 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned the missing person's detail. You get a call that a young mother and a nine-month-old baby have disappeared. Routine investigation turns up the possibility of foul play. Your job? Find them. It was Tuesday, August 12th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out our homicide division, missing person's detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Norman. My name's Fide. We're on our way out from the office, and it was 10.14 a.m. when we got to 1865 Malibar Street. Manager's apartment. Better try it again, huh? Yeah. Sounds like she's got trouble. Yeah. Yeah? Miss Fleischer? Yeah, what do you want? Police officers, ma'am. We'd like to talk to you. Come in. I got to take care of that. Thank you very much, ma'am. Sit down. I'll be right back. All right. Thank you. Sounds like colic to me. All right? Yeah. Sounds like colic. I wonder if she's got a hot water bottle. What? Hot water bottle. Put it on the kid's stomach, make some feel better. Oh. Both of ours had the colic. Or our three hot water bottles. One, two kids? No, Joe. We lost the stopper on one of them. Baby's teething, having a rough time. Oh. This is my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Fide. We'd like to ask you some questions about one of your tenants. Oh, which one? Mrs. Shipley. We understand she had apartment 207. Yeah, she did. What about her? You know where we can get touch with her? You ain't got any idea. When'd you see her last? Guess it must have been a month ago. Possible you might be able to give us an exacting on that. Well, if I could've done that, I told you right out. I got nothing to hide. Well, we didn't mean to say that you had, man. Well, it sounded like it. It sounded an awful lot like it. I'm going to be honest with you. Yes, ma'am. When Harriet first moved in here, we got along fine. She was all the time wanting me to tell her how to take care of the baby when it came. Yes, ma'am. We got along just fine. Used to have our little cup of coffee in the afternoon, chummy, and all of a sudden it all got different. Well, how was that? Just did. Her husband was overseas. In the army, I guess, Harriet missed him pretty much. Anyway, she was always saying how she did. I wish she could be here when the baby was born. Got terrible depressed. I see. Moody, you know? Yes, ma'am. I did what I could to cheer her up. Used to go up there and we'd sit and talk. Taught her how to knit. Gave her some needles and yarns, a little present. I thought maybe to give her something to think about. Kind of take her mind off her and her husband. Didn't do no good. Well, how long had her husband been away, do you know? Four months this time. He's over in Japan, I think, army. Mm-hmm. Harriet used to go out once in a while, go down at the show. Seemed like just about every picture she saw made her sadder. I guess that's why she did it. She's got so sad she couldn't take it anymore. Oh, what's that? Tried to kill herself. Is it Sheppley? Yeah. I got the kids in bed one night and went up there. I hadn't heard nothing from her that day, so I went up to see how she was. Good thing I did, too. Found her right there in the living room. She cut her wrists. Right away, I called for the doctor and all the ambulances and police came running around. Took her to the hospital. Big deal. Guess I found her in time, though. They pulled her through. Mm-hmm. I walk up there and find her dying. That far from death's door and when she comes home from the hospital, what thanks do you think I get? I wouldn't know. Go ahead. Nothing. Not a single solitary word do I get. She's mad. Says I should have left her alone, let her done it. Coming here when she got back and read me off in words that I ain't used to hearing. Mm-hmm. I got five kids, mister. They take a lot of time and I ain't got enough to go running around after nobody who don't thank a person for saving their life like that. I called it quits right then. Right at that minute, we were no longer friends. Mm-hmm. When did she make the attempt on her life? Last September. I don't remember the date. I think it was the second. Maybe the third week. I'm not sure about what date was. Anyway, after I saved her life, she's mad at me. She have any people here in Los Angeles, would you know? I never heard her talking none. She's got a sister. I don't know, but I don't know where she is. I don't think Harriet ever said. Well, what does she say to you when she left? She give you any idea where she was going? I didn't even see her. She didn't