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

[MaryLiz]

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.

Thank you Cincinnati Kid, I knew I read something in the book that led me to believe she could be buried in a neighbor's garage, but couldn't remember the specifics.

 

[Claudette]

Dirt floor surrounded by walls in which no one would see a dang thing that you'd be doing?

 

[amber1]

I am almost 100% that if they researched her neighbors and dug up that neighborhood, they would've found Beverly. It would be hard to do now, but not impossible.
I feel like they focused too much on Beverly's family or 'some outta town stranger' instead of her neighbors. Beverly's family has paid the price for this mistake. Her mother died a few months after she lost Beverly, most likely because of grief.

 

[nanny2five]

bump

 

[Mats]

Fred Krause.. who said he saw Beverley walkning in the grass that fatal night..described her walkning "like a duck". That´s why the police belived him but if so..did Beverley have som ilness? I have read the book many times whitout finding anything about this except what Krause "saw". I think it was important for the investigation? Sorry for my bad english! :innocent:

 

[Stella]

Beverly suffered from a foot disorder called duck or slew feet. The opposite of pidgeon toed. Children usually grow out of it by puberty. It means she walked with her feet splayed outwards. I had the condition myself in elementary school and ruined more than one pair of penny loafers on account of it.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Remembering Beverly. She disappeared 60 years ago this evening.

 

[Ambercat]

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.

I added Twilight of Innocence to my reading list, but I haven't read it yet. From what I have read about Beverly Potts and her disappearance, I wonder if someone she knew (like a parent or older relative of one of her friends) asked her to stop by their house or if she did stop at one of her friend's house (and the friend wasn't there) and that is why no one really saw anything and not much evidence was found. There was another case on the east coast where another girl went to her friend's house but her friend wasn't there yet her cousin (or it might have been the friend's uncle) was at the house and he killed her. I'm sorry, I don't remember the names -- I think the killer's last name was Clark, but I'm not 100% sure. I think something like that could have happened to Beverly Potts.

 

[MaryLiz]

I added Twilight of Innocence to my reading list, but I haven't read it yet. From what I have read about Beverly Potts and her disappearance, I wonder if someone she knew (like a parent or older relative of one of her friends) asked her to stop by their house or if she did stop at one of her friend's house (and the friend wasn't there) and that is why no one really saw anything and not much evidence was found. There was another case on the east coast where another girl went to her friend's house but her friend wasn't there yet her cousin (or it might have been the friend's uncle) was at the house and he killed her. I'm sorry, I don't remember the names -- I think the killer's last name was Clark, but I'm not 100% sure. I think something like that could have happened to Beverly Potts.

I think you might mean Hadden Clark. He was beyond creepy. Below is a summary of his crimes before they finally locked him up for good.

http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc 405/serial killers/Clark, Hadden _2005_.pdf


Regarding Beverly Potts though, I also believe whatever happened to her happened right there in the neighborhood. I do think one of her neighbors lured her in somehow. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know what really happened to her.

 

[believe09]

Case File 162DFOH

Potts, circa 1951

Beverly Potts
Missing since August 1951 from Cleveland, Ohio.
Classification: Endangered Missing




Vital Statistics

• Age at Time of Disappearance: 10 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'11"; 90 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
• Clothing: Blue jeans with a side zipper and no label; bright red cotton panties; green socks; a white cotton Honeylane undershirt; a red sport shirt; a navy blue poplin jacket with no label and both pockets torn; size five or five and a half brown Karrybrooke Sportshoes loafers and a yellow gold ring.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Potts disappeared from a neighborhood festival at Halloran Park. There were no witnesses and no trace of what happened to her.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Cleveland Police Department
760-839-4722 Source Information:
Channel 5 News
The Charley Project

This whole clothing description struck me as strange:

"Blue jeans with a side zipper and no label; bright red cotton panties; green socks; a white cotton Honeylane undershirt; a red sport shirt; a navy blue poplin jacket with no label and both pockets torn; size five or five and a half brown Karrybrooke Sportshoes loafers and a yellow gold ring."

Why did the person who gave the descriptor know what underclothes she was wearing down to her socks, but was unclear on her shoe size?

 

[ravenwitch]

no kidding. Who would know what color socks and underwear a ten year old was wearing?

 

[believe09]

Anyone know who reported her?

 

[Ambercat]

I think you might mean Hadden Clark. He was beyond creepy. Below is a summary of his crimes before they finally locked him up for good.

http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc 405/serial killers/Clark, Hadden _2005_.pdf


Regarding Beverly Potts though, I also believe whatever happened to her happened right there in the neighborhood. I do think one of her neighbors lured her in somehow. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know what really happened to her.

Yes. I did mean Hadden Clark and the little girl he killed was Michelle Door. Sorry, I had a mental block earlier. I think there is a high likelihood that Beverly Potts went to someone's house (either on her own or invited) and that she met with bad fate there. Otherwise, there would have been more evidence/witnesses.

