Kristen Bell (3:57)
Oh the right. Still need to buy the car. Getting ahead of ourselves here. Buy your car with Carvana today. Ladies and gentlemen, this program is for you, not your children. The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a juvenile bureau. A worried mother calls your office and reports that her four year old twin girls are missing. Hours pass, the children fail to turn up. Your job. Find them. Dragnet. The documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law. Through an actual case. Transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Saturday, August 7th. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of juvenile bureau. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Inspector Bowling. My name's Friday. It was 7:35pm when we got to where we parked our car. 80k there. Let's see now. Your house is back that way, huh? Yeah. Why don't you swing around here, huh? All right. How am I on that side? Okay. Plenty of room here. No, you better wait a minute. Okay, it's all clear now. I don't know about you, I think there's something sour about the whole thing. Wait til we check at the house. The kids might have turned up while we were gone. I hope so. Sure hate to go back there empty handed. Not one lousy lead. It's hard to figure. If the little girls just wandered off, somebody should have spotted them by this time. Unless there was some kind of an accident. Yeah. What time you got? 20 minutes to 8. 5 hours. That's a long time for a pair of 4 year olds to be out of sight in it. Parents are gonna be worried sick when we tell them. That's it. Up in the next block in it. Oh yeah. Might as well pull up right here, huh? Yeah. That's good. Let's go. Lousy job. I'll put in with you. Oh, yeah, Officers, come in. Thank you. Have you heard anything? No, sir. Not too much, Mr. Carson. We just finished checking the neighborhood. Somebody around must have seen the kids. Did you talk to everybody? We checked out all the names you gave us, sir. Everyone who knows your little girls. The kids they play with, their friends, parents, storekeepers in the area. But somebody had to see them. They gotta be around someplace. Joan and Tilly got lost in that park. I know they would have headed up toward home. Sergeant. What is it? Did you find. No, we're still checking, Ms. Carson. There's nothing much to tell you right now. Dear God. Somebody's got to have seen Tilly. And Joan couldn't have wandered off that far. I don't think it's as bad as it might seem to you, ma'am. Children have been missing a lot longer than your two little girls and turned up. All right. Just try to relax, Ms. Carson. Why hasn't somebody seen? They wandered off from us in the park. But it's only three blocks from the house. Why isn't somebody seen? It's dark out. God knows what could have happened to them at night. Take it easy, honey. Don't start imagining things. I think it's just a matter of time, ma'am. We've got three teams of men working on it with us. Gotten out of broadcast on your little girl. Did you talk to the Stanleys down the street in the Petersons? Yes, ma'am, we did. We checked out all the names that you gave us. There is one thing we wanted to ask you about. What's inside your. About the spot in the park where you had your picnic this afternoon. Where the little girls wandered off from. That's exactly where I pointed it out to the other officers. By the eucalyptus Grove, right off 7th Avenue. Just about 2:30 this afternoon. We finished lunch. Frank was taking a nap and I was reading. I saw the girls playing tag over by the trees. I looked up in a few minutes and they were gone. Just like I told the other officers. Then you're sure about that location, huh? Of course I'm sure. Why should I lie to you? I want to find the girls. Please find them, Sergeant. Find them. Yes, ma'am. Come on, honey. Take it easy, huh? It. It's just never happened to us before, Sergeant. Joan and Tiltie have never gone off like this. It's not like them, that's all. Only babies, really. Would you like me to get that for you, Mr. Carson? Yes, sir. Would you, please? Sure. Oh, hi, Wilkie. Joe, anything? No, not yet. You want to step outside? Yeah. Yeah. Ralph and I checked with a guy who runs an ice cream wagon. He works the area in the park where the kids disappeared. What'd he tell you? He saw a couple of little girls about a half a mile from that eucalyptus Grove about 3 o'clock this afternoon. They were with a man. Yeah. Says he saw the man put the kids in a truck, drove off with him. 8:00pm Together with Tom Wilkie. Ben and I left the home of Mr. And Mrs. Frank Carsten, the parents of the missing girls, without telling them about the latest report until it was positively confirmed. We felt that telling them would serve no purpose other than to worry them needlessly. The ice cream vendor, a Mr. George Comanches, who had reported seeing the four year old girls, consented to drive out with us to the park area where he'd spend in the company of an unidentified man. I was right over there, officers. This big guy, mustache. He