even come by and say so long. Goodbye, take a jump, nothing. She just left. One night, she's here. Next morning, she's gone. She getting email while she was here? Yeah. Once in a while, she got a letter from her husband. Then there was a couple of letters from San Francisco. I don't know who they was from. She take everything with her? All of her personal things? Nothing. Left it all here. Of course, it's not much, but it's all here. I see. Where are the things, ma'am? Downstairs in the basement. I got it all put away in case she ever comes back. Gonna cost her two. Storageing for me to pack it. I told you, it isn't much. And dressed as few clothes for the baby. Phonographed a couple of records. That's about it. You can see them if you want them. We'd like to take a look at them before we leave. Yeah, sure thing. Can't let you take them, though. I gotta collect for the storage. That's ma'am. Miss Shipley, have any close friends that you know of? Not that I know of. Of course, she might have had some done. Dream Palace. Where is that? Where she worked. Dance hall downtown. She was kind of hostess there. That's the name of the place? Is it Dream Palace? Yeah. She might have had some friends down there. None of them ever came here, though. At least if they did, I never saw them. You know of any reason that she might have left in such a hurry? Not right off. I can't think of one. There was something wrong with her, though, when she came back from the hospital. You know, when she had the baby, she was worried about something. Would you know what it was? No. All I know is that when she'd been home a couple of days, she came down here and asked me to do some work on the apartment. I told her if she wanted anything done, she could do it herself the way she talked to me. But what'd she want then? Silly thing I ever heard of. She didn't have anything to steal. Yeah. She wanted all the locks on the doors changed. 1046 a.m. In the company of the apartment manager, Barbara Fleischer, Frank and I went down to the basement and looked through the missing woman's effects. Other than the phonograph, several cardboard boxes of used baby clothes and cheap woman's dresses, we found nothing. There were no snapshots or letters to Adis and ascertaining where she might have gone. We asked Mrs. Fleischer to notify us in the event that she heard from the shipply woman. We put in a call to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital and verified the story about the attempted suicide. 1115 a.m. We checked the phone book for the address of the Dream Palace Dance Hall. It was on the second floor of a large building at the corner of Seventh and Margo Streets. On the front of the building were several faded photographs of contest winners with the cups that they'd won and the name of the proprietor, Ernest Lasning. We went upstairs. There's a large barn-like room with crepe paper birds hanging over the lights. In the rear of the place at one of the tables, we found Lasning. He was just eating his lunch. Mr. Lasning? Yeah? What do you want? I'd like to ask you some questions where police officers, my name's Smiths, my partner Sergeant Friday. All right. How are you? I want to say your hands got butter all over them, so. Thank you. Can I have a sandwich? No, thank you. Now, you do go right ahead. There's all the makings. Brad, butter, slimy pickles. Help yourself. No, thanks, Mr. Lasning. No matter if I go ahead, huh? Bunch of kids coming in at 3.30. I get the place cleaned up before they get here. And I'll see you go right ahead. All right. What are you talking about? It's about one of your employees. Yeah? What's one? A girl named Harriet Shipley. Oh, yeah, I don't remember. She don't work here anymore. Didn't work here anymore? No. Got any idea where she is? No, I got the slightest. I ain't seen Nadine in about maybe six months. No, sir, you don't understand. We're inquiring about a Harriet Shipley. Yeah, I know. I told you. I ain't seen her in six months. What's this about Nadine? That's her club name. See, lots of girls don't like to use their real names. In case a fellow wants to get chummy away from here, it'd be easier if we don't know the girl's real name. Harriet used Nadine. I understand. You know, it got a bunch of them. Along the girl's leaves, we put the name back in a hat. New girl picks it. Had 14 Nadine since we opened. 