Jean Spangler

**Jean Elizabeth Spangler** was an actress and dancer who was last seen in Los Angeles, California on October 7, 1949.

## Background

Jean was born on September 2, 1923 in Seattle, Washington. She was the youngest of four children. She had two brothers and one sister. They moved to California at some point and Jean attended school in Los Angeles.

Jean married in 1942 and had a daughter but Jean ended up divorcing her husband in 1946. This led to a long custody battle that her ex-husband won, but Jean took custody in 1948. Also in 1948, she began her career as a dancer in numerous uncredited roles. She was living with her mother, daughter, sister-in-law and brother at the time of her disappearance.

## Case

Jean was heard from by her sister-in-law when Jean told her she was going to visit her ex-husband to discuss an increase in child support payments for their daughter. The payment was a week overdue at the time. After the visit, she was going to a nighttime film shoot. When Jean didn't return home, her sister-in-law filed a missing person's report.

On October 9, Jean's purse was found in Griffith Park. The contents of the purse were in good condition, but the bag had both handles torn off. A note was found among the contents which read "Kirk -- Can't wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work out best this way while Mother is away,".

Due to the note ending in a comma and not being signed, police believed Jean didn't have time to finish writing it. Jean's mother was visiting relatives in Kentucky at the time, a detail reflected in the note. Despite a large search of Griffith Park, neither Jean or any more of her belongings were found.

When Jean's ex-husband was questioned, he claimed that he had not seen Jean that day and that he hadn't seen her for weeks. His wife also told police Jean wasn't there that day. When police questioned the studios Jean was going to the film shoot at, they told police no film shoot was planned that night.

A clerk at a local market came forward to say they had seen Jean in the store. She was reportedly waiting for someone. An actor in Jean's last film, Robert Cummings, told police she had told him she was in a relationship with someone two weeks before her disappearance. It's unknown who the man was but Jean told Cummings it wasn't a serious relationship.

When it was revealed Jean was writing to a man name Kirk, actor Kirk Douglas came forward, telling police Jean was cast in one of his recent films as an extra, but that he barely remembered her. Jean's mother also told police Jean had mentioned a man named Kirk, but didn't know who he was.

The press at the time highlighted a theory that Jean's disappearance may be related to numerous murders in the area, including the murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947.

A friend of Jean's came forward and told police that Jean had told them that she was pregnant. This led to rumours that the "Dr. Scott" referred to in the notes was a physician who preformed abortions, which were illegal at the time. Police did find a former medical student preforming illegal abortions for money in Los Angeles with the nickname Scotty, but police couldn't locate or interview him.

When investigators searched Jean's background, they learned she was having an affair with an Air Corps Lieutenant named Scotty while her then-husband was stationed with the United States Army in the South Pacific. Scotty was reportedly violent towards Jean and threatened to murder her if she broke the affair off. Jean ended the affair with Scotty in 1945.

Despite ending the affair with Scotty, Jean continued having affairs and relationships with numerous men in the coming years. One of these relationships was with David Ogul who was a known associate of organized crime figure Mickey Cohen. Witnesses came forward to say Jean was with Ogul a week before her disappearance. Two days prior to Jean's disappearance, the associate also disappeared.

In February 1950, United States Customs agents in El Paso, Texas told police they may have spotted Jean with Ogul and another associate of Cohen, Frank Niccoli, in a hotel. Niccoli had disappeared from California in September 1949. The only evidence in his disappearance was that his car keys were found on a street.

Jean was identified as the woman with the fugitives in El Paso by an employee of the hotel. They told police they believed they were headed to Las Vegas, Nevada. There were reported sightings of Jean in California, Arizona and Mexico over the years, but nothing was uncovered.

After Jean's disappeared, her ex-husband was given custody of her daughter. Due to Jean's unclear fate, her ex-husbands wife was unable to adopt her daughter. Jean's mother got a court other granting her visitation rights, but Jean's ex-husband defied. When he had to spend 15 days in jail for defying the court order, he took Jean's daughter and left the state.

## Characteristics

* Brown hair.
* Blue eyes.
* Pierced ears.
* Rumoured to have been three months pregnant, but was never confirmed.

## Clothing

* Dark green slacks.
* Wool blouse.
* White sports jacket.

## Sources

* Jean Spangler at the *Doe Network*
* Jean Spangler at the *Charley Project*
* Jean Spangler on Wikipedia
* *The Los Angeles Mirror*