Nearly half of murder cases go unsolved in the United States. According to FBI statistics, only 51% of homicides were solved in the year 2021. One of the most infamous unsolved murder cases, The Black Dahlia, is the story of a young woman sliced clean in half at the waist with not a drop of blood, indicating that she was mutilated somewhere else (FBI). Found by a mother and toddler on their morning walk around 10 am on January 15, 1947, the police were called and Los Angeles’ biggest manhunt in history kicks off. The investigation was led by the LAPD with the help of the FBI who quickly identified the body, “56 minutes, in fact, after getting blurred fingerprints via ‘Soundphoto’ from Los Angeles.” The young woman was identified as Elizabeth …show more content…
As stated by George Knowlton's daughter, Janice Knowlton, George had an affair with Elizabeth. As an aspiring young actress and having a waitressing job, it wasn’t uncommon to find Elizabeth in a period of unemployment when auditions fell through. According to Janice, Elizabeth was staying in a makeshift bedroom in their garage in which she experienced a miscarriage, and she expresses her “horrifying long-repressed memories” that convinced her of the murder (Los Angeles Times). Janice claims she witnessed her father, George Knowlton, “beat Short to death with a claw hammer in the detached garage” at their family home in Westminster (Los Angeles Times). Due to Janice’s hard beliefs that her father murdered Short, she persuaded Westminster police detectives to look for evidence in 1991. Searching by excavating an empty lot, where her former home was located, nothing was found to warrant a criminal investigation. After eventually falling from the spotlight, Janice continued to indulge in the case and offer her opinions. With no motive and lack of criminating evidence towards George Knowlton, only having an estranged woman's memory, it is logical to assume that George Knowlton is the least likely suspect in the Black Dahlia
removed [1]. Her body was posed with her legs spread and her hands over her head at 45 degree angles. Her body had been bathed and thoroughly washed before being placed, it was also completely drained of blood [2]. Two detectives were assigned to the case: Harry Hanson and Finis Brown. [2] When they and the police arrived at the crime scene, it was already swarming with people, gawkers and reporters. The entire situation was out of hand and crowded, everyone trampling all over any hopes for good evidence