27 Althea's. Yeah, sir. Do you have any idea where the Shipley girl is? No. Mike Checker-Hugman, he might know. We understand he was in the Army. No, that's right. He is overseas. He should know where his wife is. Oh, ask him. Well, we'll probably do that, sir. We thought maybe we could turn her up ourselves. There's been a missing report filed on her. Missed, huh? Who told it? Sir? Who told about her being missing? The report was filed by her mother-in-law. Well, I wish I could help you follow that. The last time you saw the Shipley girl, she's saying a thing about leaving town? No, wouldn't be surprised, though. Why do you say that? Well, poor kid was scared to death. Tell me she wanted to get away. Do you know what she was frightened about? Yeah, Cliff Bender. That's what she was afraid of, Cliff. Who's he? Well, look, I'll tell you the whole thing. Be easier that way. One favor, I gotta ask you. Yes, sir? You won't tell Cliff I told you. If you come up here, he could tear the place apart easy. You gotta promise me you won't tell him. All right, sir. You go ahead. Yeah. Well, um, an A. Dean, uh, Harriet, well, she came to work for me about a year and a half ago. She came in and told me she'd had some experience in a dance place in the Midwest. I don't remember the name right off. Probably come to me. Yes, sir. Well, I told her I'd try her, you know, sort of probation. Yes, sir. Well, it worked out fine. End of the week, I put her on permanent. She did real well. A lot of guys got to come in just to dance with her. Wouldn't have nobody else. Just an A. Dean. Oh, Harriet. Mm-hmm. My assistant, Matt Cliff, he'd come in one night, fell apart, and he started to go together. I told him I didn't like the idea of girls going out with the customers. Not good business. Didn't make any difference to them, though. They kept right on seeing each other. That's this bender, fellas. Yeah. Well, anyway, one night the soldier'd come in. He was still prior way of an A. Dean. Asked her for a dance. Kept buying tickets all night so she could dance with her. Come back the next night. Same thing. All night long, he danced with an A. Dean. That's Harriet. Yeah, that's right. Called her an A. Dean. You know, I told you about it. Yes. Made Cliff plenty sore, but there wasn't anything he could do about it if he wanted to be with a soldier. It wasn't too long before she told him he was going to get married. Well, word got around about that really made Cliff hack. Real hack. Yes. Yeah. Well, him and the soldier, Shipley, had a fight downstairs one night after he closed. Guess Cliff waited for him and A. Dean to come down. Anyway, it was a real brawl, cops and everything. Cliff really cleaned up on the soldier. Didn't do any good to him. What do you mean? A. Dean told Cliff to stay away from her. Keep far away. Told him that her and the soldier was going to get married and that they were through. She might cliff on her. Uh-huh. Well, the soldier and A. Dean got married a couple days later and she quit her job. Right after that, I heard he went overseas and Cliff was around trying to break things up. Didn't do no good, though. A. Dean loved the soldier and she planned to stay with him. Yes, sir. Well, I tried to talk to Cliff. Tell him to stay out of it. I believed the girl along. What was that? I told him, believe the girl along. I said, didn't do any good. It was sure. He said that she was his girl. Might take some time, but he'd get it for right an hour. I figured he told her that, too. That's what she was afraid of. I'd blame her. Cliff told me that. I believed him. What's that, sir? That he was going to kill her. 1226 p.m. After we'd gotten the names and addresses of the employees of the Dream Palace who knew the missing girl, Frank and I went back to the office. We had the names checked through the record bureau, but we found that only one of the 14 people on the list had arrest records. That one was a Cliff Bender who had been picked up on a charge of suspicion of burglary. However, according to the information on the report, he'd been released because of lack of evidence. We checked the log about the fight, as Nick had mentioned. We found that an F.I. card had been filed, but that no arrest had been made. We went over to room 45, and we talked with Sergeant Egan Waller and Sergeant Rubles, the officers who'd handled the burglary case. They told us that in their contacts with Bender, he was sullen and uncooperative. They told us that he'd been seen in the company of known criminals. They also told us that in their opinion, they considered the man dangerous. We checked his last known address, but we found that he'd moved in July, leaving no forwarding address. While Frank and I checked out the rest of the missing