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Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Mother (EP4604) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: going to bring you this week's episode of drag Now.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Before we do, I want to encourage you, if you
• 0:42
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• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Today's program is brought you in part by the financial
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  Speaker 1: support of our listeners. You can support the show on
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  Speaker 1: a one time basis by mailing a donation to Adam
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Graham Peelbox one point nine one three one thirteen, Boisei
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• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Now from November ninth, nineteen fifty, here is the Big Mother.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true, only
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: a detective sergeant. You're assigned to homicide detail. A newborn
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: baby is taken from a hospital nursery. There's no trace
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: of the infant, there's no trace of the abductor. Your
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: job find them.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: the law through an actual case transcribed from official police bolence,
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: the story of your police force in action.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: It was Thursday, January twenty eighth. It was raining in
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: My partner's Ben Romero, the boss's captain Steve, my name's Dragon.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Was eleven thirty five pm when we got to Mercy
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: Hospital on Norwich Avenue, the main entrance.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Better check it to death.
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: To bed a Wales.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: To be wayne police officers. We received a call from
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: the hospital here.
• 2:58
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes, you're right this.
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: Way, Yes, ma'am.
• 3:01
  Speaker 7: Doctor Welsh is waiting for him.
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: Is he the man in charge?
• 3:04
  Speaker 7: Oh no, doctor Welsh is the ahead of the hospital.
• 3:08
  Speaker 7: Please doctor Wells.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: All I mean please, thank you? Yes, doctor Walsh. How
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: do you do? It's my partner side at Romero. My
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: name is Friday, waiting for you. You have a seat, bib,
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: Thank you, Thank you, gentlemen.
• 3:25
  Speaker 8: I just got here a few moments ago, myself no,
• 3:27
  Speaker 8: doctor knows as much about this.
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: As I do. We were notified that a three day
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: old baby's missing. Is that correct?
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 3:31
  Speaker 8: One of the striker twins gone his Tuesday money.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Where'd the baby disappear? From?
• 3:35
  Speaker 8: Doctor, nursery? I can't understand how it could happen. Never
• 3:38
  Speaker 8: heard of such a thing. Who was in charge of
• 3:39
  Speaker 8: the nursery, Nurse O'Connor. She's back with the superintendent of nurses,
• 3:43
  Speaker 8: quite upset, and I'd like to talk to her. Yes here,
• 3:45
  Speaker 8: we would, all right, That's why I please, you can't
• 3:53
  Speaker 8: understand it. How did a baby disappear like that? After
• 3:56
  Speaker 8: the parents have been notified? He's on his way in
• 3:58
  Speaker 8: and now I haven't told the mother yet. When did
• 4:01
  Speaker 8: they first notice the baby was gone? I understand it
• 4:03
  Speaker 8: was around eleven pm.
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: Call came into our office about eleven twenty.
• 4:07
  Speaker 8: Go ahead, certain, that's o connor, Yes, Doctor Wilson. These
• 4:11
  Speaker 8: gentlemen are from the police department, certain amount starting Friday.
• 4:15
  Speaker 6: What do you do?
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: You want to know all about what happened tonight?
• 4:18
  Speaker 8: You know, of course a serious matter.
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: Try to tell exactly how it happened. I'll try, doctor
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: an officer.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: Well, we know that you're probably pretty upset, nurse. Now
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: you just relax and take your time. Yes, sir, when
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: did you first notice that the Striker baby was missing?
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: Must have happened somewhere between eleven o'clock and ten minutes
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: past eleven. I'm sure of that.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: How were you sure of that?
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: I came on duty a few minutes of four eleven.
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: I took the night reports as usual, and I started
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: checking the orders and the formulas. I remember very well
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: if both the Striker twins were in their cribs at
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: that time. I think it must have been about five
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: minutes past eleven when I got this phone call from home.
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: My mother's been sick, late labors about her.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: How far did you have to go to answer the phone?
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: About ten feet down the hole from the nursery, just
• 4:55
  Speaker 6: around the corner.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Could you see the entrance to the nursery from where
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: you were talking on the phone.
• 4:59
  Speaker 6: No, so I couldn't. I was only on the phone
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: for a minute or two. Soon as I hung up,
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: I came right back to the nursery.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: Was the telephone call actually from your mother?
