The Woman Who Became the Black Dahlia

"Many times, it was physical; she'd land in a new city-Miami, Jacksonville, Chicago, Long Beach, San Diego, Los Angeles-and explore its streets on foot. Sometimes her travels revolved around family, as when she tracked down her long-lost father and lived with him for a time-until he cast her out. On January 9, 1947, Short, who was 22, told a gentleman friend to drop her off at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where her sister was supposedly waiting. She was never seen alive again."

"She was referring to the poet and novelist Sylvia Plath, another beautiful young woman who died too soon, after which her life and words became grist for the biographical mill. But Malcolm's words apply equally, even eerily, to the afterlife of Short-one of America's most famous murder victims, and certainly among the most persistent subjects of the true-crime industrial complex."

Elizabeth Short frequently wandered physically and mentally, traveling to cities such as Miami, Jacksonville, Chicago, Long Beach, San Diego, and Los Angeles. She tracked down her long-lost father and lived with him until he cast her out. On January 9, 1947, at age 22, she asked a gentleman friend to drop her at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to meet her sister and was never seen alive again. Six days later her bisected body was found in a vacant lot. Sensational reporting and repeated leads eroded her personal identity, transforming her into 'The Black Dahlia,' an enduring true-crime myth.

Read at The Atlantic