In January 1947, the body of a young woman was discovered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. She was identified through her fingerprints as twenty-two-year-old Elizabeth Short, whose murder would become one of the most infamous unsolved cases in American history.

Within days, newspapers had given the case a name that would endure for generations: the Black Dahlia. Headlines, rumours, false confessions and competing theories soon surrounded the investigation. Elizabeth's life became increasingly difficult to separate from the mythology that grew around her death.

But beneath the newspaper stories was a real woman, a family, and an investigation that accumulated an extraordinary amount of information without ever identifying her killer.

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😴 Also from the Sleepy family: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Astronomer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Biologist ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Geographer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Who was Elizabeth Short before the headlines? What did investigators actually discover? Why did so many people confess to a murder they hadn't committed? And how did a case with so much attention, so many suspects and so much surviving documentation remain unsolved?

In this calm, atmospheric investigation, we travel back to Los Angeles in 1947 and follow the story from Elizabeth's early life and final days to the discovery on Norton Avenue, the frantic newspaper coverage, the investigation that followed, and the theories that have continued to surround the case.

We'll examine the original suspects, the physical evidence, the false confessions and the later theories that have attempted to identify the killer. Along the way, we'll distinguish what was documented at the time from what investigators inferred, and what later writers and researchers have proposed.

The investigation accumulated information. The newspapers accumulated stories. The public accumulated theories. But none of that accumulation necessarily brought investigators closer to the truth.

Tonight, we won't pretend to solve the murder of Elizabeth Short. We'll return to the surviving evidence, consider what it can tell us, and remember the person behind the name that the newspapers made famous.

Perfect For:

• Falling asleep to true crime and unsolved mysteries
• Calm historical investigations
• Atmospheric documentaries for sleep
• Famous unsolved murders and cold cases
• Exploring forensic evidence, false confessions and historical mysteries

Settle in, get comfortable, and come with me to Los Angeles in January 1947, where a discovery in an ordinary residential neighbourhood began an investigation that would capture the world's attention — and leave one question unanswered.

This is The Sleepy Investigator.

Five disappearances. Five investigations that uncovered as many questions as answers. A New York judge vanished after leaving a restaurant in 1930. Three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz and disappeared into the waters of San Francisco Bay. Five young men drove into the California mountains and were later found in circumstances that remain deeply puzzling. An eighteen-year-old vanished in North Carolina, leaving behind a car containing a puppy and a series of strange clues. And in a quiet French village, the murder of a four-year-old boy became entangled with a mysterious anonymous voice that had terrorised his family for years.

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☕ If you enjoy these relaxing historical mysteries, you can support the channel here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me A Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And if you're already part of this channel, thank you for being here.

😴 Also from the Sleepy family: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Astronomer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Biologist ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Geographer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode of The Sleepy Investigator, we explore the strange and unresolved cases of Joseph Force Crater, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, the Yuba County Five, Zebb Quinn, and Grégory Villemin.

From the streets of 1930s New York and the waters surrounding Alcatraz to isolated mountain roads, a deserted roadside restaurant and a mist-covered French river, each investigation produced a second mystery — one that remains unanswered.

Settle in, turn down the lights, and join me as we explore five disappearances that generated a second mystery.

Cases covered:

• Joseph Force Crater — New York, 1930

• Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers — Alcatraz, 1962

• The Yuba County Five — California, 1978

• Zebb Quinn — North Carolina, 2000

• Grégory Villemin — France, 1984

The Sleepy Investigator explores real unsolved mysteries in a calm, documentary-style format designed to be listened to slowly and thoughtfully.

In January 1935, a young man checked into the Hotel President in Kansas City, Missouri, using the name Roland T. Owen. He carried almost nothing with him. He kept to his room, drew the curtains, and attracted the attention of several hotel employees through a series of unusual encounters.

A few days later, he was found gravely injured in Room 1046. He would die in hospital without ever explaining what had happened to him.

At first, investigators didn't even know who he was.

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☕ If you enjoy these relaxing historical mysteries, you can support the channel here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me A Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And if you're already part of this channel, thank you for being here.

😴 Also from the Sleepy family: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Astronomer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Biologist ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sleepy Geographer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Who was the man registered as Roland T. Owen? Why had he used a false name? Who were the people who visited, telephoned, or appeared to be connected to him? And what had happened behind the closed door of Room 1046?

The investigation would uncover a trail of aliases, conflicting witness accounts, unexplained telephone calls, anonymous funeral arrangements, and people who seemed to know something about the dead man's life. Yet, despite years of enquiries, the central mystery remained unresolved.

Eventually, the young man was identified as Artemus Ogletree. His real name had been recovered, but the circumstances surrounding his final days remained elusive. The people who may have been with him in Kansas City were never conclusively identified, and nobody was ever charged with his murder.

In this calm, atmospheric investigation, we travel back to Kansas City in 1935 and follow the story from the city's troubled history and the mysterious hotel registration to the discovery in Room 1046, the search for the man's identity, and the many unanswered questions that followed.

Who was Don? What connected Artemus to the other names that appeared during the investigation? Why did someone arrange and pay for his burial anonymously? And who was Louise, the person who sent thirteen American Beauty roses with the message "Love forever"?

Was the answer hidden among the people who passed through the hotel? Did someone know exactly what had happened but choose never to speak? Or did the evidence simply disappear along with the people investigators were trying to find?

Tonight, we won't pretend to solve the mystery of Room 1046. We'll follow the surviving evidence, distinguish documented facts from later recollections and theories, and consider what the investigation can — and cannot — tell us about the final days of Artemus Ogletree.

Perfect For:

• Falling asleep to true crime and unsolved murders
• Calm historical investigations
• Atmospheric documentaries for sleep
• Mysterious hotel deaths and unexplained identities
• Exploring famous unsolved cases at bedtime

Settle in, get comfortable, and come with me to Kansas City in the winter of 1935, where a man checked into a hotel under a name that wasn't his, and left behind one of America's most enduring unsolved mysteries.

This is The Sleepy Investigator.