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, My mother is a hard condition. She wanted
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: me to be sure and have a prescription field.
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: What time was it when you got back to the nursery, owner,
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: Can you remember.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: That it wasn't quite ten minutes past eleven. So I
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: came back through the door and the nursery.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: I noticed right.
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: Away one of the cribs was empty. One of the
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: Striker twins was gone.
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: Is there more than one entrance to the nursery insatia.
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, there are two entrances, but at night one
• 5:26
  Speaker 6: of the us keept locked.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: Is it possible that somebody in the hospital, maybe a doctor,
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: took the baby for examination or some kind of.
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: Treatment, No, sir.
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: Just as soon as I noticed the baby was gone,
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: I went to the head nurse and two of us
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: contacted everybody in the hospital. No one knew anything about it.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: Well, is it possible that the child's mother could have
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: come down from the second floor and taken the baby.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: No, so, Miss Strike has been asleep since ten o'clock.
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: She still asleep.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: Are there any other nurses or at tennant's working near
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: the nursery when the baby disappeared?
• 5:51
  Speaker 6: No, no reason for anyone besides myself to be around
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: at that time. None of the cleaning people, they'd all
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: gone home.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: Doctor Walsh. I wondered if we could to have a
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: look at the nursery now, want nurse O'Connor to come along, yes,
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: would you believe? Yes? Where gentlemen stir down the hall?
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: What are the hospital visiting eyes? Doctor usual?
• 6:16
  Speaker 8: Two until four in the afternoon, seven to nine in
• 6:17
  Speaker 8: the Evening's quite strict about that.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: Do you know if all the visitors had left the
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: hospital by nine o'clock tonight?
• 6:23
  Speaker 8: Of course I wasn't here, but the Superintendent of nurses
• 6:25
  Speaker 8: told me they had all left by nine.
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: She's compelling our listen to every visitor we had this evening.
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: It was good.
• 6:30
  Speaker 9: They'll all have to be checked nursers right here as
• 6:33
  Speaker 9: mm hm. This empty crib just inside the window here, Yes, sir,
• 6:39
  Speaker 9: that's where the baby was. You can see it's right
• 6:41
  Speaker 9: next to the door here.
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: I noticed that there's no blanket in the crib.
• 6:44
  Speaker 6: Is that missing too, Yes, sir, crib's just the way
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: I found it when I came back in the telephon.
• 6:47
  Speaker 6: I haven't touched it.
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: Are there any marks of identification of the blanket or
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: the clothing?
• 6:52
  Speaker 6: Each one's stenciled Mersey Hospital. Each baby wears an ID bracelet.
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: Doctor I wonder if we could have that crib brought
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: out to have a check for possible fingerprints.
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: Certainly, of course. Is this the other door of the nursery?
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: And thanks you, miss o Connor.
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: That's right, Sergeant, I checked it.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: It's locked. That large window on the other side of
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: the nursery not a stationary window.
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, it is. It faces onto a small court.
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: I want whoever took the baby had to use this door, so.
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: The only way they could have gotten in. Oh, excuse
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: me minute, I want to attend to the baby.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Sure, listen that, Jim. Yeah, doctor. Are there any other
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: entrances open at night besides the main one, not after
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: ten pm?
• 7:27
  Speaker 8: Or just the main entrance on our which air there's
• 7:29
  Speaker 8: a nurse on duty.
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: There at all times. How about the parents? Is there
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: anything unusual there?
• 7:33
  Speaker 10: No, if I was working man, I was a housewife.
• 7:36
  Speaker 10: But the baby's perfectly normal, nothing unusual at all. Three
• 7:40
  Speaker 10: day old baby. They usually take a lot of careful handling,
• 7:42
  Speaker 10: don't there. It's definitely first week is always critical, this thing.
• 7:46
  Speaker 8: Taking a three day old infant out in this weather,
• 7:49
  Speaker 8: cold rain, Fred, The odds.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: Are all against the child. Were sure the main entrance
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: was the only one open after ten o'clock. Yes, I
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: can't understand it. How could anyone get that baby out
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: of that hospital. We're not sure they did.