had the little girls, one on each hand. He was walking them out of that clump of trees over there. Think you can describe the man for us, Mr. Comanches? I didn't look that close. I thought he was the father. The kids were sniffling, you know, maybe like they'd been crying. Better check the ground over there by the trees, huh, Wilkie? Yeah, sure, Stan. Ralph, want to give a look over here? Didn't you notice anything at all about this man, Mr. Comanches? I mean, other than his mustache? Well, big man, big shoulders, regular truck driver. You know, work shoes, blue shirt, blue pants, jeans, I guess. How about the color of his hair? Some kind of distinguishing marks maybe? No, I don't know. I thought he was the father. The kids were sniffling there, the little girls. Was Anything wrong? It didn't look like it. How about this man's truck? Did you notice that? No, I didn't. I was busy with the freezer motor then. Gives me lots of trouble all the time. What about the license number? Did you happen to look at that? Maybe I should have looked. I didn't. Bag of peanuts. Orrises. Warm, nice and fresh. Yeah, thanks. There you are. Why don't you eat them while they're warm? Good. No, I saved them for my boy. He's crazy for peanuts. Joe. Ben. Excuse us, Mr. Comanche. Sure, sure. Go ahead. Yeah, welcome, Stan. Found these over in the bushes by the trees there. Let me see. Little girl's petticoat. Little girl's dress. Ripped to pieces. 8, 24pm the area where the torn clothing was found was roped off and checked for for footprints and other physical evidence. None was found. Homicide detail was notified and joined in the investigation. The torn petticoat and dress were taken down to Lee Jones at the crime lab for examination. Then they were shown to the father of the missing children, Frank Carsten. He definitely identified them. The search for the four year old twins, Joan and Tilly was intensified. An emergency spot check was made of all known and registered sexual psychopaths. From the hundreds of names, the stats office came up with one that might possibly tie in. He was listed as GHL Gramberg. His address was at the end of 7th Avenue, close by the park area where the Carson twins had disappeared. On his mama sheet, Gramberg was described as tall, well built, dark hair with a mustache. We found him at his work, a small bar out in the Wilshire district. He was the organist there. Yeah, that's right. I live on 7th Avenue, right across from the park. What's the matter this time? Missing juveniles. Can you account for your time between noon and six o'clock tonight, Granberg? I don't know if I can or not. I don't keep a daily log, you know. They didn't tell me how to do that. Well, tell us where you were between noon and six tonight. That's all we want to know. That's quite a bit, don't you think? Suppose I told you I was playing canasta with a mate in that. Would that shock you? Look, we're not in the mood for smart answers. You just give us an alibi we can check, that's all. I don't know why you always have to bother me when something happens. You made your own reputation. We didn't. Now what about it? I left my apartment about 11:30 this morning. I went down the union hall and paid my dues. Had lunch with some friends at the Blue Pigeon out in Wilcox. Then we went on a tour of one of the studios. All right. Will your friends confirm that story for you? Oh no, they won't. They left town tonight. The 8:15 train for San Francisco. Oh yes, Mr. Selden. A special friend of mine from up north. Graham wants to hear Indian Love call. Okay. Certainly, Mr. Seldon. Right away. What about it, Granburg? Who's dodging for your alibi? Already told you. My friend's left town. You can check with a guard at the movie studio if you want. We had a pass. Time punched in, time punched out. It should be all there. You want to call and check that studio Yeah. I don't mean to be rude, Sergeant. I always did feel that registration business is unfair. Oh, that so? Of course. Grossly unfair. How do you suggest we keep track of you? Why do I have to be kept track of anyway? You know as well as I do, your record. It was all a lie. I hardly even touched the kid. I paid my time anyway. Why can't you give me a break? Every time something happens to a kid, I have a cop on my neck. Were you in the 7th Avenue park at any time today? Granberg? What? Were you in the 7th Avenue park today? Matter of fact, I was. Yeah. I took a walk there. What time was that? I don't know. I left my friends after lunch. Came home to freshen up about 1:30, I guess. I was in the park about 1:45, 2:00. Only stayed a few minutes. When did you leave? About 2:15. You went from the park to meet your friends at the studio? Exactly right. Chance, did you see two dark haired little girls while you were in the park? No, I didn't see anybody. I was by myself. Mm. You sure of that? Well, of course I'm sure. If I did see them, it wouldn't mean anything. I don't molest kids. I don't get along with them, that's all. Another one. Graham, I wonder if you'd mind playing Diane. Anniversary