Nell Donnelly Reed (March 6, 1889 – September 8, 1991) was an American fashion designer and businesswoman, known for her house dresses, who founded the Nelly Don brand.

[1] Nell was born Ellen Quinlan in Parsons, Kansas, the twelfth child of an Irish immigrant railroad worker and his wife.

[1] In 1916 she started working commercially, selling her first designs through a large local department store, the Gregory B. Peck Dry Goods Company in Kansas City, Missouri.

[2] The original order of 216 dresses, run up by two neighbors in the Donnelly's attic on newly purchased used sewing machines, rapidly sold out.

[2] The men reportedly hijacked her car at gunpoint, driving them to a cottage in Bonner Springs, Kansas,[1] where she and Blair were held captive for 34 hours.

[1] Reed was alleged to have called upon John Lazia, a major figure in the Kansas city organized crime scene, for assistance with tracing Nell.

[2] Lazia was said to have informed the chief of police, Lewis Siegfried, that no Kansas City gangster would have thought of kidnapping Nell Donnelly due to her friendship with Reed, her standing in the community, and her politics.

[1] Nell Donnelly told police that she and Blair had been rescued by a group of armed men who stormed the secluded house in which she was held, and driven to the outskirts of a town.

[1] The court case led to the acquittal of Paul Scheidt, who admitted to having carried out the kidnapping but claimed to have believed he was abducting an oilman's wealthy wife in order to extort money from her, and that once he realized the truth, he released his captives.

When a man can come in court and admit he is guilty of kidnapping and a jury turns him loose, it appears as if law-abiding people haven't any protection against the criminal element.