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: Midnight, three day old twin boy was missing from his
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: crib in the hospital nursery. That's all we knew. We
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: checked the list of possibilities. The baby could have been
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: taken for ransom. Somebody wanted revenge in the Striker family
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: and decided on the baby as the best means. Maybe
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: someone just wanted a child, someone mentally unsound, a maniac,
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: a pervert. Maybe an accident had happened at the hospital,
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: somebody wanted to cover up. Possibly one of the parents
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: of their families had a motive. Perhaps somebody just wanted
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: the child dead. We called the office and got out
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: an APB and the Striker baby in a description of
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: the blanket and the clothing.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Details of officers were alerted at the bus.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: Depots, railroad terminals, the airports, all public transportation facilities. Steps
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: were taken to notify doctors, hospital, sanitariums, anybody in any
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: place where a three day old baby might be taken.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: The entire area around Mercy Hospital was canvass no information.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: The baby's crib was dusted for prints, no leads, no
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: physical evidence. The investigation continued. When George Stryker, the father
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: of the child, arrived, Ben and I met with him
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: in the office of the hospital superintendent. Can we let
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: people know about it? Newspapers and the radio.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: We've already covered that. Stories and pictures have gone out
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: to the papers. We've notified the radio stations. They're getting
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: out broadcast on How am I gonna tell my wife?
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: Also, there's only one thing that we can promise you.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: We'll do everything we can to find your baby.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: But isn't there something I can do? Isn't there some
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: way I can help?
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: This is just a remote possibility, mister Striker, but you
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: ought to know about it. What's that In case anybody
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: contacts you regarding your baby, in case they make any
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: demands on you for money or anything else, we want
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: you to notify us immediately.
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: What could they expect to get from us? We own
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: our home. That's about all. We just want to cover
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: all the possibilities, missus Stricker, in case any demand at
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: all is made. Don't try to deal with the people,
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: all right, Yes, sir, I understand? So I did. Yeah,
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: one of the mental homicide. Like to see outside start
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: going to leapis fall. Thank you doctor, We'll have to
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: go down missus tractor. We'll keep you involved, all right,
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: thank you, Joe. Yeah, I'll leave us.
• 10:05
  Speaker 11: Say we got something back here and seen us and
• 10:07
  Speaker 11: I was a night watchman out back the side of
• 10:09
  Speaker 11: the hospital and faces on of Stacy Avenue.
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: Yeah, two doors back there, just off the street. One
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: I'm is open.
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: Together with Sergeant belave Us and doctor Watts, the head
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: of the hospital, we went back and examined the side
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: door which opened on the Stacy Avenue. The latch was
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: obviously folly. It took only slight pressure on the door
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: to open it. The latch, both door knobs, and the
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: door itself were dusted for prints. The entranceway in the
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: immediate area were rechecked. No leads, no physical evidence. We
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: traced an imaginary path from the open door.
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: To the nursery.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: We came to the conclusion that it could have been
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: possible for an abductor to enter the hospital, make his
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: way to the nursery, take the child from its crib
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: in the absence of the night nurse, and leave but
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: the same side door without being seen. Store keepers and
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: residents along Stacy Avenue were requestioned. We got nowhere when
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: the abduction story broke in the newspaper and over the radio.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: The next morning, the call started to come in. People
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: in practically all sections of the city thought that they'd
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: seen the missing baby.
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: Each call was carefully checked out, none of them paid off.
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: Ten am we checked back in at the office. Must
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: be getting old, Joe. I can't seem to take these
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: all night stations like yous to. Oh yeah, I'm pretty tired.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: Drank too much coffee again, I got a sour stomach.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: All right, Hi Leavis, the Stat's office come up with
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: that run for us. Yet that's still working on it.
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: How about that Sam Bernardino.
• 11:32
  Speaker 11: Co Yeah, they called back. They picked the woman up
• 11:34
  Speaker 11: when she got off the bus, checked her on the
• 11:36
  Speaker 11: baby out, baby belongs to her.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Anything else come in, all been checked out. The press
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: called again.
• 11:42
  Speaker 12: I want to know if there are any.
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: New leads, you know, side and side to you in
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: the gay Yes, sir, did I help you?
