Latest / The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio) / Dragnet: The Big Imposter (EP4783)

Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Imposter (EP4783) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: going to bring you this week's episode of Dragging It.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: But first I do want to encourage you, if you're
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: enjoying the podcast, to please follow us using your favorite
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  Speaker 1: podcast software. And today's program is brought to you by
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the financial support of our listeners. You can support us
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: by mailing Adam Nation to Adam Graham peel box one
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: five nine one three. That's peel box one five nine
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: thirteen Boise alohol eight three seven one five, And you
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  Speaker 1: can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: his little last two dollars per month now from June seventh,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one. Here is the big impostor.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: The story you're about to hear is true, only the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: names have been changed to protect the innocents. You're a
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: detective sergeant. You're assigned to Missing Persons detail. A ten
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: year old boy disappears from his home in a remote
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: section of the city two nights and two days past.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: There's not a trace of the boy.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Your job find out.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: Drag Net the documented drama of an actual crime. Well
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: the next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: Police Department, you will travel step by step on the
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: side of the law through an actual case transcribed from
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: official police files, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: Dragnet is the story of your police force and action.
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: It was Wednesday, August fourth, was hot in Los Angeles.
• 2:39
  Speaker 5: We're working the day watch out of Juvenile Bureau. My
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: partner's Ben Romero. The boss's Inspector Bowling. My name's Frany.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: We were on the way out from the office and
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: it was two twenty five pm when we got to
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: Bowers Avenue, number twelve eighteen.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Yees police officers. Man would like to see mister Sherman.
• 2:54
  Speaker 6: We'll certainly, officers, won't you come in?
• 2:56
  Speaker 7: Thank you very much.
• 2:59
  Speaker 6: I'm from next door. I saw you around here yesterday. Yes, ma'am,
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: came over this morning look after poor mister Sherman.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. Well, how's he feeling today too?
• 3:09
  Speaker 6: Well? Fixed him some nice chicken broth for lunch, and
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: then I helped him in his wheel chair and took
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: him out in the backyard out in the sun, good
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: hot sun. It's wonderful for his legs. He has arthritis, you.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Know, Yes, so we understand. What if we could talk
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: to him, Miss.
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: Kelly, Well, yes, I guess you have to. He's still
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: out in the back sleep in his chair. Last time
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: I looked, seems ashamed of disturb him.
• 3:29
  Speaker 7: Well, he called us at the office that he wanted
• 3:31
  Speaker 7: to see as as soon as we could make it
• 3:32
  Speaker 7: out here.
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: Was it about his grandson, Jimmy? They called him?
• 3:36
  Speaker 7: Yet no man searching parties calling in the area. There's
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: still no trace of the boy.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Did any of the other.
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: Officers who were out here covering the neighborhood talk to you,
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: miss Kelly.
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes, there was mister Lorman, Detective Lorman.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am.
• 3:48
  Speaker 6: I told him everything I knew about Jimmy's disappearance. It
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: was right after dinner hour on Monday, about six thirty
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: last time I saw Jimmy.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: I see.
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: I came out the side door were to empty the garbage,
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: and I saw Jimmy hiking up the side of the
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: hill there just in back the house, all by himself.
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: Nice boy.
• 4:08
  Speaker 7: As far as you know, missus Keller, Jimmy is mister
• 4:10
  Speaker 7: Sherman's only living relative.
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: That's right. His only relative, his only grandchild. Jimmy's mother
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: and father were killed in an auto wreck that was
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: three or four years ago. Sherman's had a terrible lot
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: of tragedy. Jimmy and his grandfather, they're the only ones left.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: You can't think of any reason why the boyould want
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: to leave his grandfather.
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: King, none at all. Mister Sherman's a wonderful man. Jimmy
• 4:32
  Speaker 6: loved him.
• 4:32
  Speaker 8: I knew then, Missus Keller, Missus Keller.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: We can go through the house out the back this way.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Thank you, go ahead of him.
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, visitors for you, Missus Sherman. How are you
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: feeling all right?
• 4:53
  Speaker 9: I suppose? Hellos? What about the boy? Have you found
• 4:58
  Speaker 9: him yet?
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Well, nothing yet, mister Sherman. We've added more men to
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: the searching party. We're doing everything we can.
• 5:03
  Speaker 9: I'm gone two nights and two days. Tell me the truth, sergeant,
• 5:07
  Speaker 9: what's happened to the boy?
• 5:08
  Speaker 7: All right?
• 5:09
  Speaker 10: Now?
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: We don't know any more about it than you do, Servant.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: That's no reason to give up, hope.
