
Twilight of Innocence
The Disappearance of Beverly Potts
The Kent State University Press(Author)
Kent State University Press
Published on 31. May 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-87338-836-8 (ISBN)
Description
One of the nation's first highly publicized missing child cases
Ten-year-old Beverly Potts was last seen at 9:00 p.m. the evening of August 24, 1951, at Halloran Park on Cleveland's West Side. She and her neighbor and friend Patricia Swing had gone to see the Showagon-a troupe of singers, dancers, magicians, and other performers that traveled around Cleveland's neighborhood parks during the summer, giving free performances. Patricia had to be home before dark, but Beverly's parents told her she could stay until the show was over. When she was still not home by 9:30, her father, Robert, went out looking for her. He returned home at 10:30 without his daughter and called the Cleveland police. Beverly Potts had disappeared without a trace or any evidence of her fate.
James Jessen Badal reexamines the events leading up to Beverly Potts's disappearance and the subsequent police investigation and over-the-top, sensational publicity in the Cleveland press. His interviews with detectives assigned to this still-open case and his examination of police records provide a chronology of the false leads and hoaxes that culminated in this disturbing case of dead end after dead end. Badal draws comparisons between investigative techniques of the time and more modern ones and examines the social and historical context in his analysis of the more than half-century of public fascination with this case.
Those who remember the kidnapping and still wonder what happened to Beverly Potts will look for clues in this book. True crime aficionados everywhere will find Twilight of Innocence to be an important study in the tragedy of unsolved disappearances.
Ten-year-old Beverly Potts was last seen at 9:00 p.m. the evening of August 24, 1951, at Halloran Park on Cleveland's West Side. She and her neighbor and friend Patricia Swing had gone to see the Showagon-a troupe of singers, dancers, magicians, and other performers that traveled around Cleveland's neighborhood parks during the summer, giving free performances. Patricia had to be home before dark, but Beverly's parents told her she could stay until the show was over. When she was still not home by 9:30, her father, Robert, went out looking for her. He returned home at 10:30 without his daughter and called the Cleveland police. Beverly Potts had disappeared without a trace or any evidence of her fate.
James Jessen Badal reexamines the events leading up to Beverly Potts's disappearance and the subsequent police investigation and over-the-top, sensational publicity in the Cleveland press. His interviews with detectives assigned to this still-open case and his examination of police records provide a chronology of the false leads and hoaxes that culminated in this disturbing case of dead end after dead end. Badal draws comparisons between investigative techniques of the time and more modern ones and examines the social and historical context in his analysis of the more than half-century of public fascination with this case.
Those who remember the kidnapping and still wonder what happened to Beverly Potts will look for clues in this book. True crime aficionados everywhere will find Twilight of Innocence to be an important study in the tragedy of unsolved disappearances.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Kent, OH
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
40 photographs
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-87338-836-8 (9780873388368)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2001
Kent State University Press
€12.49
Available for download

E-Book
04/2001
The Kent State University Press
€12.49
Available for download
Person
James Badal is assistant professor of English at Cuyahogs Community College in Cleveland. A writer on the arts, primarily music, he has published articles in numerous Cleveland newspapers and magazines as well as national journals. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Police Historical Society in 2000.