I think a lot of it would be dependant on the president. Like anything, the more notable and public, the more that they would be willing to pay for the safe return. Those such as Reagan and JFK I would guess could easily fetch a couple of million. However, the older the body got, I think the less it would be worth. While yes, it's an interesting blurb on the news, I don't think there would be any great panic over LIncoln or Washington going missing...still enough for a cool million at least though just because it is a former president.

As far as punishment goes...I would say this walks the line of treason/terrorism. The fact that you are kidnapping an obviously important figure to the US, and the body buried on federal lands most likely...well, like I said, I go for treason being the eventual charge...at best Sedition...

Treason carries a life imprisonment or execution penalty. Sedition is purely imprisonment.

And honestly, I have no answer to what the difference between grave robbing and archaeology is. The basic difference between the two is that archaeology does not harm a families "rights" to the body, where-as graverobbing does (there are still relatives/interested individuals who can claim "ownership" of said body). As simple as that sounds, in practice it is rarely so clear cut. For instance, Native graves were routinely robbed even against protests...this was recently rectified in 1990 with NAGRPA, but that has come under fire as well. So the answer to the difference...aside from if someone can remember the deceased, there really isn't one.

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