• 5:13
  Speaker 7: You told us yourself yesterday that Jimmy's been messing once before.
• 5:16
  Speaker 7: It turned out alright that time he.
• 5:17
  Speaker 8: Wasn't gone for two nights and two days.
• 5:20
  Speaker 9: Maybe you just say I'm old and I've got funny ideas,
• 5:24
  Speaker 9: But I got a feeling, Sergeant, something's happened to Jimmy.
• 5:27
  Speaker 8: Something's happened, and I can't do anything about it.
• 5:30
  Speaker 6: You just put those thoughts out of your head, mister Sherman.
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: They're gonna find Jimmy. It's gonna be all right. Why
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: don't you pull up those lawn chairs there, Sergeant. Right,
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: I'm gonna go in the house and fix some coal
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: lemonade for you. Man.
• 5:39
  Speaker 11: Well, thank you man.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: We got your phone message at the office, mister Sherman,
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: anything specially you wanted to talk to us about.
• 5:45
  Speaker 9: Yes, there was something when you were talking to me yesterday. Yes, Sir,
• 5:50
  Speaker 9: I told you that Jimmy had on a brown jacket
• 5:52
  Speaker 9: when he disappeared Monday night. Yeah, I was wrong, Sergeant.
• 5:56
  Speaker 9: We found the jacket in his room. All he was
• 5:58
  Speaker 9: wearing was a pair of blue jeans in this white sweatshirt.
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: Do you think that might help any.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, it might.
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: We'll send out a supplementary description of his clothes. We'll
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: see that everybody's notified.
• 6:08
  Speaker 9: Just wish I could be out there with a searching party.
• 6:11
  Speaker 9: Aps writers is pretty bad today. It caught me in
• 6:14
  Speaker 9: a terrible time. I don't know what I'd do if
• 6:17
  Speaker 9: anything happened to the boy.
• 6:18
  Speaker 7: I know we have asked you this before, mister Sherman,
• 6:20
  Speaker 7: but can you think of any reason at all why
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: your grandson would want to leave home?
• 6:24
  Speaker 9: No, sir, no reason at all. Those two colligue pops
• 6:27
  Speaker 9: over there in the pin Jimmy just bought him last
• 6:30
  Speaker 9: week with his own money saved up together. The boy's
• 6:33
  Speaker 9: crazy about dogs. That's why I say, just wouldn't pick
• 6:37
  Speaker 9: up and leave everything. Boy and me got a long fine.
• 6:41
  Speaker 9: No reason for it, Sagean. Something's happened to the boy.
• 6:46
  Speaker 8: I just got a.
• 6:46
  Speaker 7: Feeling offer, Yes, ma'am.
• 6:49
  Speaker 6: A telephone call for either one out here.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: I'll get it, Ben, I'll be right back.
• 6:52
  Speaker 6: All right, is your office calling?
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Thank you, miss Keller.
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: Where's that telephone? Straight back there in the hall?
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Friday talking.
• 7:10
  Speaker 12: This is Pooling.
• 7:11
  Speaker 11: Joe just heard from the search.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Party up of the hill or did they find something?
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 7:15
  Speaker 13: In the Allian Fark carrier by the upper reservoir. Huh
• 7:18
  Speaker 13: found a pair of kids trousers right by the edge
• 7:20
  Speaker 13: of the water.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: What kind of trousers, blue jeans?
• 7:22
  Speaker 13: Nothing in the pockets. They'll start dragging for a body
• 7:24
  Speaker 13: as soon as they get the equipment. Check it out
• 7:26
  Speaker 13: with a grandfather. Huh see if the boy was in
• 7:28
  Speaker 13: the habit of hiking up there around the reservoir.
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: Right, we'll call in just before we leave here, right, Joe, Right, bye.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: Well, there's your lemonade, sergeant, just port it for you nicely.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Thank you, ma'am.
• 7:48
  Speaker 8: What was it something about the boy?
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: Well, nothing definite, no, sir, Just to report on the
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: search party. They're still up in the Allegian Park area.
• 7:55
  Speaker 8: Oh, I see.
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: Did your grandson Jimmy do much hiking in that neighborhood there,
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: mister Sherman.
• 8:01
  Speaker 8: Yes, I think he did. Likes to hike up there
• 8:03
  Speaker 8: on the reservoir.
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: Why the name on the three sixteen report missing juvenile
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: read James Phillip Sherman, WMA, ten years old. He lived
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: with his sixty eight year old grandfather, Oscar Sherman, and
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: a small cottage in a sparsely populated section of the city.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: Shortly after six pm on Monday, the boy went outside
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: to play when darkness fell, and he failed to return home.
