Jean Elizabeth Spangler-Missing 66 Years

Jean Spangler. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

The Disappearance

ON Friday October 7, 1949, 26 year-old Jean Elizabeth Spangler left her home on Colgate Avenue in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles, California around 5:30 PM. At the time, Jean lived with her daughter, Christine Louise Benner, her mother Florence, brother and sister in law. She was en route to the farmer's market and told her sister in law Sophie she was meeting her former husband, Dexter Benner, to discuss increasing child support payments. He was also a week overdue for a previous payment. She also mentioned she was going to a nigh time film shoot after the meeting with her ex husband. She left her daughter with Sophie since her mother was on a short trip in Kentucky. Jean called home around 7:00 PM to ask Sophie how Christine was. She mentioned she would be home shortly. Jean never returned and has not been seen or heard from since.

Jean was 26 years-old at the time of her disappearance. She had brown hair and blue eyes. Her close girl friend mentioned Jean was three months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, but this has never been confirmed. She was last seen wearing a western shirt, white coat and slacks.

Jean's purse was found the next day at Griffith Park with a mysterious note. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

After Jean did not return from her night shoot or child support meeting, her sister in law filed a missing persons report the following day with the Los Angeles Police Department. It was discovered that the last possible sighting of Jean was thirty minutes after she left her home by a sales clerk at the Farmer's Market a few blocks from her home. She remained there for two hours and appeared to be waiting for someone. The police did not take Jean's disappearance seriously. However, a discovered by a Griffith Park employee would trigger a massive search nationwide for the missing woman. Jean's purse had been found by the Fern Bell entrance with the handles ripped off. A note in the purse read: " Kirk: Can't wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work out better this way while Mother is away". The only other thing in Jean's purse was a silver dollar, which she carried around for luck. According to her family, she was completely broke and did not have any money to begin with at the time.

The Showgirl

A screen shot of Jean during one of her roles as an extra for a film. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

According to MariaMusikka.com, in 1945, Jean entered the show business scene as a dancer for  Florentine Gardens,Ciros, Macombo and Earl Carroll's theater. Jean was also said to have danced at El Rancho Vegas in Nevada. She became a regular showgirl, and also began taking roles as an extra for various films, such as Miracle of the Bells, When My Baby Smiles at Me, Chicken Every Sunday and Young Man with a Horn. She wanted to be in motion pictures, and was often sighted at various Hollywood Night clubs on dates with well respected men. She was known for her beauty, excitement and happiness.

Failed Relationships

A black book found after Jean vanished revealed the relationships she carried with prominent men. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

In 1942, 19 year-old Jean married Dexter Benner, who was three years older then her. The marriage was described as troubled, with Jean accusing him of abuse. They separated, then came back together in 1944. Their daughter Christine was born that year. However, Jean started a relationship with another man while her husband left to serve in the war. According to MariaMusikka.com, the man was called "Scotty", and he was an Army Air Corps Lt. Like the relationship she had with her husband, Scotty beat her. She left him in 1945 after he threatened to kill her. In 1946, her and Dexter got divorced. Dexter was granted custody of Christine due to Jean's infidelity, which back then, was very serious and frowned upon. In 1948, Jean fought to regain custody of her daughter, claiming Dexter had prevented her from seeing her child on more then 20 occasions. The custody battle was described as long and viscous. The judge granted custody to Jean, and gave Dexter weekends with Christine.
Jean was also noted to have many relationships with other men  from Los Angeles and Palm Springs after Dexter and Scotty. Some of these men include a night club owner, a playboy, various actors and educators. According to MariaMusikka.com, she was also seen at Ciro's with Ronald Regan, who would be president decades later.
A week before she vanished, Jean was sighted in the Palm Springs area with David Ogul, or Little Davy, who was an associate of Mickey Cohen, known for organized crime. Ogul vanished a week after Jean after he was being indicted on conspiracy charges, but there has never been a connection found to the disappearance of Jean. Jean's mother mentioned that Jean went on a couple dates with a man named Kirk, who was also who the note from Jean's purse was written to. Jean would never go out with anyone she did not know, so this man is assumed to be someone she knew fairly well. The only Kirk connected to Jean was the film star Kirk Douglas, who was in the movie that Jean was an extra for. She was briefly in the same scene with him as a hula dancer in the film Young Man with a Horn. Douglas called police himself to explain he never went out with Jean and only spoke with her once. He claimed he was not the Kirk she mentioned in the note.
The last known romance Jean had was discovered by film star Robert Cummings two weeks before she vanished. According to an article from Palm Springs Life, Cummings was in the last film with Jean that she would ever work on called Pretty Girl. Jean walked by his dressing room at Columbia Studios and gushed about her new romance. She noted it wasn't serious, but she was having the time of her life with him. According to MariaMusikka.com, Peter Brooks, a writer was the man who Jean was referring to. He was questioned, and found to have no information about Jean's last days before she went missing.

The Search and The Sightings

An image of Kirk Douglas from Young Man with a Horn, which Jean was also in. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

After Jean's purse was found, a massive search was launched. With reports of Jean being broke, it was unlikely a robbery was the reason for her disappearance, or for the purse being ripped from her shoulder. hundreds of volunteers and police searched Griffith Park for any other clues. Search dogs were also utilized. No further clues were found.

At first, there was great media interest in Jean's disappearance. With great media interest, comes various sightings. Sightings all over California, Phoenix, Arizona and Mexico City, Mexico were noted in various articles about Jean. However, there were two sightings that were noted many times. The first is the sighting of Jean at the Cheesebox restaurant arguing with two men on October 8 at 1:30 AM. Another sighting that same morning places her with two men in a blue-gray convertible at a gas station. As the car started, she asked the attendant to have someone follow the car. The attendant called police but they never found the trio.

