universities that provided an education equal to that of men's colleges it prided itself on turning out independent thinkers it certainly succeeded when it came to marry she was quick-witted and not afraid to speak her mind traits that weren't exactly a appreciated in women at the time. But ad cores didn't care. In fact, that was one of his favorite things about Mary. We don't know exactly how or when they met. And although they came from similar worlds, it also seemed like a case of opposites attracting. Ad was a reserved and simple guy. While Mary was outgoing and like the finer things in life, none of it stopped them from falling madly in love. Not everyone was happy for the couple though. Adolf Jr. did not like Mary. Whether it was because

she was known to party or because she was outspoken, he pleaded with Ad to find someone else. For the first time, Ad put his foot down. He refused to end the relationship. In fact, he wanted to make Mary his wife. By then, it seemed like there wasn't much, Adolf Jr. could do. In 1940, Ad and Mary, both 25 years old, got married. The newlyweds settled down in Denver. Still, living a half-hour way didn't absolve them of Coors' family duties. Every Sunday, Ad and Mary would make the pilgrimage to Golden for family dinners. Before the meal, they were forced to make small talk with Ad's parents, who barely hid their dislike for Mary. Dinner itself was long and nearly silent, as meals had always been throughout Add's childhood.

Adolf Jr. couldn't stand idle chit-chat at the table. While it wasn't Mary's idea of a good time, it was the price she paid to be with Ad. And for the most part, their life together was happy. But just as things were settling into a peaceful rhythm, a storm brewed on the horizon. Beginning in 1939, World War II ravaged Europe. Then on December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor. Once again, America was at war, and no one was safe, not even a family as influential as the Corps. What's up, Little Psychos?

I'm Investigator Slater, host of the Psychopedia podcast. Psychopedia is a true crime podcast delivering raw, real, and absolutely gripping episodes every single week. I dig deep to uncover fascinating details of heinous true crime cases while exploring criminology and psychology theories. I take you into the absolute darkest corners of the human psyche, my favorite territory, and present cases like you've never heard them before. Follow and listen to Psychopedia everywhere you get your podcast. Podcasts. In 1940, things were coming together for the Chorus family in Golden, Colorado. Their brewery had recovered from prohibition and was thriving under the leadership of 56-year-old

Adolf Coors Jr. and his two eldest sons' ad and bill. But a year later, the U.S. entered World War II, and the company was in jeopardy once more. Luckily, 26-year-old Ad and 25-year-old Bill managed to avoid the draft. Ad's ticket out was his near-sightedness. That meant he was able to stay home with his new wife, 26-year-old Mary, who was expecting their first child. Bill's excuse came straight from the government. They needed Coors' porcelain to make a special type of insulator for a top-secret project.

once again the pottery company had saved cores while the brewery struggled to break even grain rations had severely hampered production at the brewery they limped along as best they could for four years until 1945 when the end of world war two was finally in sight as the country emerged from wartime restrictions the u.s economy saw massive growth and so did the business. The brewery picked up again, and the Coors family was back on top. By 1952, 37-year-old AdCores had what some might consider a dream life. He and Mary had four children, two girls and two boys. They had a beautiful home in Denver, Colorado. Mary's days were spent taking care of the house and kids, while her nights were busy with social gatherings and charity events. Meanwhile, while Ad was still plugging away at the brewery, and things were going so well that 68-year-old Adolf Jr. officially made him the chairman and CEO of the Adolf Coors Company. But it didn't change much. Ad was still running the business side of things, while 36-year-old Bill was the

brewmaster and company spokesperson. By then, their youngest brother, 35-year-old Joe, was in charge of Coors Porcelain. And even though Add was now the chairman, his dad didn't completely give him the reins. Adolf Jr. was still the majority shareholder in the company's stock and had the final say on all things cores. But if it bothered Ad, he didn't let it show. He'd been working for his father for over a decade at this point. He handled all the administrative work and dealt with the distributors, he was good at it. Like his grandfather, Ad was well liked and respected. But while this brewery had been his grandfather's fantasy, it wasn't ads. Deep down, Ad wanted to quit the family business and work for himself on a ranch. He dreamed of raising

horses and being outside every day. He and Mary had been discussing it for years. And in 1956, she finally agreed. Ad found his dream property, 480 acres of prairie in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was near a little town called Morrison, about 15 miles southwest of Denver. He eagerly got to work designing his dream ranch, complete with stables and a comfortable home for his family. He didn't know things at work were about to get very heated. In 1956, the workers at Coors Porcelain went on strike over wage negotiations, but it wasn't just the ceramics factory that was in trouble.