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: His crippled grandfather went out to look for him. Half
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: an hour later, the neighbors joined in in the search.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: No sign of the boy. At ten pm, Juvenile Bureau
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: was notified, and throughout the night squads of men on
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: foot and cruiser cars canvassed the area. A local broadcast
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: and an all points bulletin was gotten out on the boy.
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: Neither the grandfather or the neighbors could find any reason
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: for his disappearance.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: After almost forty eight hours of.
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: Continuous searching, the only lead we had was the pair
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: of trousers found on the edge of the Upper Reservoir
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: in Alegian Park. They were to the grandfather, but he
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: failed to give positive identification. Dragging operations at the reservoir
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: began immediately. Meantime, Ben and I, together with Lorman and
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: Lopez from Homicide, checked out every possible lead on the
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: missing youngster. One of the tips came from a Frank Grady,
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: an unemployed carpenter who lived five blocks from the Sherman home.
• 9:18
  Speaker 14: I don't know how much is maybe worth you, Sergeant.
• 9:21
  Speaker 14: I don't want to get anybody into trouble, but I
• 9:23
  Speaker 14: figured this is a pretty important thing.
• 9:25
  Speaker 12: What is it?
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: You want to tell us, mister Grady, Well, as.
• 9:27
  Speaker 14: I say, I don't want to get anybody in any trouble,
• 9:30
  Speaker 14: but have you checked over everybody in this neighborhood?
• 9:33
  Speaker 7: I think we've talked just about everybody in there. You
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: don't jujo well either us of the man from homicide.
• 9:38
  Speaker 14: Why he asked Grady, Well, there's a guy who's down
• 9:40
  Speaker 14: the street there, right down the corner from this house,
• 9:43
  Speaker 14: old guy by name on Gilby.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: What about him?
• 9:46
  Speaker 14: I say, I don't want to cause any trouble, but
• 9:49
  Speaker 14: maybe you ought to double check him. One thing, his
• 9:52
  Speaker 14: next convict and all that. Another thing. He hates everybody
• 9:55
  Speaker 14: in the neighborhood, hates the kids too. Wouldn't be surprised
• 9:59
  Speaker 14: if he was man.
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: Why do you say that, Griddy? Does he have any
• 10:02
  Speaker 7: special reason for disliking the Sherman boy?
• 10:04
  Speaker 14: Oh, Man Gilby wouldn't need a reason. A real queer
• 10:07
  Speaker 14: one say, I got a couple of cans of cold
• 10:10
  Speaker 14: beer in the icebox and I fixed you follows up?
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: What makes you think this Gilby had anything to do
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: with the boys disappearance, mister.
• 10:18
  Speaker 14: Grady, Well, number one, I saw man Gilby out walking
• 10:21
  Speaker 14: Monday night when the Sherman kid disappeared. Yeah, saw him
• 10:25
  Speaker 14: walking along the road up there, the same one that
• 10:27
  Speaker 14: goes up by the reservoir, and I watched him. It
• 10:30
  Speaker 14: was dark by the time he got back to his house,
• 10:33
  Speaker 14: and check on him again if I were you as.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: Sure as you know. Has Gilby ever been in trouble
• 10:37
  Speaker 7: for bothering the kids in the neighborhood?
• 10:39
  Speaker 14: Oh, sergeanty bothers everybody in the neighborhood. Real queer lives
• 10:43
  Speaker 14: by himself, always complaining about something.
• 10:45
  Speaker 11: Frankly, I think he's your man.
• 10:47
  Speaker 8: I think he took that kid and he did something
• 10:49
  Speaker 8: to him.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Do you have anything at all to back up your opinion.
• 10:51
  Speaker 14: You dig her on, you'll find something on him.
• 10:54
  Speaker 11: There's no good, no bed on it.
• 10:56
  Speaker 14: I've had a couple of runnings with him myself. He
• 10:58
  Speaker 14: just isn't any good.
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: That's all well, all right, Grady, thanks for the tip.
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: We'll be sure and double check on the man.
• 11:03
  Speaker 14: You won't tell him where you got the tip though, huh.
• 11:06
  Speaker 14: Like I say, I've had run ins with him before.
• 11:08
  Speaker 14: It might cause trouble.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: No, he won't know where we got it.
• 11:11
  Speaker 14: Thanks again, Okay, sergeant, that's a pretty important thing. I
• 11:15
  Speaker 14: didn't want to make anybody look bad. But oh man,
• 11:18
  Speaker 14: it's just no good. You understand that, don't you?
