William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills millionaire, is returned home after his kidnapping, Beverly Hills, 1934

Item Overview

Title

William F. Gettle, Beverly Hills millionaire, is returned home 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, (center, wearing spectacles) is returned to his home in Beverly Hills after being kidnapped and held for ransom.Gettle, businessman and millionaire, was kidnapped from the grounds of his Arcadia ranch home during a 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: Gettle, William F. - returned to his home.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Names

Gettle, William F., 1887-1941

Location

Beverly Hills (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Events
Millionaires--California--Beverly Hills
Kidnappings--California