OH OH - Beverly Potts, 10, Cleveland, 24 Aug 1951

[Kristin83]

joellegirl: Exactly, Beverly was allowed to stay to the end of the show because her parents thought Patsy would also be there. They were supposed to walk home together. But Patsy was told to be home by dark and the Showwagon continued AFTER dark. So Beverly and Patsy had an arguement and Patsy walked home alone so she would arrive home by dark, leaving Beverly there.

There are so many possibilities as to who took Beverly:

1. Acquaintance/Sexual Predator she should not have trusted
2. Older boy she liked and should not have trusted
3. Unknown Couple who kidnapped her for unknown purposes
4. Unknown Sexual predator

What are the other possibilities?

Was re-reading this book the other night and a couple possibilities crossed my mind, although not likely:

-Could someone have accidentally hit her with their car, panicked and hid the body?
-Could some neighborhood kids (perhaps a little older than her) been goofing off with her, things got a little too rough, she fell and hit her head, they panicked and hid the body?
-Could she have witnessed some sort of other illegal activity and somebody silenced her?

 

[joellegirl]

Those are good ideas... also Beverly did have to walk by a bar on her way home. It was(and is still there, though I'm not sure if it is still a bar) on the corner of Linnet and W 117th street. Not sure if she made it that far, but it was at the beginning of her dark walk home along her street. She may have even avoided it by walking on the other side of the street.

Just a thought if some one from the bar took her, or she saw something..I just keep thinking it was a neighbor, maybe a friend's dad, uncle, brother, who before and since seemed a completely normal person/family man, yet has kept this terrible secret all these years.

 

[Stella]

Those are good ideas... also Beverly did have to walk by a bar on her way home. It was(and is still there, though I'm not sure if it is still a bar) on the corner of Linnet and W 117th street. Not sure if she made it that far, but it was at the beginning of her dark walk home along her street. She may have even avoided it by walking on the other side of the street.

Just a thought if some one from the bar took her, or she saw something..I just keep thinking it was a neighbor, maybe a friend's dad, uncle, brother, who before and since seemed a completely normal person/family man, yet has kept this terrible secret all these years.

I'm with you. I haven't read the book yet, but my gut instinct has always felt that a neighbor did this to Beverly.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

What is most puzzling is that no body or even an article of clothing has ever been found. To me, that indicates she was either quickly taken from the scene or dealt with by someone from that immediate area. With reports that Beverly was shy around men and even older boys, whoever was involved must have been someone she both knew and trusted. In Twilight of Innocence, the theory is given that someone right on Linnet Avenue had knowledge of what happened and her body could still be buried closeby. With all of the space age technology now available, you might think there could be a way to detect a body (or what remains after 58 years) without resorting to digging. I have to think should something be detected, legal authority to check further could be secured.

 

[amber1]

I just recieved the book I ordered about Beverly online. Very interesting so far, but saddening as well.

 

[MaryLiz]

I just recieved the book I ordered about Beverly online. Very interesting so far, but saddening as well.

It is very sad....very haunting too. I thought it was a well-written book. It just boggles my mind that this girl could disappear into thin air practically in front of her own home with so many people around.

The 59th anniversary of Beverly's disappearance will be coming up next month.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Thanks to my dear friend Cambria, I have also just finished this book. It is a very nicely written book, in my opinion.

What a mystery!

 

[amber1]

All missing persons cases sadden me, but children especially do, like Beverly's case.
She just had so much going for her, and she has a great family too.

I'm also sadden by cases where the family dies searching, and never knowing their loved ones fate. I think it's the cruelest torture. Amy Billig and Amanda Berry's mothers died searching. They quickly went down hill after their daughters vanished. I'd say whoever took Beverly is also responsible for the death of her loved ones, indirectly. Missing persons' loved ones always seem to go fast afterwards.

 

[amber1]

I am a little over half way through the book about Beverly and I must say, I am disappointed how sloppy the investigation seemed. It seems like their was way too much outside interference, especially with all those news reporters.
With all the people at the show, I am sure someone did see something and was afraid to come forward and get tangled up in the case.
Lastly, I am baffled at how much evidence was found, than lost before it was even tested or turned in! (Like the pink cloth from Lake Erie-similar to what Beverly was last seen in-and the strands of blond hair, I believe it was found in a car). Some of that though, I should add, was not the investigators fault. It just seems like there was a lot of potential evidence that slipped through the cracks.

 

[Claudette]

Does anyone know what her address was? I can do a google maps search to see how close the park was to her house.

 

[MaryLiz]

Does anyone know what her address was? I can do a google maps search to see how close the park was to her house.

Good idea...her address was 11304 Linnet Avenue in Cleveland.

IIRC, there was a photo in the book, Twilight of Innocence, of her home and it was a very short distance from Halloran Park.