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: Sure, Graddy? We understand.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: As a matter of routine, we double checked on Grady's neighbor,
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: mister Harold Gilby. We found out that he had no
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: jail record and that he had been at work on
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Monday from three to eleven pm. He could have had
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: no direct connection with the Sherman boys disappearance, no more
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: than Gritty himself could have had. The so called tip
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: he'd offered us was like one hundred other phony leads
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: in one hundred other cases, spiteful small minded neighbors trying
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: to use the tragic situation to work out their jealousies
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: and prejudice on somebody that they didn't get along with
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: in the neighborhood. The search continued, so did the hot weather. Friday,
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: August sixth, sign of the missing boy, the temperature climbed
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: into the mid nineties. Dragging operations at the reservoir went
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: on Saturday, August seventh, more legwork, more hot weather. By noontime,
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: Ben and I had run down the last lead we
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: had on ten year old Jimmy Sherman went nowhere, one pm.
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: We headed back for the office to check with Inspector Bowling.
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: These are the days when I wish I had a
• 12:23
  Speaker 7: little swimming pool in my backyard. Grew'll be nice to
• 12:26
  Speaker 7: go home too, you know, I'll save your money. Oh
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: it doesn't cost some munch. No. I read in a
• 12:32
  Speaker 7: magazine where a fellow built his own pool for ninety
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: five dollars and thirty seven cents.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: It can't be much of a pool, can it.
• 12:38
  Speaker 7: Oh? Yeah, it's good size.
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: Of course.
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: He did all his own labor, had all his friends
• 12:41
  Speaker 7: in to help out. He must have had a lot
• 12:43
  Speaker 7: of friends, didn't, Yeah, he did after he finished the pool.
• 12:47
  Speaker 15: Al Right, Hey benh hi skipper, how'd you two make
• 12:50
  Speaker 15: out anything?
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: I don't no luck at all.
• 12:53
  Speaker 11: It makes you unanimous. Did you hear about the old
• 12:55
  Speaker 11: man boy's grandfather?
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: No, what happened.
• 12:58
  Speaker 11: I guess the strain got too much for him.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Lapsed.
• 13:00
  Speaker 11: They're moving him to a hospital. Oh it's too bad.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Our men still up their dragnant.
• 13:04
  Speaker 11: Reservoir finished this morning? Nothing?
• 13:08
  Speaker 7: How about the search party? Nothing there either, I suppose.
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: Oh I'm not a trace of the boy. It's a
• 13:12
  Speaker 7: blind alley all the way around. How about the APU B.
• 13:15
  Speaker 7: The radiogram had three replies so far, none of them
• 13:18
  Speaker 7: fanned out.
• 13:19
  Speaker 15: You're a rabbit, juvenile br our Bowling there for it?
• 13:26
  Speaker 15: No good eh, all right, check you later. I heard
• 13:32
  Speaker 15: it once, I heard it fifty times. No trace of
• 13:35
  Speaker 15: the boy. That means, Kipper, something real weird about the
• 13:38
  Speaker 15: whole thing.
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: Well, little look, we know he didn't just disappear into
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: the thin air. Kid's gone. There's a good reason for it.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: There's got to be an answer somewhere.
• 13:46
  Speaker 11: That's right, you'll find it.
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: Another week passed, and then a month, two months. We
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: were no farther along than the day we started on
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: the case. In November, we had a teletype from Chief
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: Earl Claire of the Phoenix, Arizona Police Department reportedly the
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: Sherman boy had been seen in Phoenix. Was another false alarm.
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: The Christmas holidays wore on into a new year. February
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: came and went, then March April. Tuesday, May third, Ben
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: and I got a call to check in with Inspector Bowling.
• 14:19
  Speaker 11: This telegram just came in from Dayton, Ohio. I'm love,
• 14:23
  Speaker 11: thank you.
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: Let's see Joe. What is it?
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: Jimmy Sherman they found him. Nine months had gone by,
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: almost to the day since the Sherman boy had disappeared.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: The grandfather was contacted immediately. When he was told his
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: grandson had been found and that he was safe, the
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: old man was unable to answer.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: He broke down and wept.
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: In our communications with the Dayton, Ohio police, they told
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: us that the boy had been found wandering along a
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: highway just outside that city, and that he'd appeared to
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: be in a kind of a dazed condition. The boy
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: told the Dayton officers that he'd been kidnapped a short
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: distance from his home in Los Angeles by a man
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: in a blue sedan. He gave them detailed descriptions of
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: both the man and the car. He told them that
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: for the past nine months a man had held him prisoner,
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: driving from state to state, never letting the boy out
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: of his sight. He said the kidnapper told him on
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: several occasions that he was holding him for ransom and
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: that he was waiting to get money from his grandfather.
