S1 Episode 7: Maud Crawford

Maud Crawford disappeared from her home on March 2, 1957, sometime between 8:30 and 11 p.m. CST. At the time of her disappearance, Crawford was the first female attorney in Camden, Arkansas. Her law partner, Senator John L. McClellan, was chairing a high-profile Senate investigation into alleged mobster ties to organized labor. The case was international news for a time, as there was speculation that Crawford had been kidnapped by the Mafia to intimidate McClellan. No ransom note was ever delivered, no body was ever found, and the police have never solved the case.

The night that Crawford disappeared, her husband went to the Malco Theater and thereafter a liquor store, a routine which he followed nearly every evening.  At 8:30 p.m. Maud spoke by telephone with a cousin. When Clyde returned home about 11:30 p.m., he said that the house was fully lit inside and outside, and the television set was on in the living room. Maud's car was in the driveway with the keys. Her purse, with $142 in cash, was on a chair. When Maud did not return home by 1 a.m., Clyde drove around Camden to search for her.

At 1 a.m. on March 3, he stopped two police officers to ask if there had been an automobile accident that might explain her absence. An hour later, he drove to the police station to report his wife missing. An extensive hunt for Crawford followed.

Kristi Bryant interviews Beth Brickell an actress, writer, producer, and director who investigated the disappearance of Crawford in 1986.  Beth was from Camden, Arkansas the same place that Maud was kidnapped. Beth went on to write a book on Maud Crawford’s disappearance, “The Disappearance of Maud Crawford”, that is available for purchase on www.luminousfilms.net.

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