Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia)

Case background and investigation

Elizabeth Short, a 22-year-old born in Boston on July 29, 1924, had moved to Southern California in the 1940s and was living transiently in the Los Angeles area when she was killed. On the morning of January 15, 1947, a woman walking with her child found Short's nude body in a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue in the Leimert Park neighborhood. The body had been severed at the waist, drained of blood, and mutilated, with lacerations extending the corners of the mouth. According to police and press accounts, the lack of blood at the scene indicated she had been killed elsewhere. Newspapers soon dubbed her the "Black Dahlia." The last confirmed sighting reported by investigators was around January 9, 1947, when a married salesman, Robert "Red" Manley, said he dropped her at the downtown Biltmore Hotel after a trip from San Diego.

The Los Angeles Police Department mounted a massive investigation. The FBI assisted by identifying Short from fingerprints transmitted from Los Angeles. Investigators pursued more than 150 suspects and fielded scores of confessions, most of which were deemed false. Police reported that whoever killed Short may have had some anatomical or medical knowledge, based on how the body had been cleanly bisected. In the weeks after the killing, someone claiming to be the killer contacted a newspaper editor, and on January 24, 1947, an envelope arrived at a newspaper containing Short's birth certificate, photographs, and an address book, items reportedly cleaned with gasoline. Subsequent notes were signed the "Black Dahlia Avenger," but the sender never turned himself in, and the material did not lead to an arrest.

Over the decades, many people have been named as suspects or persons of interest, though no one has ever been criminally charged. Among the most discussed is Dr. George Hodel, a Los Angeles physician who was placed under DA/LAPD electronic surveillance at his home between February 15 and March 27, 1950. Police did not charge him, and reporting notes that authorities could not establish that he and Short had ever met. Hodel died on May 17, 1999. His son, retired LAPD detective Steve Hodel, later published books, beginning with Black Dahlia Avenger in 2003, arguing that his father was the killer. Other named individuals, including Robert Manley, Leslie Dillon, and Mark Hansen, were investigated and cleared. In careful terms, none of these individuals was convicted, and their identification as suspects reflects investigative interest rather than proven guilt.

As of 2026 the Black Dahlia murder remains officially open and unsolved, and is among the oldest unsolved cases in Los Angeles County. The LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division still retains the evidence, and detective Mitzi Roberts has described the case as active and ongoing while noting the absence of physical evidence tying any single theory, including Steve Hodel's, to the crime. Reporting has cited fingerprints on a purported killer's letter that did not match records, but there are no publicly reported DNA or genetic-genealogy breakthroughs in the case. The FBI has stated the case is likely to remain unsolved given the passage of time. Given the age of the crime, most or all plausible suspects are deceased.