girls' friends and acquaintances, Sergeant Graham and Cliff Bailey tried to check on Bender. We talked to everybody on the list we'd gotten from Ernest Lasnik, but none of them could give us any idea of where we might find the shipply girl. Most of them, however, told us about the threat that Bender had made against her life and expressed the opinion that he was responsible for her disappearance. The next day, Wednesday, August 13th, Frank and I went by communications, then we checked back into the office. I tell you, the mother-in-law of that missing girl called again this morning? No, no, you didn't. She wanted to know how we were doing, what progress we'd been able to make. What would you tell her? Well, I told her what we found. I didn't tell her about Bender, though. I just said we thought we'd be able to find the girl. You talked to her when she made the original report, didn't you, Joe? Yeah. What'd you think? Well, how do you mean? Well, isn't there something there that's a little off base to you? I don't know what you're trying to get at. Well, it just seems to me that she doesn't care if we find her daughter-in-law or not. All she cares about is the kid. Well, yeah, I kind of got that idea myself. The way she talked doesn't seem that she and the girl got along too well, does it? No. Just seems like there's something she isn't telling us. I don't know what it is. I asked her this morning if she'd heard from her son if he knew anything about where his wife might be. What'd you say to that? Well, she told me she didn't want to bother him, making him worry. Wouldn't even tell me his mailing address. Said she didn't want him alarmed unless there was a reason. The way I see it, his wife being gone is a reason enough. Yeah, that's what it seems to me, and I told her that. She said our job was just to find the girl and the baby, and that's all. Cooperation like that isn't going to make it any easier, is it? We can only do so much if she isn't going to help us. Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Her file in the report, then hold them out information. I may have better go and talk to her again, so you can get the whole story. How about Graham and Bailiard from them? Yeah, that's a note in the book. They got lead on bender. Graham said they were going to run it down for us this morning. All right. What time you got now? Mm-hmm. 9.43. I want to talk to the skipper. Make arrangements to put a picture of the Shipley girl on Suspects 1 of this afternoon. Might be able to turn something. Sure, a lot of loose hands. I got it. Missing persons Friday. Yeah, Graham. Mm-hmm. Where? What'd she say? Mm-hmm. Yeah, well, that's about the same. What? Yeah. Well, you want to call the crime line? Right. No, we'll meet you out there right away. Right, bye. I only found where Bender was living. What do you mean what? Checked out last June. About the same time the Shipley girl disappeared. Landlady hasn't seen him since. Guys came up with something else. Yeah. A couple of shirts for a baby. Uh-huh. Blood stains all over them. 10.02 a.m. We got to the apartment where Bender had been living. The crew from the crime lab were there, and they were photographing the romance and the clothing that had been found. Sergeant Jay Allen told us that he'd have to run a precipitate test on the stains before he could tell whether or not they were of human origin. 10.45 a.m. They finished their investigation on the scene, and they went back to Central Station to compile the results. Frank called the office, and the local and APB were put out on Cliff Bender, asking that he be picked up as a possible suspect. We also had his card flagged in the record bureau. We talked to the landlady of the apartment building, and she told us that Bender had left his apartment hurriedly one night about the middle of June. She was unable to tell us the exact date, but she did go on to say that she'd been getting a check for the rent each month. We asked her if she could show us either one of the checks or an envelope that had come in. She explained that she'd thrown the envelopes away and had cashed the checks. She was unable to tell us where they'd been mailed from. She said that as far as she knew, she'd never seen the shipply girl in Bender's apartment. We asked her to notify us immediately in the event that the suspect returned. We put in a call to the bank where the rent checks were cashed and we asked that they give us the information on it. 1.30 p.m. Frank and I went over to the crime lab and we talked to Jay Allen. He told us that the stains