Perhaps one of the biggest twists in this case came from a well-noted sighting from a Customs Agent in El Paso, Texas in February of 1950. They claimed Spangler was sighted by a hotel employee with Ogul, and another Cohen associate, Frank Niccoli. The clerk identified Jean from a photograph shown to them, but none of their names were on the registration cards. The Customs Agent mentioned they had reason to believe the trio left El Paso for Las Vegas. 

It should be noted that none of the sightings of Jean after October 7, 1949 have ever been confirmed. All sightings have lead to dead ends.

Theories of What Happened to Jean?

Jean has been missing for sixty-six years, but her case has never been closed. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

 There have been many theories as to what happened to Jean over the years. A few have been crossed out, such as the robbery theory. Jean had no money with her at the time of her disappearance. The idea that Jean willingly left is also one that has been discarded. If she intended to run away, why would she have fought in a long, viscous custody battle to get her daughter back? Why would she have worked so hard and put the money towards helping her father, Martin, who was in the hospital instead of saving it for herself to run away? None of that makes sense for a runaway.

Jean's husband, Dexter Benner, was considered a suspect in her disappearance. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

The first obvious theory is that Jean was killed by her ex-husband, Dexter. Jean had just won custody over him of Christine. They were noted to have a volatile relationship, with Dexter being abusive towards her. He was also the last person that Jean would have been with that night, and he was withholding child support payments. Police dismissed him as a suspect after his new wife provided an alibi for him, saying he was with her the entire night, and never met with Jean. However, how good is her word? Was she covering for her new husband?
The second theory that seems likely after reading various articles centers around information found on the note in her purse, and the rumor that she was three months pregnant. Is it possible that Jean lied about where she was going? Was she really going to get an abortion, perhaps done by "Dr. Scott" whom she referred to on her note? Jean strived to be in motion pictures and become a serious actress. Her mother was away on a family trip. Is it possible she felt this was the best time to get an abortion? Abortions were very dangerous in those decades, and considered illegal. This lead to botched abortions with fatal consequences to the women getting them. In this era, becoming pregnant outside of a marriage was quite the scandal.
Third, if Jean was pregnant, who was the father? Judging from the men she dated, it was likely to be a prominent man with money, who did not want a child on the way. It's most likely if she was getting an abortion, that is who would have been paying for it. If she was pregnant, the identity of the father is crucial. Was it Kirk Douglas, who's name was written on the note? Is there a chance that Jean did not survive the abortion, and her body was hid to hide the entire operation?
The third theory centers around the many men Jean was known to be with. They were all men she knew, and Jean was noted to have only been with guys she knew fairly well, making it less likely she was a random victim of a killer. Is it possible, pregnant or not, that one of these men killed Jean? Possibly because she was pregnant, to hide an affair or out of anger for a failed romance?

 It was questioned if Jean was a victim of the Black Dahlia killer. She bears a stunning resemblance to his victim, Elizabeth Short. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

 The fourth theory is one the drew me to Jean's disappearance in the first place-her possible connection to the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short. Her unsolved murder became famous, and is known as the Black Dahlia Murder.  On January 15, 1947, her nude body was found positioned out in the open in a vacant lot. The sight was so gruesome, that the unsolved murder still grips Los Angeles to this day. She had been severely mutilated, with her torso cut in half and her mouth severed. Pieces of her chest was cut off and grass was shoved in her vaginal cavity. Various people admitted to the crime, but the real Black Dahlia murderer has never been found. There are many similarities to Jean and Beth. The resemblance between the two is stunning. When I first viewed a picture of Jean, I thought she was Elizabeth Short. Both women had blue eyes and black hair. They were in their 20s and were considered different women of their time due to their nights out in Los Angeles, California with various men. Both ladies were aspiring actresses and came from the same type of scene, and went missing only 2 years apart. But did they happen to come across the same type of people? Was there someone out there who wanted to take out women who differed from the cookie cutter mold of a 1950's house wife? A connection between the two cases have never been made. The person who killed Beth displayed her body out in the open, but Jean was never found. However, nothing exists to rule this theory out either.

Sixty-Six Years Later

Jean is still missing, but many are still searching for answers to one of Hollywood's dark mysteries. Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

 Throughout the years, Jean's picture was constantly circulated. $1,000 reward was offered for any information leading the her whereabouts. Stories about her were constantly ran in the Los Angeles papers. Her father passed away in the 1960's and her mother passed away in the 1990's. Her family never stopped searching for her, and her mother even wrote a letter to the president, begging for assistance in her daughter's disappearance from the FBI. Over the years, Jean's mother commented that she did not feel her daughter was alive, as she would have never abandoned her daughter and was very close to her family. Jean's case has never been closed. It remains open in hopes that one day, one of Hollywood's darkest mysteries will have some light shone on it.

 Still missing Jean Spangler (L) and homicide victim Elizabeth Short (R). Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jean Spangler or the murder of Elizabeth Short, please contact:
Los Angeles Police Department
213-485-5381

Sources:
What Ever Happened to Jean Spangler? website:
http://www.mariamusikka.com/JeanSpangler.htm

Charley Project:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/spangler_jean.html

Palm Springs Life
http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/Whispering-Palms/The-Mysterious-Disappearance-of-Jean-Spangler/

Beth Short Murder
http://www.bethshort.com/murder.htm

Crime Library
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/dahlia/beth_4.html