CA CA - Jean Spangler, 27, Los Angeles, 7 October 1949

[Brightchaser47]

Hello everyone - I found this from a reddit post but didn't see the information replicated here. Passing along. Does anyone know if this has been reported already? Some of the similarities are uncanny to a "Tucson Jane Doe."

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Original post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldoe/comments/15s82py/could_this_1951_jane_doe_be_missing_actress_jean

I don't know how the reporting bit works, but the similarities warrant it, imo.

 

[Richard]

Photo taken in 1949. Left, Mrs. Betsy Shreckengaust (Jean's sister) and their mother, Florence Spangler during custody hearings regarding Jean's daughter Christine Benner.

LINK:

Missing actress' mom called 'legal stranger

Photograph was edited for publication purposes.Born in Seattle, Jean Spangler married Dexter Benner (March 20, 1920-May 7, 2007) in 1942, when she was 19 years old. She first filed for divorce after six months, but their marriage officially lasted until 1946 and two years after that, she won...

calisphere.org

 

[mlhenn]

Jean Elizabeth Spangler – The Charley Project

Last updated December 27, 2024; height, weight and clothing/jewelry description added.

• Height and Weight5'8, 140 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA white coat, a wool blouse and dark green pants.

 

[Richard]

Jean has been missing for over 75 years.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Jean has been missing for over 75 years.

That's a long time.....

 

[Same Old Stella]

The whole purse thing bothers me if she died during an abortion. With the evidence left inside, it almost seems more like the crime was random or, if not, that somebody was purposely trying to throw suspicion on Douglas. I think an abortionist would be taking an unnecessary risk when he could just burn or bury the purse or do with it whatever he did with the body.

This got me to thinking, was the Kirk note positively identified as being in Jean's handwriting? If not, you are probably right.

 

[beubeubeu]

This got me to thinking, was the Kirk note positively identified as being in Jean's handwriting? If not, you are probably right.

It probably was hers but that still wouldnt mean that she indeed was meeting Kirk Douglas. Kirk was, imo very far from decent human being, but plenty of men around him were even worse. Kirk himself was, imo, complete and pathological liar about literally everything but, also imo not the kind of guy who would murder his pregnant gf, just no.
BUT, cause there were no proofs of a romance happening between Jean and Kirk an obvious explanation seems to be another guy who kept calling himself Kirk while with Jean...
OR that romance did happen and someone from Kirk's crowd was helping them with a coverup and he was the murderer. Jean could hope to meet Kirk, and in case she'd fail to meet him then shed just leave the note... and thats when she could meet the other guy who murdered her for rejection.
Kirk, the real Kirk was so soo sooo full of himself that much bigger monster could hide in the plain sight close to him, very close to him.

 

[Mysteries1974]

As someone who is interested in Old Hollywood and the actors/actresses of that time period… Jean’s disappearance always comes into mind when I watch these movies.

I tend to wonder if maybe she would’ve someday attained a higher level of stardom, she definitely had the looks and she appeared to be a very capable dancer. Probably due to her being a teenage dancer at two theaters before she began getting small parts in films. Jean had a very pretty voice, she has a single line in Miracle of the Bells (1948) near the end of the film.

Interestingly, Jean appeared as an extra on two Betty Grable movies… When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948) and Wabash Avenue (1950). In the 1948 movie, Jean is seen in two different scenes standing on the right directly next to Grable. Betty was known to have been very kind and friendly to the extras that worked with her on movies so I tend to wonder if Betty and Jean ever spoke to each other or knew one another slightly (chances are they crossed paths). Jean was friendly with Robert Cummings and everyone who knew her said Spangler was very kind natured.

I hate how Kirk Douglas essentially slandered her in his autobiography. Using terms like “star f*cker” to describe a likely murdered woman is grossly misogynistic but I wouldn’t expect much from Douglas who was one of Hollywood’s worst womanizers. There’s no real evidence he killed her but I don’t buy for a second that Kirk Douglas, the man known for cheating on his wife with extras, rejected Jean Spangler. I am inclined to believe he probably had a fling with Jean but he denied it to save his career.

The note is interesting. Perhaps “Kirk” was the name of another man she met on a movie set or a random guy she began dating. Maybe it was intended for Kirk Douglas because him and Jean had sexual relations that resulted in a pregnancy so she decided to get an abortion. Either way, she clearly didn’t have the opportunity to send the note and I’m betting she never went to any “doctor” for an abortion.

Still, the fact that Douglas claimed he heard on the news that Jean had been “found murdered and dumped by the Mexican border” seemed like one of those slip of the tongue moments we see in some cases. That and being super quick to clear his name before he was even labeled a suspect is a little off to me. However, I’m sure anyone who was linked to a missing person through the papers that had nothing to do with it would want that out of the papers… especially a rising star like Kirk so it’s very much possible he wanted to clear his name quickly to avoid a total blown scandal.

I’m mostly inclined to believe that Dexter Benner killed Jean and that his wife provided him with a false alibi. As many have pointed out, Dexter is a classical manipulator and control freak. He was angry that Jean got custody of their daughter because he wanted his new wife Lynn to raise her/be her primary caregiver. I’m sure Jean demanding more child support and questioning him on why his previous payments were so late probably pissed him off.