Before long, the brewery staff declared a strike in solidarity. While Ad stayed on the sidelines, his brother's Joe and Bill tried to do damage control. Negotiations were resolved quickly and work resumed, but the whole thing left a bad taste. in Bill and Joe's mouths. They were sick of unions and wanted them gone. The following year, when it was time to renegotiate contracts with the union reps at the brewery, Bill and Joe were ready to play hardball. The details are complicated, but essentially they wanted to add numerous clauses that would render the union powerless. As expected, the reps rejected all of it and declared

to strike. It only lasted a few months, but things got ugly. Strikers broke windows and made threatening phone calls. The family had to hire security just in case things went further south. In the end, Bill and Joe took a move straight out of their dad's playbook. They fired the strikers and hired replacements. While all of that was happening, Ad was behind the scenes focusing on his own work. In the summer of 1958, the ranch was completed. Life finally did feel like a dream for add cores. For the most part, anyway, he still commuted 12 miles to his family's brewery for work, but at least now he did it without the city traffic. He looked forward to getting out from under his family's thumb and growing old on the ranch with Mary. And for two blissful years, it seemed like an

actual possibility. But fate had other plans. The morning of Tuesday, February 9th, 1960 began just like any other. Forty-five-year-old ad woke up before everyone else and went down to the basement to do some stretching and weightlifting. After a shower, he got dressed and met Mary in the kitchen for coffee. They chatted while sipping from their steaming mugs. When Mary went to wake their four kids for school, Ad went out into the frozen morning air to tend to his beloved ranch for a bit. By the time he came back inside, his children had already caught the bus. By 8 a.m., Ad was ready to leave for the brewery. He kissed Mary goodbye and promised to be home for supper. He pulled his white and teal travel-wall station wagon out of the garage, waving to his ranch hands as he backed down the driveway.

At 10.30 a.m. Bill and Joe Coors were waiting for ad in the office they all shared. Usually ad was extremely prompt. They all had to be. But this week, their father, Adolf Jr., was on vacation in Hawaii, so things were a bit more relaxed around the office. They assumed Ad was out in a field and lost track of time. Bill asked Ad's secretary to find out where he was. when the phone rang at the ranch mary answered she was a little worried to hear he hadn't made it to the office yet they didn't have much time to talk that morning but ad didn't mention making any stops on the way in the secretary was getting concerned too ad always called ahead especially if he was going to be late for the executives meeting with his brothers she and mary called everywhere they could think of the feed store the warehouse, even the offices at the porcelain company. Ad was nowhere to be found. Then, sometime around noon, the Colorado State Patrol contacted the brewery about a company car.

It was found abandoned on a country road. Bill and Joe rushed to meet the patrolman. When they arrived, they saw ads travel all. It was near Turkey Creek Bridge. just two miles from Ad's ranch. The officer explained that a milkman had reported the vehicle at 1020 that morning. He'd been making his morning deliveries when he came across the travel all completely blocking the path. The bridge was just wide enough for one car to pass at a time. There was no way to get around it. He got out of his vehicle to see what was going on.

The first thing he noticed was that the car was still running. He could hear the engine. He could hear the engine and the radio and yet there was no sign of the driver assuming they had to be nearby the milkman honked the travel all's horn a few times he waited for a while but still no one came finally he moved the travel all himself he got into the car drove it past the bridge and parked it on the side of the road when he came back after making his delivery the vehicle was still there It took a few stops on his regular route before he could get to a phone, but as soon as he did, he called the state patrol. When the patrolman arrived, the travel all was still exactly where the milkman said he'd left it.

Clearly, no one had made any attempts to retrieve it. Looking around for clues, the officer spotted two hats on the banks of the creek. He showed them to Bill and Joe. they immediately recognized one they'd know the tan baseball cap anywhere ad loved that hat the other was a brown fedora that neither of the brothers recognized it didn't look like something ad would own and it was slightly bigger than the baseball cap the men surveyed the scene together and bill spotted some tire tracks near the end of the bridge someone else had been there and they'd left in a hurry.

From what little they'd found, it didn't look good. Someone would have to tell Mary. Worse, someone would have to tell Adolf, Jr. It seemed their father's worst nightmare had come true. The cores had been kidnapped. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Scams, Money, and Murder. If you enjoyed this episode, you can check out more just like it

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We'll be back next Thursday. Looking for your next crime house listen, don't miss Crimes of with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Corinne Vienne.N. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season from crimes of the paranormal, unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and more. Their first season is Crimes of Infamy, the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. And coming up next is Crimes of Paranormal, real-life cases where the line between the living and dead gets seriously blurry. Listen to Crimes of every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.