• 11:48
  Speaker 13: They told me the business office to come down and
• 11:49
  Speaker 13: see it.
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: Surely come onney nice.
• 11:55
  Speaker 13: My name's Wallace. I'm the desk clerk down to the hotel.
• 11:57
  Speaker 13: On Eleventh Street, Little Good Hotel. Yes, sir, I got
• 12:00
  Speaker 13: some information. Like to talk to you all right.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: See this is my partner size at the maryl and
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: it's starting to leave us.
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: What's the information about?
• 12:10
  Speaker 14: Well, I got hold of a paper this morning, read
• 12:12
  Speaker 14: about that baby that's missing. Imagine those people are pretty
• 12:15
  Speaker 14: worried about the kid. You say, like all the information
• 12:18
  Speaker 14: they can get. Huh looks like that in hospitals in
• 12:20
  Speaker 14: the gym.
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: When you say, well, what information do you have?
• 12:23
  Speaker 13: While I guess those parents could sue the hospital that
• 12:25
  Speaker 13: they wanted to.
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: What's you're all we're interested in is finding a baby?
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: Can you help us there?
• 12:29
  Speaker 12: Well?
• 12:30
  Speaker 13: I do know for sure.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: What are you trying to tell us? Have you seen
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: the baby? Well?
• 12:33
  Speaker 13: I may have. You happen to know. If they're offering
• 12:35
  Speaker 13: any reward for information, Well.
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: I don't know where to come from. The father is
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: a working man.
• 12:40
  Speaker 14: Don't get me wrong, sergeant. I don't expect anything for
• 12:42
  Speaker 14: any information I've given it. Well, I don't make too
• 12:45
  Speaker 14: much at the hotel.
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: You know.
• 12:47
  Speaker 14: If they wanted to show their gratitude in some way,
• 12:49
  Speaker 14: just thought i'd mention it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: Oh thank you. Well, just don't worry about that. What's
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: the information?
• 12:53
  Speaker 14: Well, you know I didn't mean anything by that. Anybody
• 12:56
  Speaker 14: be glad to help out in a case like this.
• 12:58
  Speaker 14: What I came in to tell you was one and
• 13:00
  Speaker 14: a young baby checked in the hotel last night when
• 13:02
  Speaker 14: I was on duty. What time I think it was
• 13:04
  Speaker 14: about twelve o'clock. The woman didn't have any baggage or anything.
• 13:07
  Speaker 14: One little blanket around the kid. When I saw that
• 13:09
  Speaker 14: story in the paper this morning.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: I got suspicious. A woman still registered at the hotel.
• 13:13
  Speaker 13: She was when I left. That was about an hour ago.
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: I'm not named. Did she register? Do you remember?
• 13:17
  Speaker 14: No, I don't, but it's in the register. You can
• 13:19
  Speaker 14: check it if you want. Where is it out there,
• 13:21
  Speaker 14: Eleventh and Charleton, right in the corner. I'm sure it
• 13:23
  Speaker 14: must be the kid you're looking for. Say, I hope
• 13:26
  Speaker 14: you haven't got me wrong. I mean about the reward.
• 13:28
  Speaker 13: You know, I don't expect anything for this.
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: We haven't got you wrong.
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: Thirty five am it was still raining. Together with the
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: desk clerk Wallace, we drove to the Bluebird Hotel on
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: Eleventh Street. We checked the cards at the desk and
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: found that the woman had registered into the name of
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: Missus Harold Parks. The clerk on duty told us, as
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: far as he knew, she was still in the room
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: with a baby.
• 13:51
  Speaker 13: It was down this way side. This is around sixty.
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: Missus Parks, Missus Park, you have a pasky with you also, thank.
• 14:16
  Speaker 13: Nobody here.
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: Wait a minute, what have you got small blanket? Check
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: the lettering Mercy Hospital.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: You are listening to Dragnet authentic stories of your police
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: force in action.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Friday, January twenty ninth, eleven am. We were unable to
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: locate the woman who had registered at the hotel under
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: the name of Missus Parks. There was no sign of
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: the baby. The blanket we found in the room was
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: identified by hospital personnel is the same type used in
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: the nursery. The room was checked for fingerprints and physical evidence.