He seemed to hold a lot of anger towards Jean and seemed very intent on making her life miserable. Obviously I wouldn’t expect him to be very pleasant towards his ex-wife who cheated on him and drained their bank account while he was off at war but he already seemed to be a very angry/controlling person before that.

Benner taking his boat out on the night Jean vanished and not mentioning it + the scratches on his face tell me that something happened that night. They probably fought and he attacked her, she scratched him in defense so he killed her. Then, he takes her out on his boat and dumps her body in the water somewhere. He then takes his daughter and moves away to Florida, starting a new life with his new wife.

The only person stopping Dexter from having his dream life was Jean. He wanted a housewife and she wanted to be a star but she also wanted her daughter in her life. I feel sad every time I think about what Jean might’ve gone through that night.

This case is very difficult to look at and say with certainty that you believe one scenario over the other. Jean had a lot going on around her at the time of her disappearance. She was hanging out with mobsters, trying to climb the latter of stardom, and her ex-husband is giving her problems/misery because he wants to make sure their daughter never sees her again.

The fact that Jean’s sister in law wouldn’t do a camera interview that one time because she still feared Dexter tells me everything I need to know about him. I felt terrible for her and still do. Same with Jean’s mother who lost both her child and grandchild, dying without ever learning Jean’s fate or seeing her granddaughter.

I hope someday maybe Jean’s remains are found so she can be laid to rest but I doubt we will ever get confirmation on who killed her. Rest in Peace, Jeanie Spangler.

 

[alb1on]

Whilst we should never rule out suspects in the absence of positive evidence for exclusion I do think that to make Dexter Benner a strong option three questions need to be answered. Firstly, is it just coincidence that she went missing at the same time as Dave Ogul? If so it seems a hell of a coincidence. Secondly, if it was not a mob related case why did Jimmy Fratianno concoct a story tying it to the mob? Thirdly, if it was Benner how did he escape the revenge of the mob who would not have looked kindly on the murder of anyone associated with them, even in the middle of a mob war?

 

[Mysteries1974]

Whilst we should never rule out suspects in the absence of positive evidence for exclusion I do think that to make Dexter Benner a strong option three questions need to be answered. Firstly, is it just coincidence that she went missing at the same time as Dave Ogul? If so it seems a hell of a coincidence. Secondly, if it was not a mob related case why did Jimmy Fratianno concoct a story tying it to the mob? Thirdly, if it was Benner how did he escape the revenge of the mob who would not have looked kindly on the murder of anyone associated with them, even in the middle of a mob war?

I definitely agree that David vanishing on October 5th is a little too coincidental to be overlooked. Jean being spotted with him quite a few times before she disappeared also definitely adds fuel to the theory that her disappearance was mob related.

The only way I could see the mob angle being true is if Ogul and Spangler were both killed together for whatever reason or if Ogul killed her before making himself scarce. I’m not too confident in the alleged sighting of Spangler and Ogul in Texas in early 1950.

I do not believe Jean left with Ogul on her own, I think in order for someone to keep Spangler away from her daughter they’d have to kill her. She was an extremely devoted parent, she went through a lot of trouble to get full custody and she was doing whatever she could to provide for her. Sure, she wanted stardom but she also wanted to provide the best life possible for her child.

I have my reasons for why I suspect the mob, Kirk Douglas, and Dexter Benner. If Jean became privy to information that she wasn’t supposed to know, it’s no surprise the mob or Ogul himself had her silenced. I’m still very disturbed by Kirk Douglas saying he heard on the radio that Jean’s body had been found near the Mexican border. I definitely think him and Jean had an affair on set but I can’t say with certainty that he was involved.

As for Dexter, he’s pretty self explanatory. He was controlling and seemed pretty intent on making Jean’s life a living nightmare. The fact that he had scratches on his face when he went to pick Christine up plus conveniently forgetting to mention that he took his boat out of the marina on the night of Jean’s disappearance seems a bit too coincidental for me to simply write Dexter off as a disgruntled ex-husband.

Also I don’t think Jean had a deeply personal connection with the mob, at least not enough for them to want retribution for her if they suspected her ex murdered her. Still, I could be wrong. Perhaps Benner was simply disgruntled with Jean due to her affair that occurred while he was deployed and felt her Hollywood lifestyle clashed with her duties as a mother. We know he wanted Lynn to raise her over Jean.

IMO, Benner saw Jean as an obstacle to his dream life. One where he and his new wife raised Christine, one where Jean was out of the picture. I personally think he killed Jean and then brainwashed Christine into viewing her mother in a bad light so that she wouldn’t question why she was missing.

 

[alb1on]

I definitely agree that David vanishing on October 5th is a little too coincidental to be overlooked. Jean being spotted with him quite a few times before she disappeared also definitely adds fuel to the theory that her disappearance was mob related.

The only way I could see the mob angle being true is if Ogul and Spangler were both killed together for whatever reason or if Ogul killed her before making himself scarce. I’m not too confident in the alleged sighting of Spangler and Ogul in Texas in early 1950.

The Jimmy Fratianno version is that they were killed together; Ogul being the primary target as part of the mob war going on and Spangler just collateral damage as she was with him at the time.