Beverly Potts was last seen leaving Cleveland’s Halloran Park and walking toward her Linnet Avenue home around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 24, 1951. Potts, 10, spent the evening watching the Showagon, an annual summer children’s performance, in the park. She’d originally been with friend Patsy Swing, but Swing left because she had to be home before dark. A 13-year-old neighbor of Potts saw her on the corner of Linnet and West 117th Street. Other witnesses claimed they saw her speaking with two men in a 1937 Dodge coupe, but no one saw Potts get in the car. These turned out to be the last reported sightings of her.
Potts’ family set out to look for her when she was not home by 10 p.m. An hour later, they contacted the police to report her missing. Searchers went door to door in the neighborhood but found nothing. A $1,500 reward was soon offered by Potts’ father’s union, but this did not lead to her whereabouts. Over the years that followed, various men were linked to Potts’ disappearance. In 1955, Harvey Lee Rush confessed to killing her but then recanted his confession, saying he’d done it just to get a free trip back to Cleveland. Others have anonymously confessed to killing Potts, but no one has ever been charged or convicted, leaving her case unsolved.