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: On May eighth, the youngster was returned to Los Angeles
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: and reunited with his grandfather. On May tenth, we got
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: a call from the grandfather that he wanted to talk
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: to us, Ben, and I drove out to see him.
• 15:27
  Speaker 8: I'm right in ever since, glad to see it.
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: How are you, sir when I miss him?
• 15:31
  Speaker 8: Sorry to cause all this trouble chasing you out here.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: Like this, not at all, sir. What is it you
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: want to see us about?
• 15:37
  Speaker 9: Well, I'm not really sure about it, Sachan. That's the
• 15:41
  Speaker 9: whole thing of it. I don't know if it's me
• 15:44
  Speaker 9: or what it is.
• 15:46
  Speaker 7: What's bothering you, miss jim.
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: It's the boy, Jimmy, I don't know what to see.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Well, what do you mean, sir? He's all right, isn't he.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: We saw him as we drove up, playing out in
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: the backyard and the doctor checked him over here.
• 15:57
  Speaker 8: No, it's not that. The boy's healthy enough, nothing wrong
• 16:00
  Speaker 8: with him.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Well, then what is it, sir?
• 16:02
  Speaker 9: Maybe it sounds a little weird to you, but I'm
• 16:06
  Speaker 9: just not sure. You're not sure what that boyart there? Sergeant,
• 16:10
  Speaker 9: I'm not sure he's really my grandson.
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: You are in the communications division of a metropolitan police department,
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: the Teletype Room.
• 16:36
  Speaker 16: Forty three Los five twenty nine fifty one twelve oh
• 16:39
  Speaker 16: three pm ap b WMA one fifty five t six,
• 16:43
  Speaker 16: dark haired, dark eyes, wearing gray suit, no hat. Suspect
• 16:47
  Speaker 16: is wearing glasses, heavy build, twenty two years Suspect is
• 16:51
  Speaker 16: armed with blue steel revolver.
• 16:52
  Speaker 17: Any information forward, You have just heard a teletype description
• 16:56
  Speaker 17: of a suspect. This information will apply to many, but
• 17:00
  Speaker 17: screening will eliminate all but one.
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: Tuesday, May tenth, two pm, when the aging grandfather Oscar
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: Sherman told us that he wasn't sure whether the recovered
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: boy was really his grandson, Ben and I didn't know
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: what to think. Our first reaction was that the shock
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: of recovering the boy after he'd almost been given up
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: for lost, had been too much for the old man.
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: Mister Sherman admitted that there was no physical difference in
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: the boy as far as he could see, but he
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: still insisted that there was something wrong, but the boy
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: seemed different somehow. To satisfy the grandfather, Ben and I
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: talked to the boy, but he failed to give us
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: any reason to believe that he was not Jimmy Sherman.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: We checked with the boy's friends, all the people in
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: the neighborhood who'd known Jimmy over a period of years.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: They confirmed our opinion a few thought that.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: The youngster had changed a little, but no one had
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: any serious doubts about it. The boy was really Jimmy Sherman,
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: so the matter was dropped. Thursday, May twelfth, Ben and
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: I had lunch and then we checked back in at
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: the office.
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: Joe, I want to grab.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: That juvenile bureau Friday mister, Yes, sir, Yes, sir, how
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: are you?
• 18:12
  Speaker 12: I want you to come out and take this boy? Gotcha?
• 18:15
  Speaker 12: He's not my grandson, I'm sure of it.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: Well, how do you mean, sir, This boy's got a.
• 18:19
  Speaker 12: Scar on his side.
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir, my grandson never had an operation in his life.
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: Before we left the office, Ben and I briefed Inspector
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: Bowling on the phone call from the grandfather.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Then we drove back to the Sherman house.
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: While Oscar Sherman didn't claim that he knew his grandson's
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: complete medical history, he was certain that the boy had
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: not had his appendix out and that he had not
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: had an operation. He told us that his neighbor, missus Keller,
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: could substantiate there that she had known Jimmy since.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: He was a baby. We put in a call to
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: the Sherman's family doctor. He wasn't in.
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: We left a message, and then we went next door
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: to see missus Keller. We found her in the kitchen,
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: washing dishes.
