The “Black Dahlia” is Found Murdered

January 15, 1947

The “Black Dahlia” is Found Murdered

Elizabeth Short was the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder that is still unsolved.

Nicknamed the “Black Dahlia” by newspapers after her body was recovered in Leimert Park in Los Angeles, the aspiring actress was found mutilated, her body severed at the waist. The unsolved murder has been the source of widespread speculation, leading to several books and film adaptations, as well as many false confessions and leads in the years since she was killed. The origin of the slain beauty’s sobriquet is also the subject of debate.

Newspaper reports shortly after her murder state Elizabeth Short was bestowed the nickname “Black Dahlia” at a Long Beach, California, drugstore in mid-1946 as wordplay on the popular movie “The Blue Dahlia.” She was called the “Black Dahlia” because of her dark hair.

However, Los Angeles County district attorney investigators’ reports state the nickname was invented by newspaper reporters covering her murder. Los Angeles Herald-Express reporter Bevo Means, who interviewed Elizabeth’s acquaintances at the drug store, is credited with first using the “Black Dahlia” name.

Like her Elizabeth Short’s brutal murder, the source of “The Black Dahlia” moniker remains a mystery.