 

[Ambercat]

This whole clothing description struck me as strange:

"Blue jeans with a side zipper and no label; bright red cotton panties; green socks; a white cotton Honeylane undershirt; a red sport shirt; a navy blue poplin jacket with no label and both pockets torn; size five or five and a half brown Karrybrooke Sportshoes loafers and a yellow gold ring."

Why did the person who gave the descriptor know what underclothes she was wearing down to her socks, but was unclear on her shoe size?

That's really strange. Noticing the color of her socks isn't that weird (maybe she was walking around her house without shoes earlier in the day), but knowing what color underwear she is wearing? I also agree with you not knowing what size the shoes are is strange, too, unless it is a situation where she wears a five or five and a half depending on the brand and her parents couldn't remember which one the loafers were, I guess.

 

[Mats]

I added Twilight of Innocence to my reading list, but I haven't read it yet. From what I have read about Beverly Potts and her disappearance, I wonder if someone she knew (like a parent or older relative of one of her friends) asked her to stop by their house or if she did stop at one of her friend's house (and the friend wasn't there) and that is why no one really saw anything and not much evidence was found. There was another case on the east coast where another girl went to her friend's house but her friend wasn't there yet her cousin (or it might have been the friend's uncle) was at the house and he killed her. I'm sorry, I don't remember the names -- I think the killer's last name was Clark, but I'm not 100% sure. I think something like that could have happened to Beverly Potts.

As I have read in the book..Beverley was very shy for men. Even to men that she knew..like a friends daddy or so. And it was dark when she went home from Halloran that night. Shouldn´t she come home so quickly as possible?

 

[MaryLiz]

Anyone know who reported her?

I agree about the description of the clothes being kind of odd. I never thought of that before. I had the book, "Twilight of Innocence," but lent it to another WSer who hasn't posted in a long time. I can't remember for sure, but I was thinking one of her parents gave the description. I could be wrong though. I may get another copy of the book. There are too many things I can't remember from the book and I need to read it again, and also just have it here for reference.

 

[Ambercat]

As I have read in the book..Beverley was very shy for men. Even to men that she knew..like a friends daddy or so. And it was dark when she went home from Halloran that night. Shouldn´t she come home so quickly as possible?

Yes, she should, but sometimes kids get easily distracted. Maybe it wasn't a man at all who kidnapped her; maybe it was a woman (someone along the lines of Melissa Huckaby). I think she was seen with a middle aged woman during the showwagon.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

In a disappearance like this one - where no body, clothing, etc. has ever been found - you really have to look for a time when it would have been most likely for Beverly to have been taken with no one seeing it. Almost all of the circumstances point to when she would have been on her way home on Linnet Avenue. It had grown dark by the time she would have started home and the lighting on that street in 1951 was hampered by the trees that grew very close to the street.

Could someone have summoned her to their house? It must be remembered that Beverly was very shy so for her stop in her walk and go to a house, it had to be someone she knew. The question does arise, since it was so dark and hard to see on Linnet Avenue, how could this person know it was Beverly walking there? The answer would almost have to be that this person had been watching her movements and perhaps for a time other than that night. What took place after that is as puzzling as it it is chilling. What would posess a person - especially a neighbor - to harm or kill a ten-year old and then conceal her body? Did the person then take the body elsewhere or keep it somewhere in their house or on their property? If such a scenario took place, you might tend to question how thorough of a search was done on Linnet Avenue by police authorities? Remember, police came to that area with-in a few hours of Beverly being reported missing and they kept a strong presence there for many days afterward.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

For those of you wondering about the houses in the area:

Beverly's house was built in 1928. It does have a basement. It is a 3 bedroom colonial, 1232 square feet. I grew up a few miles from here and we're in this neighborhood pretty often as my husband's church is there. Most of the houses in the neighborhood are about this age...built in the boom times in Cleveland when the city was really happening, before the crash of '29. The basements are usually concrete and unfinished. Also, the houses in this neighborhood are really really close together with front porches sitting on postage stamp lawns.

One thing...it can get very hot and humid here in the summers on the shores of Lake Erie. There would have been no central air. Almost definitely some of the residents of Linnett Avenue would have been out on their porches that night, or walking home from the fair themselves. ALL of the residents likely had their windows open, unless it was unseasonably cold. Can we look up historical temp data for that day? I just don't see her being grabbed on Linnet and no one hearing it.

 

[dogperson]

Yes, she should, but sometimes kids get easily distracted. Maybe it wasn't a man at all who kidnapped her; maybe it was a woman (someone along the lines of Melissa Huckaby). I think she was seen with a middle aged woman during the showwagon.

That is a good point. We tend to focus on men when little girls go missing but there are the Melissa Huckaby's of the world too. I wonder if that's why some missing girls cases go unsolved, LE focusing on males in the area & male sex offenders when some deviant woman is floating around under their radar & never investigated.