Jean Spangler was a ’40s actress on the brink of becoming a star. One evening in 1949, she told her sister-in-law that she was going to meet her ex-husband, and then to a film shoot that would last into the night. She never returned. Later, her purse was found in a park with the straps ripped. Inside, there was a note that read:
“Can’t wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away.”
The note was addressed to a Kirk. Famous actor Kirk Douglas called police specifically to say that it wasn’t him, but Spangler had been in his last film, and Kirk isn’t all that common a name. Plus, calling police specifically to tell them they shouldn’t suspect you is, well, a little suspicious.
A friend of Spangler’s would later say that she was on her way to have an abortion, which was illegal at the time and usually done unsafely. Whether she died in the process, or something happened to her on the way there, nobody is quite sure.
