The Disappearance of Jean Spangler

The Hollywood actress’ case is still unsolved seven decades later.

On the 7th October 1949, Jean Spangler said goodbye to her daughter, walked out of the door of her apartment in Park La Brea and vanished. This would be the last time Christine would ever see her mother alive. What followed was one of the biggest manhunts in Los Angeles history.

Jean Elizabeth Spangler was born on 2nd September 1923 in Seattle, Washington to Florence and Cecil Spangler. Jean was a dancer, model and actress and when she graduated from Franklin High School in Los Angeles, she started modelling professionally and danced at Florentine Gardens and the Earl Carroll Theatre in Los Angeles, notorious for their clientele.

In 1941, Jean started to win bit parts in Hollywood movies, such as When My Baby Smiles At Me, Chicken Every Sunday and Young Man With a Horn. In total, she had 8 screen credits, but she went mainly uncredited for a lot of work.

A year later, 19-year-old Jean married Dexter Benner, a plastics manufacturer who was two years older than her. The marriage only lasted a few months with Jean filing for divorce, citing Benner of mental cruelty. However, the relationship continued, and soon Christine was born. The couple eventually divorced in 1946 and a custody battle over their daughter started, with Benner stating that Jean “preferred parties to priorities”.