 

[amber1]

It makes me sick to think of how many people tormented Beverly's parents afterward, asking for ransom money when they didn't even know where Beverly was!

 

[Kat]

Bump

Beverly's been missing 59 years. Come home soon.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Just a few years ago, I visited this area. The walk from the portion of Halloran Park, where the show wagon was set up in 1951, to her house was approximately eight to nine minutes for me. Of course that was on a sunny June morning with no crowd as opposed to a dark August night with many people there.

I read Twilight of Innocence before going there and have re-read portions of it many times. What resulted in Beverly's disappearce could have taken place somewhere along Linnet Avenue as she was walking home after the event. However, there seems to be minimal verification of her being seen in the park after her girl friend, Patsy, left and went home (Patsy had to be home before dark while Beverly had permission to stay until the end of the show). The newsboy said he had seen Beverly after the show in the park, but his recollection came later, in the days following the disappearace, and might still be in question these many years later. From all that has been reported from that time and in the book, it appears Beverly would not have willingly gone with anyone she did not know. It seems almost impossible that a forced abduction could have taken place in Halloran Park or in the immediate vicinity at that time due to the large crowd on hand that night.

As far as the investigation being bungled, it should be remembered that two of the Cleveland Police Department's top men were called into the case even before many of the details were even known. Not to say that high-ranking police officials can not make errors, but I think that that concern may be more plausible had lower-ranking police been involved at the start.

Just a few thoughts on this matter which is now 59 years old and counting............

 

[Claudette]

Interesting! So it sounds like there was one witness to place her there after her friend and it is a shaky witness at best. That opens up a much larger window and, unfortunately, makes it even more unlikely that she will ever be found.

 

[amber1]

59 years and counting....we still remember you

 

[nerosleuth]

Did the book mentioned about how the houses were built in the neighborhood where Beverly Potts lived?

Did the houses have basements? Did the houses have concrete floors or dirt floors in the basement? Did the houses have crawl spaces?

It very well could be that she is buried somewhere in the neighborhood where she disappeared.

 

[MaryLiz]

Did the book mentioned about how the houses were built in the neighborhood where Beverly Potts lived?

Did the houses have basements? Did the houses have concrete floors or dirt floors in the basement? Did the houses have crawl spaces?

It very well could be that she is buried somewhere in the neighborhood where she disappeared.

Bold by me...

I have the book, but lent it to marilynilpa on here to read. I told her to keep it as long as she wanted to. I can't remember exact details about the houses, but I do know when I finished the book I came to the very same conclusion that she was buried in the neighborhood. It was so odd to me that there were so many people around that night, yet no one saw anything, or specifically, anything out of the ordinary. Also, it's been mentioned a lot by anyone who knew Beverly that she would never go anywhere with a stranger, at least without putting up a fierce fight. If that was the case, it would have drawn attention to her. I can't remember either if the author of Twilight of Innocence mentioned it in the book, or if I just came to that conclusion after eliminating all other theories, but I do believe she was probably snatched by a neighbor. The author must have suggested something along those lines, because I have it in my mind that she could possibly be buried in a neighbor's garage or underneath the garage floor, but again, without the book I can't recall exact details.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Cleveland P.D. detective Robert Wolf had the Beverly Potts matter as a cold case just a few years ago. Now retired, Wolf expressed his feelings in Twilight of Innocence that she could be buried somewhere in the neighborhood. In making that thought known, Wolf pointed out that in the early 1950's, the garages on Linnet Avenue had dirt floors. The obvious feeling is that it would not have been difficult back then to bury a body. Although various laws prevent authorities from random digging, you do wonder in this age of technology if there isn't some way from afar to attempt to detect if remains might be in a specific location.

Although reports say the police spoke with residents on Linnet Avenue, you begin to wonder who some of them were and what their backgrounds were like. Since Beverly was quite shy even around those she knew, which of those residents might she have trusted? Perhaps those would be people you might want to check out further.

 

[White Rain]

Cleveland P.D. detective Robert Wolf had the Beverly Potts matter as a cold case just a few years ago. Now retired, Wolf expressed his feelings in Twilight of Innocence that she could be buried somewhere in the neighborhood. In making that thought known, Wolf pointed out that in the early 1950's, the garages on Linnet Avenue had dirt floors. The obvious feeling is that it would not have been difficult back then to bury a body. Although various laws prevent authorities from random digging, you do wonder in this age of technology if there isn't some way from afar to attempt to detect if remains might be in a specific location.

Although reports say the police spoke with residents on Linnet Avenue, you begin to wonder who some of them were and what their backgrounds were like. Since Beverly was quite shy even around those she knew, which of those residents might she have trusted? Perhaps those would be people you might want to check out further.

This book has been on my wish list forever! poor girl!