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: We found nothing. People in adjoining rooms were questioned but
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: they could give us no information. We got a description
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: of the woman who used the name Missus Parks from
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the desk clerk and we.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: Got out on all points bullet and on her.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: Our hotel registration card was checked for handwriting and fingerprints.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: Captain Steed ordered an immediate canvas of all hotels, apartments
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: and rooming houses in the central area. The hotel clerks
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: were shown mugshots of possible suspects. They failed to identify
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: any of them. Three pm Friday, the search for the
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: striker baby went on.
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, checked out, all right, Okay, heal anything fel unseen
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: has checked that Lulsha calls another phone might not show
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: the thoughts. Yeah.
• 15:43
  Speaker 11: Lewis and I were making the rounds of hotels out
• 15:45
  Speaker 11: a long Peogle stopped at a drug store for a
• 15:47
  Speaker 11: cup of coffee.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: We talked to Druggish while we were there. Had a
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: pretty good story for us. You gotta life, mere go NICs.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: This drugstore is two black hotel where the woman stayed.
• 16:01
  Speaker 11: It's open all night, and the druggist told us a
• 16:04
  Speaker 11: woman answering this missus Park's description.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: Came in about one thirty am. What a whole raft
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: of stuff? How do you mean what kind of stuff?
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: Everything for a baby?
• 16:12
  Speaker 11: Bottles, nipples, dextro soil powder, you know all that stuff?
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: Was he sure the woman's description.
• 16:16
  Speaker 11: He gave it to us before we'd even mention what
• 16:18
  Speaker 11: this missus Parks looked like. Right down at the collar
• 16:20
  Speaker 11: of her coat. Did she had the baby with her?
• 16:22
  Speaker 11: When she bought this stuff.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: And the druggis said no. She even asked him if
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: she could buy can milk there? Where is it? Lee?
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: What do you mean? Does he have any idea where
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: the woman came from where she went? No, but he
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: said if she came back in again, he called us
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: right away.
• 16:35
  Speaker 11: He's going to notify the other clerks too, and they'll
• 16:37
  Speaker 11: keep us posted if anything turns up.
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: And I got it homicide Friday.
• 16:44
  Speaker 15: My name's missus Lucy. I'm calling about that missing baby
• 16:46
  Speaker 15: in the paper. Am I talking the right department?
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am. Do you have any information on the case?
• 16:50
  Speaker 15: Well, I certainly have. I know where that strike a
• 16:52
  Speaker 15: baby is right now?
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: Where's that man.
• 16:55
  Speaker 15: Right next door? The sabicides heavy?
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: What makes you so sure?
• 16:58
  Speaker 15: Perfectly?
• 16:59
  Speaker 7: Up?
• 16:59
  Speaker 15: Me? Is that's all? It's not there? Baby?
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Why do you say that that baby?
• 17:03
  Speaker 15: They had him? One looks like mister Sallas missus salads
• 17:05
  Speaker 15: id in mind? Do?
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: How do you mean, Missus Lucy?
• 17:07
  Speaker 15: It's very simple, mister Satisize doc quite dark dark head
• 17:12
  Speaker 15: dog eyes, doc complexions watched the same way.
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
• 17:15
  Speaker 15: Baby they have is a blonde.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: Before I hung up, I got the woman's name and
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: address and told her that we'd check out our neighbors.
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: Mister and missus sallads are. We weren't sure what it meant.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: It could be the real thing, could be like a
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: hundred other calls that we'd had in the last twelve hours.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: Ben and I got in the car and drove out
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: to the Salazar home on Wonderland Avenue. We noticed several
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: cars parked in the driveway and in front of the house.
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: We went up the front stairs and rang the doorbell.
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, come on in. Please would like to speak
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: to mister salas Ar. Yes, sir, that's me. Come on in.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: Thank you, Come inside. Let me fix you a drink.
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: You were late, huh, no.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: We're police officers, mister Saalasar. Liked to ask you a
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: few questions. Oh, what's the matter. We're making too much
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: noise for the neighbors. No, it's not that, sir, Just
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: like to ask you a few questions. Someplace we can talk.