on the baby floors were human blood. He showed us the photographs taken, but there was nothing in them that would give us any lead as to either the girls or Bender's whereabouts. That afternoon, the picture of Harriet Shipply was telecast over the police program. We got several calls from citizens who said that they'd seen the girl. We checked them all out. One of the callers, a bus driver, told us that he'd seen the girl and the baby on his bus during the month of June and that she'd gotten off in San Diego. We alerted the police in that city to look for her. Thursday morning, Frank and I checked into the office. Go and check the book Frank said is in San Diego. Right. I got it. Missing persons Friday. Yes, that's right. Yes, we did. Where? You sure about that? Right away. Frank, get your coat. What have you got? Shipply girl, they found her. What come from a nurse at the state mental hospital in Camarillo? She told me that they had a patient who resembled the photograph of the missing girl as televised on our police program. Frank and I left the office and drove out to the hospital. We talked to the nurse and to the doctor who was taking care of the sick girl. From personal effects and the scars on her wrists, we were reasonably sure of the identification. The doctor told us that the girl had been committed on July 17th by her sister under the name Harriet Lallan. He told us that the girl was undergoing treatment but that there was little hope for a complete recovery and that it would be some time before she could be permitted to leave the violin board. We tried to talk to her but we were unable to get any coherent answers. We asked about the baby but the authorities were unable to give us any information. We got the name and address of the sister who had committed the shipment girl and we drove down to San Diego to talk to her. It was a small place in a wartime housing development. The paint was peeling off the plywood walls and the front yard was overgrown with weeds. The woman who answered the door identified herself as Pauline Lavin. Sure, what do you want to know? Don't make no difference now. You go back and tell her it's too late. Way too late. Tell who, ma'am? Mrs. Shipley. Harriet's mother-in-law. You go back and tell her she'd done it good. Ain't nothing left to do to Harriet. It's all been done. You can tell her that. Well, we don't work for Miss Shipley, ma'am. We're trying to find out what happened to your sister and the baby. Who asked you to find out in the first place? Was her, wasn't it? Wasn't she the one? She filed a report. Well, that's what I mean. Well, you go back and tell her there's nothing more she can do to Harriet than the baby or Big Jerry. Nothing at all she can do. Where is the baby now? He's not here. You know where he is? Yes, but I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell anybody. I promise, Harriet, I wouldn't tell. I'm going to keep the promise. Ms. Laban, we don't want to hurt your sister. We're just trying to get to the truth. Now maybe you better tell us what you know. Am I doing this for all Miss Shipley? No, ma'am. I'll tell you, but not for her. I wouldn't give her the right time of day. She's the one that did it the whole thing. You can lay it right at her feet. All right, you want to tell us about it? Since they got married, she's given the kids trouble. Right from the first she heard about it. Said that Harriet wasn't good enough for her son. Said Harriet was cheap. Didn't make any difference to the kid. They got married anyway. They were in love, so they got married. Soon as Big Jerry went overseas, she started on Harriet to get an annulment. All the time, writing her letters, telling her how cheap she was. And if she really loved Jerry, she'd get an annulment. And she found out about the baby, so she started saying how they should get a divorce. Does Harriet's husband know about this, would you know? Sure. All along he knew it. He didn't like it. Told his mother to stay out of their lives. Kept telling her, but it didn't do any good. None. Then Harriet got the wire. One that told about Big Jerry being dead. Almost killed her. I thought it was going to. They was really in love. Isn't often you see something like them too. Real love. The kind you live, not the kind you talk about. One night, right after she got the wire, she got a phone call from San Francisco. From Ole Miss Shipley. She told Harriet that she was going to the court to take the baby away from her. Said she could prove Harriet wasn't a good mother and she didn't deserve to have the