March 07, 2025

EP 80 | Elizabeth Short: Separating Fact From Fiction In The Black Dahlia Unsolved Murder Case (part one)

26 minutes

Elizabeth Short in life, The Black Dahlia in death. What do people really understand about the woman before she became the poster girl for true crime curiousities? Most know her as the Black Dahlia, but few know Elizabeth Short was a young woman whose life was marked by tragedy long before her brutal 1947 murder made headlines across America.

In part one, we separate fact from fiction in the life of Elizabeth Short, who was born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts. Her tragic story has been sensationalized for decades, but few know about the real woman behind the gruesome headlines.

Born in Hyde Park, Boston in 1924, Elizabeth was the middle daughter of five girls. Her early years took a devastating turn when her father, Cleo Short, lost everything in the 1929 Wall Street Crash and abandoned his family, staging his own suicide by leaving his car on a bridge. For twelve years, Elizabeth's mother Phoebe believed she was a widow, struggling alone to raise five daughters during the Great Depression.

The family's world was upended again in 1942 when a letter arrived from the supposedly dead Cleo, revealing he was alive and living in California. Elizabeth, seeking connection with the father she thought dead, traveled west only to find disappointment. Their reunion lasted barely a month. Her life continued on a path of heartbreak when her boyfriend, decorated WWII pilot Major Matt Gordon, died in a plane crash just weeks before Japan's surrender in 1945.

Despite media portrayal of Elizabeth as a "party girl," records reveal just one minor brush with the law—an underage drinking incident. The nickname "Black Dahlia" wasn't media sensationalism but originated during her time in Long Beach, inspired by her striking appearance: dark hair, pale skin, and signature red lipstick.

The cruel irony of Elizabeth Short's story lies in how she's remembered only for her brutal end, while the resilient women in her family—her mother and sisters who lived well into their 90s—carried the burden of never knowing what happened to their beloved Elizabeth. By exploring her life before the headlines, we honor the real woman who existed beyond the infamous case that still captivates America's imagination.

This is part one. In the next episode, I examine Elizabeth Short's final days and the enduring mystery of how this young woman met this fate and who is responsible for her brutal end.
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