• 18:06
  Speaker 12: Well, I have to take care of the guests, you know,
• 18:08
  Speaker 12: we have this party here. My son was baptized today,
• 18:11
  Speaker 12: my first son. That's why we're having a body.
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, we're sorry to interrupt, but it's pretty important.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: It won't take it very long.
• 18:17
  Speaker 12: Well, all right, I guess they can get along for
• 18:19
  Speaker 12: a few minutes. Back here in the kitchen, it's probably
• 18:21
  Speaker 12: the quietest place to find this way off. Well that
• 18:30
  Speaker 12: pull up a couple of chairs. Thank you, h missus
• 18:36
  Speaker 12: Sallis are This is my partner sergeant for Maryland. Name
• 18:38
  Speaker 12: is Friday Homicide.
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, what's the matter? What do you want to
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: ask me? We're investigating a case that involves the missing.
• 18:44
  Speaker 12: Baby, sir, were the one in the paper this morning?
• 18:47
  Speaker 12: I read about that. It's a terrible thing.
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, it is.
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: We've had a report that the missing baby was seen
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: in this neighborhood. We don't know how true it is,
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: but we have orders to check it out.
• 18:54
  Speaker 12: Well, sure, anything I can do. I don't know how
• 18:57
  Speaker 12: much I can help, but I can understand how that
• 18:59
  Speaker 12: mama feel. My brand new son, I know how I feel.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: How old is your son, mister Selis? Huh? He's just
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: one week old? Is afternoon? Fine?
• 19:07
  Speaker 7: Boy?
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: Was the baby born here in Los Angeles? No, I said,
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: my wife Roberta to Phoenix to have a baby. We
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: thought it'd be a lot healthier for her down there.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: She has a good friend of Virgincina. Honest, your wife
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: had the baby in Phoenix and then she brought him
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: back here. Yes, that's right. Roberta came in early this morning.
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: Big surprise for me.
• 19:24
  Speaker 12: I didn't know she was coming right away. I called
• 19:27
  Speaker 12: all our old friends. I called Father Desota for the baptism,
• 19:30
  Speaker 12: and I got things ready for the party.
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: Big baptism. Body. You say your wife got back early
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: this morning.
• 19:36
  Speaker 12: Yes, a few minutes after three o'clock. Roberta came in
• 19:39
  Speaker 12: on the plane. She said it was late, you know,
• 19:41
  Speaker 12: a big storm. I wonder if we could talk to
• 19:43
  Speaker 12: your wife, mister Selisa.
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: Well, Rolberta's taking a little nap right now. She got
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: in late. You know all the excitement. Do we have
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: to wake up? Oh no, she's not right away. I
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: just wonder if we could see the baby.
• 19:55
  Speaker 12: Well, baby's sleeping too. Roberta said not to go in.
• 19:59
  Speaker 12: But well, if you're real quiet, yes sir, we'll be okay,
• 20:05
  Speaker 12: he's right, we'll be here. The people will a blanket down. Yeah,
• 20:21
  Speaker 12: there is big fellow.
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: He's blonde. What do you think you know? I think
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: he's got a twin five pm.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: Harlan stall from laking fingerprints arrived at the Salasar home.
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: The footprint of the missing child, taken at the time
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: of birth, was compared with the print from the child
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: the Salazar has had. The prints were identical. The missing
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: baby had been found. Five twenty pm, Ben and I
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: talked with Missus Salasar in the kitchen of her home.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: The christening party went on.
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: I don't think I understand what this is all about, officer.
• 20:55
  Speaker 7: What has my baby got to do with other You.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: Know as well as we do, miss Alisar. That baby
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: in there, it doesn't belong to you. It's not yours.
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: What do you mean it's not mine? Course, it's my baby,
• 21:07
  Speaker 7: my husband said mine. I just brought him from Phoenix
• 21:11
  Speaker 7: last night. That's where the baby was born. What are
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: you trying to do to me?
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: That baby isn't yours, Missus Salizan. Now you know that
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: was taken from the hospital. How about the truth.
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: You don't know what you're saying. You don't know what
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: you're talking about. It's my baby. It was baptized to
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: day one to Marsalisara. It's my baby.
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: It's a pretty serious matter, man. The baby's footprint has
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: been checked out. The child belongs to a missus Striker.
