Elizabeth Short Disappeared 65 Years Ago Today in Unsolved ‘Black Dahlia’ Case

Elizabeth Ann Short was last seen 65 years ago today, January 9, 1947. Less tha a week later, a brutally mutilated female corpse was found in Los Angeles.

Short—dubbed the “Black Dahlia” by the press for her rumored penchant for sheer black clothes and for a movie at that time—was found sliced clean in half at the waist by a mother walking her child in an L.A. neighborhood just before 11 a.m. on January 15, 1947. The body was just a few feet from the sidewalk and posed in the grass in such a way that the woman reportedly thought it was a mannequin at first. Despite the extensive mutilation and cuts on the body, there wasn’t a drop of blood at the scene, indicating Short had been killed elsewhere. An extensive manhunt followed, but the killer has never been identified.

Through fingerprints, the FBI identified the aspiring actress. FBI files detail the FBI’s assistance to the Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the murder, between 1947 and 1948.