On this day, April 28, in 1955, 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan vanished while walking home from school in Berkeley, Calif., setting in motion one of the Bay Area’s most famous criminal cases.
The largest posse in that region’s history turned up false leads and mysterious clues — but no girl. Police got a break when the wife of Berkeley student Burton Abbott found Stephanie’s purse and an ID card inside their home. A subsequent police search at the home turned up the girl’s glasses, a bra and other evidence.
Her body was found in a shallow grave on property owned by the Abbotts.
Abbott was sentenced to the gas chamber. A governor’s attempted phone call to stop the execution came two minutes too late.
-Scott McCabe