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: We want to know how you happen to have.
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: Him, cause he's my baby. That's why I have he.
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: You don't know what a mistake you're making. It's my baby.
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: I brought him from Phoenix last night. You can have
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: my husband. He'll tell you.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: A woman checked in at the Bluebird Hotel on Eleventh
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: Street about midnight last night, missus Alizar. She had a
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: young baby with him. You fair description.
• 21:58
  Speaker 7: I didn't go to a hotel us now I had.
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: The plane landed here from Phoenix. I came right home.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: Hotel clerk remembers you can identify you, so can a
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: druggist when you bought the splies run.
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: How about nothing? The plane landed, I came home. Is
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: my baby? It's my baby.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: We found a baby's blanket in the hotel room. You're rended.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: We have your description from at least three people, even
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: the color of the coach you wore last night.
• 22:18
  Speaker 9: You can't take him away. He belongs to me, me
• 22:21
  Speaker 9: and friends. You can't take him away.
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Please you come, Miss Schalisar.
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: Why don't you put yourself in the place of the
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: real mother of that baby? How do you think she
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: feels about her baby being taken away. How about it,
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: Miss Selasar.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: Have a drink. Officers, please for the party, have a drink.
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: I'll tell you tell us what man, I'm tiredly, mister
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: don yeah, I tell you how it happened. I know
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: you you understand, Yes, ma'am. It will be eleven years
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: next month that Frank and I were married. I don't
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: have to tell you. We want a baby. Frank always
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: wanted a baby, but no more than I did. It's
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: what we lived for, a baby of our own. Yes,
• 23:21
  Speaker 7: boy or girls, we didn't care. But boy didn't have one.
• 23:27
  Speaker 7: For eleven years, we didn't have one. The last April,
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: that's when the doctor told me. He said I was
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: going to have a baby.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: Well, a month before the baby was born, we thought
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: it would be better if I went to my friend's
• 23:45
  Speaker 7: place in Phoenix Orisons for the winter. You know, it
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: would be warmer there. Frank thought it would be nicer
• 23:52
  Speaker 7: for me and a baby.
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: Your husband was still in Los Angeles.
• 23:56
  Speaker 7: Yes, he tried to come to Phoenix, but he had
• 23:58
  Speaker 7: to work, so I had my baby alone. It was
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: a boy. My friend was with me. She'd tell you
• 24:08
  Speaker 7: it was a boy. I kept calling for him to
• 24:12
  Speaker 7: bring my baby. It's a long time, I kept calling.
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: Then I finally came, and the doctor too. And here's
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: the one that told me, yes, ma'am. He looked just
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: like his father. I know that, but they told me
• 24:31
  Speaker 7: he was dead. I don't remember much after that, Sergeant.
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: I got out of the hospital and I took the
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: plane and I came back here. It was dark and
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: was raining, but I walked around. I walked up and
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: down the street, thinking what could I tell Frank? Baby
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: was dead? That's all I could tell him. Then I
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: walked past.
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: The hospital that was Mercy Hospital.
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: Now, yes, And it was raining, and I could see
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: all those babies inside, warm and in their cribs, and
• 25:08
  Speaker 7: I wanted just one of them, just one for Frank
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: and me. So I went in the side door and
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: I found the nursery, and when the nurse was gone,
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: I took him and left my baby. I went to
• 25:28
  Speaker 7: the hotel to keep him out of the rain, and
• 25:31
  Speaker 7: it cleared a little. I took him home. I took
• 25:34
  Speaker 7: him home to Frank. I took my baby home. That's
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: why you want my baby, isn't it? Because I took
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: him because my baby died and I took him.
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: Everything can be all right myselves, I wouldn't straighten out.
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: Oh, Brad, you talked to the.
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: Officers, Frank, what do you want me to say?
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: Be all right? Officers? Will everything be all right? Yes, sir,
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: I think we can work it out.
• 26:13
  Speaker 7: What could I tell you, Frank? What was to say
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: to you?
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: It's all right, honey, it's all right. I go out
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: and tell the people.
• 26:24
  Speaker 7: Now, what can you say? What can you tell them?