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: Got couple more to rents. Can wait a minute, yes,
• 19:02
  Speaker 6: of course, No, to tell you the truth, Sergeant. I
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: just don't know what to think about mister Sherman. Maybe
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: the whole thing was too much for him. As mine's
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: going back up.
• 19:18
  Speaker 7: Do you at knowledge missus Keller was the boy ever
• 19:20
  Speaker 7: operated on?
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: No, not as far as I know. As possibly he
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: did have an operation, I didn't hear about it. Sorry.
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: As far as I'm concerned that boys, Jimmy Sherman, I
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: don't know what his grandfather's up to with all that
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: silly talk.
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: Well, if it's not really the boy, we won't have
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: too much trouble finding the truth.
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: There's no question in my mind. Of course it's Jimmy.
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: Why when he was over here the other day he
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: talked about the party I gave for him one Halloween.
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: He even remembered the children who were there.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Are the other neighbors as sure about the boy as
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: you are?
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: Just about mis Foster down the street. Jimmy was in
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: to see her yesterday. He talked about some changes she'd
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: made in her living room, asked her about some relatives
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: she has living out of town. Think about it. Jimmy
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: even remarked on that new trailer rose I planted out
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: in front science as the boy's dogs. Why they knew
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: that youngster the minutity set foot in the yard.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am, well, thank you very much, missus Keller. If
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: we have any more questions, we'll contact CENTA.
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: All right, sergeant, couldn't picture a cup of coffee? Could I?
• 20:16
  Speaker 11: Oh?
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: No, thank you to take the time now, poor.
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: Mister Sherman, I don't know what to make of it.
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: I'm so mixed up, yes, ma'am, so are we.
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: We left the neighbor missus Keller, and went back next
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: door to the Sherman house. The grandfather told us that
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: the family doctor hadn't returned to our call yet.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: At three point thirty pm, the boy came.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: Home from school, changed his clothes, and went out into
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: the backyard to play. We figured we had nothing to
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: lose in talking to the boy again. We found him
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: in the small workshop at the rear of the garage,
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: where he was sawing on a piece of plywood with
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: a hacksaw. We talked to him for about twenty minutes.
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: It was no different than the first time we interviewed him.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: It was relaxed and talkative.
• 21:00
  Speaker 10: Say would you hand me that hamm of their officer?
• 21:02
  Speaker 7: Oh? Yeah, yeah, here you go. Thanks.
• 21:08
  Speaker 10: Why do I ever get this thing finished? It's gonna
• 21:10
  Speaker 10: be the best coaster around here. These are the wheels
• 21:14
  Speaker 10: I'm gonna put on it. Pretty good, aren't they?
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: Yeah?
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: They look fine. Son. Do you like building things, coasters
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: and things like that? Oh?
• 21:20
  Speaker 10: Yeah, I like it? Alright, it's fun.
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: Your granddad says you've changed quite a bit since you
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: got back. Jim says you didn't like working around the
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: shop here before.
• 21:31
  Speaker 10: Well, I guess I don't really. You know, once in
• 21:33
  Speaker 10: a while, I like to come out and fool around.
• 21:36
  Speaker 7: Have you seen mister Barlow down the street since you
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: been back?
• 21:40
  Speaker 10: Mister Barlow? No, I went down to see him, but
• 21:43
  Speaker 10: he wasn't home. Maybe I'll go down and see him tomorrow.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: His name isn't Barlow, is it, Ben? I thought it
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: was Robinson.
• 21:48
  Speaker 10: Oh yeah, that's all right, mister Robinson. Sometimes I forget.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: How do you wouldn't your grandfather get along? Jim?
• 21:58
  Speaker 11: All right?
• 21:59
  Speaker 10: Oh?
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: Sure?
• 22:00
  Speaker 10: Every once in a while. It's kind of funny at me.
• 22:02
  Speaker 10: I don't know. I guess he's still worried about that
• 22:05
  Speaker 10: man taking me away.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: You know all I've been feeling lately, Jim Okay, sure, I.
• 22:09
  Speaker 10: Feel fine, hardly ever get sick. That's good.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: You ever been in the hospital, son, ull just.
• 22:20
  Speaker 10: Once had my appendix out. I hate hospitals. I can
• 22:24
  Speaker 10: I have that kend of nails there? Please?
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: Oh? Yeah, yeah, here you are.
• 22:28
  Speaker 10: I'm gonna make this good and strong.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: You know, I'd like to ask you a question, Son, Yeah,
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: what's your real name?
• 22:36
  Speaker 10: Jimmy Sherman?
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: You know that?
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: No, I'd like to have the truth. Son, Who are you?