baby. Was Harriet living here at the time? No. She'd come down every weekend, but she wasn't living here. There was a guy up in L.A. that was giving her trouble. Tellin' her name, Bender, I think. It was weather when she tried to kill herself. He ran out so he wouldn't get mixed up in it. He was always giving Harriet trouble, so she left one night to get away from him and Ole Miss Shipley. She came down here and said that she just wanted to be left alone with her baby. That's not a lot to ask, is it? Just to be left alone? No, ma'am. It was for Ole Miss Shipley. She just wouldn't let Harriet alone. Kept after saying how she was going to take away the baby. Harriet was an unfit mother. Kind of got in her mind. Finally, there wasn't much else she was thinking about but how to keep her baby. She went out walkin' one night. Took the baby with her. Reigned. Reigned real hard. I guess the baby took cold. Anyway, the next day, he came down with a bad fever. Couple of days later, he was dead. Not even a year old and he was dead. You want to go on? Harriet sat around for a week. Didn't say anything. Didn't do nothing. Just stare at the wall. Didn't even cry. Just sat and looked at the wall. And all of a sudden, she just fell apart. I called the doctor. Said it was a breakdown and said I should have her committed. I signed the papers and that's where she is. I went up to see her. She didn't even know me. I'm her sister and she didn't even know me. So you just tell Ole Miss Shipley how she did good. You just tell her what she did to my sister. Tell her how the baby's dead and she's finally got what she wanted because now Harriet hasn't got the baby. Nobody's got him. Nobody's got him. Nobody. Come on, Frank. Yeah. Where to? Well, we'd better get back to town. Yes, sir. See Miss Shipley. We got back to Los Angeles at 9.30 p.m. We went directly to the hotel where Mrs. Shipley was staying. The desk clerk told us that she left word that she was not to be disturbed. He called the room and she asked that we come up. We took the elevator to the seventh floor and we walked down the hall. Good evening, Sergeant Friday. Officer Smith, come in. Thank you. Just having a drink. May I fix you one? No, thank you. How about you, Mr. Smith? No, thank you. You don't mind if I go ahead? No, ma'am. Just sit down. I'll be right with you. Thank you. The desk clerk said it was important. Yes, ma'am. You found my daughter-in-law? Yes, ma'am. And the baby? Where is he? Is he still with her? No, ma'am. He's not. Where is he? Your daughter-in-law is pretty sick, Miss Shepley. Oh? Yes, ma'am. She's in the state hospital up at Camarillo. Camarillo? Yes, ma'am. That's a mental hospital, isn't it? That's right. I'm sorry to hear about Harriet, but I knew she wasn't very stable. Why didn't you tell us your son was dead, Mrs. Shepley? I didn't think it had any bearing on the thing. What difference does it make? You don't seem to be very interested in this, why? I'm going to be honest with you, Sergeant. I'm not. Not in the least interested in what she does or where she is. I never did feel she was the right girl for my son, never. When the baby was born, I tried to go along with it. I tried to be nice to her, and she wouldn't have it. She wouldn't even be friendly. She poisoned my son, turned him against me. She's a terrible woman. Just terrible. Whatever's happened to her is just exactly what she's got coming. Naturally, I'm sorry. It's the way it is, but there's nothing I can do. All I'm interested in right now is my grandchild. I want him. And if I have to go to court to get him, then I'll do it that way. That won't be necessary, ma'am. Where is he? I'd like to go and get him now that Jerry's wife can't take care of him. He's dead, ma'am. This is some kind of a joke that you're making up to help my daughter-in-law keep him. It won't work. It's no joke, it's a truth. He died in the hospital in San Diego. It's not right. It's not right, that he said. She did this. Hear it. She did it to get even with me. I know she did. We're sorry, Miss Shipley. Best my husband than Jerry. I haven't got anybody. Mother by myself. Isn't anybody in the world who cares? Nobody. No, we're sorry, Miss Shipley. I wish there was something we could do. No, you're not. You're like the rest of them. But it's Harriet. She is the one. Nobody else to consider in this mess. Just her. What about the baby? The story you've just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet. The story of your police force in action is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.