William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills millionaire, is reunited with his children after his kidnapping, Beverly Hills, 1934.

Item Overview

Title

William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills millionaire, is reunited with his children after his kidnapping, Beverly Hills, 1934.

Date Created

May 14, 1934

Date

1934-05-14

Publisher

Los Angeles Daily News

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Notes

Description

William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills businessman and millionaire, is reunited with his four children after his kidnapping. Gettle was kidnapped from the grounds of his Arcadia ranch home during a housewarming party on the eve of May 9th. The kidnapping attracted a great deal of attention in the community, with Mrs. Gettle even addressing the kidnappers through the pages of the Los Angeles Times. The kidnappers demanded a $60,000 ransom for the return of Gettle, which Mrs. Gettle agreed to pay. However, before the ransom was paid, two detectives of the LAPD, Chester Burris and H.P. Gearhardt, broke the case after installing a dictaphone in the home of a bank robbery suspect. Information from the dictaphone led them to a La Crescenta home where Gettle was held. He was returned, unharmed, to his family on the eve of May 14th.

Caption

Text from original nitrate sleeve: William F. Gettle's Children; Bobby, Betty, Jimmy and Billy.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Names

Gettle, William Frank, Jr., 1926-2002
Gettle, Robert Girten, 1927-1969
Gettle, Betty
Gettle, William F., 1887-1941
Gettle, Jimmy

Location

Beverly Hills (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

People
Millionaires--California--Beverly Hills
Children--California--Beverly Hills
Kidnappings--California