ELIZABETH SHORT
Elizabeth Short
Born 29 July 1924
Hyde Park, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died 15 January 1947 (aged 22)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Waitress
Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 - January 15, 1947) was an American woman who was
the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. Nicknamed the Black Dahlia,
Short was found, severely mutilated and her body severed, on January 15, 1947 in
Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. The murder, which remains unsolved, has
been the source of widespread speculation as well as several books and film
adaptations.
Elizabeth Short was born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. She was raised in Medford,
by her mother, Phoebe Mae, after her father, Cleo Short, abandoned her and her
four sisters in October 1930.[citation needed]
Troubled by asthma, Short spent summers in Medford and winters in Florida. At
the age of 19, she went to Vallejo, California, to live with her father. The two
moved to Los Angeles in early 1943, but after an argument, she departed, getting
a job at one of the post exchanges at Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg Air Force Base),
near Lompoc. She moved to Santa Barbara, where she was arrested on September 23,
1943 for underage drinking and was sent back to Medford by juvenile authorities.
In the few years following, she resided in various cities in Florida, with
occasional trips back to Massachusetts, earning money mostly as a waitress.
In Florida, Short met Major Matthew M. Gordon Jr., who was part of the 2nd Air
Commandos and training for deployment in the China Burma India theater of
operations. Short told friends that Gordon wrote a letter from India proposing
marriage while recovering from an airplane crash he suffered while trying to
rescue a downed flier. (He was, according to his obituary in the Pueblo,
Colorado newspaper, awarded a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze
Star, the Air Medal with 15 oak leaf clusters, and Purple Heart). She accepted
his proposal, but he died in a crash on August 10, 1945, before he could return
to the U.S. She later embellished this story, saying that they were married and
had a child who died. Although Gordon's friends in the air commandos confirm
that Gordon and Short were engaged, his family subsequently denied any
connection after Short's murder.
Short returned to Southern California in July 1946 to see an old boyfriend she
met in Florida during the war, Lt. Gordon Fickling, who was stationed in Long
Beach. For the six months prior to her death, she remained in Southern
California, mainly in the Los Angeles area. During this time, she lived in
several hotels, apartment buildings, rooming houses, and private homes, never
staying anywhere for more than a few weeks.
Elizabeth Short was murdered; the killer remains unknown. Her body was found on
January 15, 1947 in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, severely mutilated, cut in half,
and drained of blood. Her face was slashed from the corners of her mouth toward
her ears.
Elizabeth Short
Born 29 July 1924
Hyde Park, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died 15 January 1947 (aged 22)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Waitress
Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 - January 15, 1947) was an American woman who was
the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. Nicknamed the Black Dahlia,
Short was found, severely mutilated and her body severed, on January 15, 1947 in
Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. The murder, which remains unsolved, has
been the source of widespread speculation as well as several books and film
adaptations.
Elizabeth Short was born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. She was raised in Medford,
by her mother, Phoebe Mae, after her father, Cleo Short, abandoned her and her
four sisters in October 1930.[citation needed]
Troubled by asthma, Short spent summers in Medford and winters in Florida. At
the age of 19, she went to Vallejo, California, to live with her father. The two
moved to Los Angeles in early 1943, but after an argument, she departed, getting
a job at one of the post exchanges at Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg Air Force Base),
near Lompoc. She moved to Santa Barbara, where she was arrested on September 23,
1943 for underage drinking and was sent back to Medford by juvenile authorities.
In the few years following, she resided in various cities in Florida, with
occasional trips back to Massachusetts, earning money mostly as a waitress.
In Florida, Short met Major Matthew M. Gordon Jr., who was part of the 2nd Air
Commandos and training for deployment in the China Burma India theater of
operations. Short told friends that Gordon wrote a letter from India proposing
marriage while recovering from an airplane crash he suffered while trying to
rescue a downed flier. (He was, according to his obituary in the Pueblo,
Colorado newspaper, awarded a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze
Star, the Air Medal with 15 oak leaf clusters, and Purple Heart). She accepted
his proposal, but he died in a crash on August 10, 1945, before he could return
to the U.S. She later embellished this story, saying that they were married and
had a child who died. Although Gordon's friends in the air commandos confirm
that Gordon and Short were engaged, his family subsequently denied any
connection after Short's murder.
Short returned to Southern California in July 1946 to see an old boyfriend she
met in Florida during the war, Lt. Gordon Fickling, who was stationed in Long
Beach. For the six months prior to her death, she remained in Southern
California, mainly in the Los Angeles area. During this time, she lived in
several hotels, apartment buildings, rooming houses, and private homes, never
staying anywhere for more than a few weeks.
Elizabeth Short was murdered; the killer remains unknown. Her body was found on
January 15, 1947 in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, severely mutilated, cut in half,
and drained of blood. Her face was slashed from the corners of her mouth toward
her ears.