Six missing days · one authenticated package · no resolution
Elizabeth Short was last seen in Los Angeles six days before her body was discovered in January 1947. An authenticated package followed, but no suspect was ever charged.
The Black Dahlia case concerns the unsolved homicide of Elizabeth Short, whose mutilated body was found in Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947. Short's killing drew intense national press coverage, generated hundreds of leads and confessions, and remains one of the most famous unsolved murder investigations in U.S. history.
Elizabeth Short
A life eclipsed by a headline
Recent developments
Recent reporting and official developments, labeled by source and verification status.
Jul 1, 2026 · People
People reported that the filmmakers behind Deconstructing Dahlia believe a concealed room and evidence of an old bloodshed event at a Los Angeles motel identify where Elizabeth Short was killed and point to a suspect.
Context
The documentary team's conclusions have not been publicly verified by LAPD, and the Black Dahlia murder remains officially unsolved.
Apr 30, 2026 · Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times assessed the theory that Marvin Margolis killed Elizabeth Short and later became the Zodiac, contrasting its circumstantial arguments with expert warnings about confirmation bias and major behavioral differences between the crimes.
Context
The article reports no conclusive forensic link, and neither LAPD nor San Francisco police has publicly endorsed the theory.
The scale
Key figures are drawn from the published case record.
The critical window
The strongest chronology runs from Short's last confirmed sighting through the discovery, autopsy, and authenticated package sent to newspapers.
See all 14 mapped locations →Jan 9, 1947
Robert "Red" Manley dropped Elizabeth Short off at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. She was last seen making phone calls from the hotel lobby.
Jan 14, 1947
Elizabeth Short was murdered, likely sometime during the evening of January 14 or the early morning hours of January 15, as medical examiners determined she had been dead for about ten hours prior to the discovery of her body.
Jan 15, 1947
Elizabeth Short's naked, bisected, and severely mutilated body was discovered by Betty Bersinger in a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
Jan 16, 1947
An autopsy on Elizabeth Short's body was performed by Los Angeles County coroner Frederick Newbarr.
Jan 24, 1947
A manila envelope addressed to "The Los Angeles Examiner and other Los Angeles papers" was discovered, containing Elizabeth Short's birth certificate, business cards, photographs, and an address book, all cleaned with gasoline.
What the record establishes
Elizabeth Short was last confirmed alive after Robert Manley dropped her at the Biltmore Hotel on January 9, 1947.
A package sent to newspapers contained Elizabeth Short’s personal items and became a major authenticated investigative event.
The FBI and public-record sources in the case file document the investigation but do not identify a publicly accepted killer.
Intense press coverage generated enduring public fascination, but also false confessions, weak leads, and suspect narratives that can obscure the primary record.
See the visual archive →Where certainty changes
Open each layer to see what the archive treats as core, contested, or unresolved.
Go deeper
This overview is the map. The case tabs hold the underlying events, people, media, locations, and source material.