Known
as 'Black Dahlia'
But it was last summer, while Elizabeth Short lived at
the Washington Hotel in Long Beach, that she was given
the nickname 'Black Dahlia,' due to the flowerlike style
of her dyed black hair and affinity for wearing black
garments.
Short was described as a girl who had a different boyfriend
every night. "She was always going out and
she loved to prowl the boulevard," said one witness
questioned. None of her aquaintances or roommates
interviewed by the LAPD could provide useful clues or
motives for the ghastly murder.
Gruesome
Murder Scene
The mutilated body of Elizabeth Short was discovered at
10:30 a.m. by Mrs. John Bersinger, a resident of Norton
Avenue near the crime scene. Mrs. Bersinger telephoned
police when she reported the nude victim in a vacant lot
near 39th Street.
Investigators were shocked by the brutality of the murder
upon arrival. The victim's torse was severed at
the waist, and the mouth had been sliced approximately
three inches at either end. Coroners estimated she
died sometime after midnight.
Forensic evidence indicated that the body, drained of
blood, had been washed, likely at the unknown murder scene
elsewhere before being dumped in the lot.
Suspect
Description
Police issued an all-points bulletin asking officers
to seek a cream or light tan 1940 Studebaker coupe, which
witnesses reported near the crime scene around in the
early hours of the 15th.
Authorities were alerted to be on the lookout for a 25-year-old
male suspect with red hair and light complexion, known
as "Red" or "Bob." The licence
plate of the suspect's car contained the letter "V"
preceded by one numeral.
Police related that the suspect may be a San Diego man
and known associate of Short during her residence in that
city. Leads indicate this man may have driven Elizabeth
Short to Los Angeles the day before her murder.
The victim was last seen being dropped off at the Biltmore
Hotel in downtown Los Angeles
Questions
Remain
The yet unsolved murder investigation rests on
three crucial questions about the shocking event:
1—Where was Miss Short murdered and her body
dissected and slashed?
2—Where are the victim's clothes she wore just prior
to her killing?
3—Where did she spend the time between Jan.
9 and the day her body was found nearly a week later?
One theory investigated by police is that Short had received
some threat on her life while in San Diego, she fled to
Los Angeles in fear, and perhaps was followed here by
her assailant.
As yet, no motive is known for the bloody slaying, and
no positive identification of a suspect has been achieved.
