Twilight of Innocence: The Disappearance of Beverly Potts

This book is haunting and I know I will never forget Beverly Potts. I grew up in a neighborhood in Pa not unlike the one she lived in. (in the early 60's). I recommend this book but caution you that it really makes you feel as if you were there and will break your heart. The worst part is that there is no end to it.

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and was 7 years old when Beverly Potts disappeared. I remember all of the parents warning us about coming home before dark, not talking to strangers or going with any strangers, or "you will end up like Beverly Potts." So, when I saw this book I had to read it because Beverly's disappearance was a very integral part of my childhood. It is a comprehensive, well researched, well written account of a tragic incident that impacted many lives. If you are like me and are familiar with the case, this is a must read. If you are interested in unsolved mysteries this is also a must read.

"Twilight of Innocence-The Disappearance of Beverly Potts" is a well written, haunting account of the disappearance 10 year old Beverly Potts, who vanished on her way home from a festival in her neighborhood park in Cleveland, OH the night of Aug 24, 1951. I am not from Ohio but still found this book very interesting,and I find myself reading it again and again. Recently while on vacation with my family, we passed through Cleveland, and I decided to make the detour to see the park and neighborhood this story took place. One cannot realize how close everything is until one goes there.It is hard to believe that no one saw anything. Beverly did not have far to walk at all, and I agree with the theory that she was most likely abducted by a neighbor, and may very well be buried somewhere on that same street. I got quite an eerie feeling walking around the park, and looking at the home Beverly never made it back to that night. The author does a very good job of taking you though the story detail by detail, day by day. One can feel the anguish of her parents and sister,Anita, who graciously shared pictures and did interviews for this book. A quote by Patsy Swing, Beverly's best friend and one of the last people to see Beverly alive, has stayed with me and it still shows the pain Patsy feels. She said Beverly "was my very very best friend.." Even though the book ends without us knowing what happened to Beverly, I think we can make a very good guess and maybe someday, when the area is searched again and /or bulldozed, we just may get our answer. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in old unsolved missing persons cases. Once you read this, you will never forget Beverly.

"Twilight of Innocence: The Disappearance of Beverly Potts" by James Jessen Badal is the spellbinding account of a community's search for a 10-year-old girl who vanished without a trace less than a block from her Cleveland home. Born in 1941, Beverly Potts lived with her family in a quiet Cleveland suburb. On a summer evening in August 1951, she walked to a park just a few doors from home to see a local talent show with her best friend, Patsy. Her disappearance later that night led to what Badal calls "the largest manhunt in Cleveland history" and raised "the chilling possibility that she had been grabbed literally within sight of the family house." Badal investigated the case by sifting through old newspapers and police files. He describes the dynamic interaction among the three vying newspapers in Cleveland -- an intriguing story in itself -- along with the city's political machinations. The author retraces the shy girl's activities just before she disappeared and provides an exacting timeline of events. He talks about the public's reaction to the crime: Many helped in the search while crowds gathered in front of the family home to get a glimpse of the "gloomy house where tragedy struck." The authorities tracked down all known sex offenders, drained a pond, sent divers into Lake Erie, did flyovers in planes and led basement-to-attic searches. They followed up on cryptic messages and false leads and even took calls from psychics and extortionists. As Badal says, the hoaxes ranged "from the merely stupid to the heartlessly cruel." Decades after the crime, police were still investigating, interviewing serial killers and molesters. Even today there are a lot more questions than answers. The ordeal was so horrendous for Beverly's mother that she "died, quite literally of grief, in 1956," says Badal. We tend to think of the abduction of children as a modern phenomenon, forgetting that it's always been a terrifying fact of life. I started this book knowing that the case was never solved and I still couldn't put it down. The details are positively haunting and the complex character studies make it easy to realize that these were real people who actually went through this ordeal, who truly lost their little girl. What in the world happened to her?

I just finished reading Mr. Badal's account of the disappearance of Beverly Potts and I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in true-crime unsolved mysteries. The author does an excellent job of synthesizing the newspaper accounts of the time with the surving police files dating back to the time of Beverly Potts' disappearance in 1951. Additionally, the author interviews a few of the key surviving people from the time period of the disappearance, including Ms. Potts' sister, Anita. Because this is an unsolved disapperance, inevitably the reader is left somewhat frustrated because of the lack of closure...just like Beverly's family and the countless others who have been involved with this case in the last half-century. If there is one criticism I have about the book is that there is no real original research by the author. The author states in the introduction that his intention was not to try and solve this case or make any bold guesses as to whodunit, and he stays faithful to this philosophy. However, I believe the unresolved nature of the topic demands that at least some theories regarding the disapparance are put forward and explored in more detail. I would definitely have liked to see more interviews with former neighbors, "witnesses" and surviving officers who worked on the case (or even their families) to try and provide more "off-the-record" information. The author also reveals that a large section of the official Cleveland police files were removed by a police detective who worked the case because he apparently had planned to pen his own memoirs about this case. The memoirs were never written, the detective is presumably deceased, and there is no mention of what ever became of the missing files. Somewhat frustratingly, the author does not reveal what attempts, if any, he made to track down these presumably important files. After reading the book, my own humble opinion/theory is that Beverly was likely abducted by a neighbor on Linett east of W. 117th. Her abduction by someone in a car does not seem as plausible. Given Beverly's apparent shy nature, it is likely that she was approached by someone she new and trusted who asked her to come onto his/her property momentarily for some seemingly innocent reason, and then took her against her will before she could cry out for help. Chillingly, the author relates that Anita Potts was told by a detective at the time who was investigating Beverly's disappearance (and who subscribed to this theory) that it was possible that Beverly's remains may one day be discovered after the homes in that area are bulldozed. Anyway, The book tops out at about 185 pages and is a very fast read. Even if you are not a native Clevelander you will still enjoy reading this book immensely.