• 22:40
  Speaker 10: He must be fooling officers. You know who I am?
• 22:43
  Speaker 10: Jimmy Sherman.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: No, Jimmy Sherman never had his appendix out, Son, But
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: you did, and you've got a sky to prove it.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Haven't you?
• 22:49
  Speaker 10: Sure I had my appendix out? Ask my grandpa. He'll
• 22:51
  Speaker 10: tell you.
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: I'm Freddy, won't Son. He says he's not your grandfather.
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: He says you don't belong here. His grandson never had
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: an operation in his life.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: How about it's sin? Do you want to tell us
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: about it?
• 23:06
  Speaker 10: Oh, Grandpa isn't feeling wrough. He doesn't know what he's seeing.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Well, he knows you're done his grandson. Come on, what about.
• 23:14
  Speaker 10: It's son, all right, I'm not Jimmy Schuman.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: He told us his real name was Donald Rush. He
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: said he'd run away from his home in Springfield, Ohio,
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: two weeks before. He said that he'd been picked up
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: by the police on a highway just on the outskirts
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: of Dayton, Ohio.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: On returning the boy.
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: To the station, the police officers saw that he fitted
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: the description of the missing California boy perfectly, was almost
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: as if the two were identical twins. Under the impression
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: that the youngster was suffering from shock or amnesia, the
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: police officers told him all about his home and his
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: friends in California. They gave Donald Rush all the information
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: that they had on the missing Sherman Boy, all the
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: newspaper stories, pictures, the dozens of teletypes and circulars which
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: had been sent across the country in an effort to
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: locate the missing youngster. On his way out to California
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: on the train, the Rush boy was given dozens of
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: newspapers to read, which contained thousands of words concerning the
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: disappearance of Jimmy Sherman. So by the time he got
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: to Los Angeles, Donald rush knew everything he had to
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: know about the boy he was impersonating. We questioned the
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: Ohio youngster further. Besides an exceptionally high IQ, he admitted
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: to having an almost photographic memory. We took him in
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: the house to face the grandfather of the boy that
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: he'd been impersonating. The boy was still missing.
• 24:32
  Speaker 7: Mister Sherman, Yes, sir, sit down, won't you. The boy
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: here has a confession for you. He wants to tell
• 24:39
  Speaker 7: you himself.
• 24:40
  Speaker 8: And I think I know I was right all along,
• 24:43
  Speaker 8: wasn't my set.
• 24:44
  Speaker 10: I didn't mean anything by it, mister. I just thought
• 24:47
  Speaker 10: it'd be fun to make up like somebody else for
• 24:49
  Speaker 10: a while.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: You wouldn't know the difference was just no, sir, afraid
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't a picture over there on the mattle, I'm
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: the boy here. They look exactly alike to me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 8: There's only one thing I'd like to know.
• 25:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah, why did you do it?
• 25:03
  Speaker 8: Why'd you try and fool me?
• 25:05
  Speaker 10: I don't know, mister. I ran away from home and
• 25:07
  Speaker 10: the cops picked me up in your date and he
• 25:09
  Speaker 10: thought my name was Jimmy Sherman. They said I was
• 25:12
  Speaker 10: missing kids from California.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Why didn't you straighten him out right then? Son?
• 25:15
  Speaker 10: I was kind of afraid if I told him what
• 25:17
  Speaker 10: my roommate was, they would have sent me back home.
• 25:19
  Speaker 10: So I just let him think I was really Jimmy Sherman,
• 25:22
  Speaker 10: and they seemed to be pretty sure I was.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: How long did you think you could keep it up, son,
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: pretending it were somebody I.
• 25:27
  Speaker 10: Don't know, Yes, I never thought much about that. I
• 25:31
  Speaker 10: got here and everybody was nice to me. I just
• 25:33
  Speaker 10: didn't think about anybody finding out, honest, mister, I didn't
• 25:37
  Speaker 10: mean to do anything wrong. I didn't mean to hurt anybody.
• 25:40
  Speaker 8: And you never saw my grandson. You never saw it, Jimmy.
• 25:43
  Speaker 10: No, Sir, I just got on the train. They brought
• 25:46
  Speaker 10: me out here.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: You don't know where he is, You don't know how
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: it is, or I'd try to take it easy, mister Sherman.
• 25:52
  Speaker 8: Why would you do it?
• 25:53
  Speaker 7: Boy?
• 25:55
  Speaker 8: You're a stranger. Why would you try to fool me
• 25:58
  Speaker 8: about Jimmy?
• 26:00
  Speaker 10: Sorry, mister, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.
