Mrs. Fleeta Gettle and her children smile for the camera, after the safe return of kidnapping victim William F. Gettle. Circa May 15, 1934.

Item Overview

Title

Mrs. Fleeta Gettle and her children smile for the camera, after the safe return of kidnapping victim William F. Gettle. Circa May 15, 1934.

Date Created

[circa May 15, 1934]

Date

1934-05-15

Publisher

Los Angeles Daily News

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Notes

Description

Mrs. Fleeta Gettle, her four children, and an unidentified woman smile for the camera through a window, after the safe return of kidnapping victim (as well as husband and father) William F. Gettle.William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills millionaire, 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, Fleeta Beatrice Girten, 1901-1935
Gettle, Betty
Gettle, Jimmy

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Children--California
People
Events
Kidnappings--California