page_title: Disappearance of Ambrose Small
section_title: Disappearance
hierarchical_section_title: Disappearance of Ambrose Small / Disappearance
caption_attribution_description: Grand Opera House, 11 Adelaide Street West. Toronto, Canada. See Grand Opera House (Toronto).
context_page_description: Ambrose Joseph Small was a Canadian theatre magnate who owned several Ontario-based theatres including the Grand Opera House in Toronto, the Grand Opera House in Kingston, and the Grand Theatre in London. The last known sighting of Small occurred the evening of 2 December 1919. He had been known to travel without notice, so his disappearance was not reported until early 1920. His body was never recovered.
  Small's disappearance became a national news sensation. Various theories explaining Small's disappearance were publicly promoted, and the famed mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was consulted, although he elected not to pursue the case.
context_section_description: On December 1, 1919, Ambrose Small sold all his theatre holdings at a profit of CA$1.7 million. The following day he met with lawyer F. W. M. Flock in Small's office at the Grand Opera House. Flock left at 5:30 p.m. and was the last person to see Small.
  That night, Small disappeared from his office. No one who testified for the police claimed to have seen him leave his office or in the Adelaide and Yonge Street area outside the building. A newsstand operator, Ralph Savein, claimed to have seen Small and had an altercation with him regarding the late shipment of that day's newspapers. At the time, however, this claim was discounted by the police, who considered it to be an attempt by Savein to gain fame from the case.
  Small had no motive to disappear: the millionaire did not take money with him, nor was there any ransom note, let alone evidence of kidnapping. At 53, Small owned theatres in seven Ontario cities and was the controller of 62 other buildings, a self-made millionaire at the height of his career. Because Ambrose Small was known to disappear occasionally to womanize and carouse, his absence was not reported nor was it noted for several weeks. In January 1920, Small's attorney, F. W. M. Flock, along with Teresa Small, now alarmed by Small's lengthy absence, notified the local police. Teresa Small offered a $50,000 reward for information about her husband's disappearance and whereabouts. The reward went unclaimed.
caption: The Grand Opera House in Toronto, where Small was last seen
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