• 26:04
  Speaker 11: Thought I hadn't.
• 26:12
  Speaker 10: Come on then, Sir, I didn't want to make him
• 26:22
  Speaker 10: cry like that, Sergeant, honest, I'm sorry. Couldn't you just
• 26:25
  Speaker 10: let me stay here with him?
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: No, I'm afraid not, Sam, I don't.
• 26:29
  Speaker 10: Do anything wrong. Don't you think I could just stay
• 26:32
  Speaker 10: here with him. I'll go right back in there now,
• 26:34
  Speaker 10: I'm telling him, I'm sorry.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sorry too, youngster, But you're not the boys
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: looking for.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: On Wednesday, May twentieth, the meeting was held at the
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: Juvenile Bureau City in County of Los Angeles, State of California.
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: In a moment the results of that meeting, Donald Rush,
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: who impersonated missing ten year old Jimmy Sherman, was returned
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: to the custody of his parents at their home in Springfield, Ohio.
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: Four months later, the body of Jimmy Sherman was discovered
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: buried on a farm on the outskirts of Riverside, California.
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: The boy had been murdered. His killer, a farmer in
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: the neighborhood, was subsequently apprehended and brought to trial. He
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: was found guilty of murder in the first degree and
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: was executed at the state penitentiary San Quentin, California. You
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: Stay tuned for Cowver Spy next over most NBC.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: Stations, welcome back.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: This is one of those stories which is stranger than fiction.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: If you were telling this story on another detective show
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: about a ten year old boy who was able to
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: impersonate another ten year old boy on newspaper accounts and
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: mistaken identity, people would say, yeah, this is really far fetch,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: that would never really happen. But given dragnettes based on
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: a true story setup, you've got to treat it as credible.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: I did find myself wondering about this imposter kid's home life.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: He clearly did not want to go home. Now. Of course,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: sometimes kids do that for you know, perfectly normal, reasonable reasons,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: but sometimes there's more going on there, and I wonder
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: whether that would have been interrogated more if this sort
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: of thing were to happen today. All right, well, listener
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: comments and feedback and have a comment from Alfred on
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: YouTube looking for a Joe Friday fan fiction of the
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: war years. Thanks for the comment. Now, we do know
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: from the episode The Big Escape that Joe Friday did
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: serve in World War Two, and that episode also introduced
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: us to one of his war bodies, but after that
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: we don't have any information of what went on. Now,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: I'm not aware of anyone having taken up to write this,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and I am aware of dragging that fan fiction. And
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: while it's not inherently interesting, it could be interesting depending
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: on what people were able to come up with. You know,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Joe Friday was one of those war veterans who just
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: didn't talk about it, and there were a lot of
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: of men who served in war who were like that.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: My wife's grandfather was one of those. So there'd be
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: a lot of room to speculate. Your only limitations really
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: in writing something like that, if you were wanting to
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: be consistent at all, is you'd have to listen to
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: The Big Escape and stay within the confines of the
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: limited information that is revealed about Joe's war service in
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: that episode, because I think that's the only one it's
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: talked about.
• 30:33
  Speaker 7: Now.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: If you wanted to take an old time radio episode
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: and treat it as fan fiction about Joe Friday's war service.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: You could take the episode Operation Fleur de Lee, where
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: the character played by Jack Webb is not giving his
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: real name because he's afraid of what might happen to him.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: That character is pretty different from Joe Friday, but the
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: events of that story could be seen as so traumatically
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: transformative that they led to changes in personality. I think
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: that might be the only World War two old time
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: radio episode with Jack Webb. Of course it was broadcast
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: after the war. But thanks for the comment, and I
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: do want to go ahead and thank Kelly, Patreon supporter
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: since July twenty seventeen, currently supporting the podcast at the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Shawmus level of four dollars or more per month. Thanks
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: so much for your support, Kelly, and that will do
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: us using your favorite podcast software and be sure to
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: We'll be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: But join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Dollar where.
• 31:57
  Speaker 10: Picking us up in the air.
• 31:58
  Speaker 15: Take a deep one, Johnny, you smell it?
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: Tell us not kerosene. How I don't think it's gasoline either.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: Ib at trumping highly inflammable. The boys that chemical truck
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: could get it out, and I learn something first.
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: These stores always stuck a lot.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Of cleaning fluid stuff like that hus that are not inflammable.
• 32:18
  Speaker 7: Well, how much, honey, look out.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime,
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: send your comments to Box thirteen at Greatdetectives dot net,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash Great Detectives from
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Boise Ataho. This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.