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: Party's over? It's just a mistake.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 26:44
  Speaker 16: In a moment, the results of the trial. Now here
• 26:46
  Speaker 16: is our star, Jack Webb. Last week I asked you
• 26:49
  Speaker 16: to write me. You did, and thank you.
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: ROBERTA.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: Satasara was excepted by six psychiatrists and was ordered to
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: be placed in a statemental institution for treatment. You have
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases portions transcribed
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Coming Up, We the People, then screen Director's Playhouse on NBC.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Welcome Back, our heartbreaking conclusion and This is one of
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: those cases where you really do feel for the perpetrator,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: while in no way condoning the action that she took. Certainly,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: I've talked about the issues that my family has dealt
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: with along those lines, and when something like this happens,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: it is devastating, and they did a great job capturing
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: those sort of emotions. And of course, in her case,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I think it's made worse because of her husband being
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: in another state. She has to be the one to
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: tell him. And this really illustrates what Dragnet's capable of being.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: There's this stereotype that Dragnet was always strict to cauto
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: dialogue all the time, but it had some really highly
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: dramatic moments. But as with other elements of Dragnet, like violence,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: these moments are effective because as a series, it didn't
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: happen every single week. This episode is also an interesting
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: time capsule of a way of caring for newborns, that
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: is going away. Baby nurseries for all babies were the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: norm when I was born. Since I was a large baby.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: One of my parents' earliest stories was about me looking
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: like I was being wedged in like the head against
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: one end of the compartment and my feet against the
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: other and dwarfing all the much more normal sized babies
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: in the nursery. And certainly I saw nurseries when I
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: was growing up those few times we happened by the hospital,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: But in many hospitals, rooming in with the mother and
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: father has become the norm for healthy babies, and many
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: have shut down nurseries except for nick you situations. When
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: my son was born three years ago, I think he
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: might have left the hospital room the entire two days
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: that we were there, maybe once or twice, and then
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: only for a couple of minutes. And of course, for
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: healthy babies, the hospital stay is usually pretty brief. So
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: a fascinating time capsule that really does provide some insight
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: as to what this experience was like for earlier generations. Well,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: now it is time to thank our Patreon supporter of
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the day, and I want to thank Carlotta. Carlotta has
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: been one of our Patreon supporters since May of twenty
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: twenty four, currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: level of seven dollars and fourteen cents or more per month.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your support, Carlotta, and that
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: will actually do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And if
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: you're listening to this episode on YouTube, be sure to
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: like the video, subscribe to the channel, and mark the
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: notification bell, all those great things that help YouTube channels
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: to grow. We'll be back next Saturday with another episode
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: of Dragon at but join us back here tomorrow for
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: our four six hundredth episode special Where.
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: Get down?
• 30:58
  Speaker 17: What's your record for your sweet job?
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: You pulled in Pittsburgh? Smile? No conviction Pittsburgh, I ain't
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: never been to Pittsburgh. No.
• 31:10
  Speaker 17: How about San Diego April forty seven, suspicion of armed robbery?
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: No conviction. You're coming across?
• 31:16
  Speaker 17: How about Philly last December?
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: Grand lost me? No conviction?
• 31:21
  Speaker 17: Miami, Richmond, Trenton.
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: No conviction. Look what do you selling?
• 31:25
  Speaker 18: Yeah, take a look at this report, a report direct
• 31:30
  Speaker 18: from the FBI, or should I say indirect through my
• 31:36
  Speaker 18: pipeline here in Center City, in the police department, George.
• 31:41
  Speaker 5: And I'll get it what goes.
• 31:43
  Speaker 17: I'm sorry about that weekend I gave you, But you see,
• 31:46
  Speaker 17: I'm building an organization along scientific lines.
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: I need men who know their way around, who can
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: get by. That's why I screened you. Scream short.
• 31:58
  Speaker 17: Just like in the Army, I spot guy who looks good.
• 32:01
  Speaker 17: So what do I do?
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: I get him framed.
• 32:05
  Speaker 18: The cops check his record through the FBI, the report
• 32:08
  Speaker 18: comes through. I get the report.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: send your comments to Box thirteen at Greatdetectives dot net,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash Great Detectives From Voyseataho.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.