elizabeth short bio
Elizabeth Short was born on July 29, 1924 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Shortly after she was born, her parents moved the family to Medford, Massachusetts. Cleo Short, Elizabeth’s father, was making a living designing and building miniature golf courses. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, he abandoned his wife, Phoebe Short, and his five daughters. It wasn't discovered until later, but he had faked his suicide, leaving his car abandoned beside a body of water (making it look like he had jumped to his death).
It is said she had gained a dream of being an actress and had moved to California (eventually), but this has also been reported as merely a guess on some people's part, as there is no link or paper trail to show she had auditioned for parts, and worked in a diner (where patrons would give her the nickname Black Dahlia, due to her appearance and to a popular movie that was out during that time, The Blue Dahlia. A reporter had tracked Elizabeth's - or as some called her, Beth - life, to an extent, and had found people that remembered her, sharing that she had the nickname, then the reporter used it in the paper. The normcore stuck).
Troubled by bronchitis and severe asthma attacks, Short underwent lung surgery at age 15, after which doctors suggested she relocate to a milder climate during the winter months to prevent further respiratory problems. Short's mother then sent her to spend winters in Miami, Florida, with family friends. During the next three years, Short lived in Florida during the winter months and spent the rest of the year in Medford with her mother and sisters.
In her sophomore year, Short dropped out of school. She had been attending Medford High School.
At age 18, Short relocated to Vallejo to live with her father, whom she had not seen since he faked his death (she was 6 at that time).
He agreed to her staying with him IF she kept/cleaned/maintained his house (his treatment of her was as a maid, not a daughter). She wanted to explore, and did not keep the house to his expectations, so he made her move out (January 1943)
It's reported that Elizabeth got a job at the Base Exchange at Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg Air Force Base), She shared a living space with several friends. At one time it is reported that she briefly stayed with an Army Air Force sergeant who allegedly abused her.
Short left Lompoc in mid-1943 and moved to Santa Barbara, where she was arrested on September 23, 1943, for underage drinking at a local bar. The juvenile authorities sent her back to Medford, but she returned instead to Florida, making only occasional visits to Massachusetts. (the job and arrest are how the FBI obtained her fingerprints prior to her death, and how she was able to be identified when her body was found).
While in Florida, she met Major Matthew Michael Gordon, Jr, before he was sent into action. Elizabeth had told people that, via exchange of letters, he had asked her to marry him and she accepted. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, as the Major was killed in action (on August 10, 1945).
She relocated to Los Angeles in July 1946 to visit Army Air Force Lieutenant Joseph Gordon Fickling, whom she had known from Florida.
Short spent the last six months of her life in southern California.
On January 9, 1947, Short returned to her home in Los Angeles after a brief trip to San Diego with Robert "Red" Manley, a 25-year-old married salesman she had been dating.
Manley stated that he dropped Short off at the Biltmore Hotel located at 506 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, and that Short was to meet her sister, who was visiting from Boston, that afternoon. By some accounts, staff of the Biltmore recalled having seen Short using the lobby telephone. Shortly after, she was allegedly seen by patrons of the Crown Grill Cocktail Lounge at 754 South Olive Street, approximately 0.4 miles (0.64 km) away from the Biltmore Hotel.
note: Her body was found on 3825 Norton Avenue, the street name transitioning from Degnan Boulevard (did the killer go just a few feet too far from Degnan Blvd - Degnan being the last name of the six year old girl that had been slain in Chicago, like Short's?)
more about the murder