party, you know. All right. Thanks, Graham. What I was saying, Sergeant, it's the truth. I couldn't have hurt a little kid. I never could. No one says you have. I know, but I just want you to know how I feel. Maybe I don't get along with kids, but I couldn't hurt them. Little girls especially. I like kids. Really? I just don't understand how I like them. It's a real strange thing, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Joe, can I see? Did you talk to Studio? Yeah, I checked with the guard. What'd he say? Bamberg was there from 2:30 to 4:30. You double checked the times? Yeah. His alibi is good. 10:55pm The 4 year old Carsten girls were still missing. A special detail of men from Homicide were assigned to a general canvas of stores and homes in the park area. All the residents were questioned. No one had seen the children. 11:20pm we headed back for the Karsten home. I'm all out of smoke. Joe, you got some? No, I'm out too. There's a drugstore up ahead. I guess we can get some there, huh? A car in front of us. That's Wilkie and Bates. Car, isn't it? Let's see. Yeah. Oh, here's Wilkie coming out of the drugstore. Hey, Wilk. Romero. Joe just talked to the office. Anything new? They got a call from the Valley Station a few minutes ago. Yeah, Little girls. They've been found. You are listening to Dragnet for the step by step solution to tonight's authentic case. 11:25pm as soon as we got the word that the 4 year old Carsten twins had been found, Ben and I drove back to the office where Inspector Bowling filled us in. A few minutes past 11pm A motorist out in the valley spotted the two small girls walking hand in hand along a deserted side road off Ventura Boulevard. Their clothing was dirty and torn. They were alone. The motorist picked them up, took them to the Valley Division station where the girls were identified. We sent out a partial cancellation on the apb. The twin girls were taken to the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital where they were treated for cuts and bruises. Then they were returned to their home. The doctor reported that both girls had been criminally molested. The search for the abductor went on. Late the next day, Ben and I drove out to the Karsten home to talk to the twins, Joan and Tilly. We had no luck at all. They were still shaken up from the excitement and shock of their experience. We went back to the living room with their mother, Helen Karsten. It was the same thing this morning when I tried to question them. They just don't want to talk about it. Must have been horrible for them. Did they tell you anything at all, Mrs. Carson? Well, Joan just refuses to talk about it. She says the man was big. That's all I could get out of her. Tilly seems a little more willing to talk, though. She's always been a little more forward than Joan. Ever since they were babies, ma'am. I see. Well, could she add anything at all to what your other little girl told you about the man? She told her father the man had a mustache. Probably impressed her because my husband wears one, too. Pretty certain she's right about that. I can usually tell when she's making up things. Well, how about the way the man was dressed? His clothes? No, they didn't mention anything particular. Tilly told me the man was dirty. She said it two or three times. Dirty, dirty clothes. She might have meant the man had work clothes on. She has so many expressions. I don't know. How did the man get your little girls into the truck? Did he offer them candy or something like that? Well, Tilly said something about a kitten the man had a little kitten and he was gonna give it to them. I told him about that once. I told them a thousand times, stay away from strangers. Don't go with them. Yes, ma'am. Did they tell you anything else at all about the man's description? Tilly said the man was big. I don't know if you could count on that. Everybody looks big to her. I talked to her an hour, but she just kept repeating the same story. Man made them cry, tore their dresses, hurt them. Just horrible for them. Yes, ma'am. Did it tell you anything at all about the truck the man was driving? Maybe the color or something like that? Well, Tilly called it a big car. Funny big car. She said it was red with red pictures all over it. Can't put much faith in that, though. Why not, ma'am? Everything's red to Tilly now. Everything has red pictures on it. Just the phase she's going through. A few weeks ago it was blue. Everything was blue to her. Now it's red. Everything's red. I see. You think they might be able to tell you a little more in a day or so, after they've quieted down? Well, I don't know. I certainly hope so. Thank God it's all over. Their home's safe. That's all that counts. Oh, ma'am, I'm afraid there's more to it than that. What? The man that did it. Still free Monday, August 9th. The search for the suspect went on. All of us, the men from Juvenile and homicide detail were pretty much feeling our way in the dark. Repeated questioning of residents living in the area where the abduction took place netted us nothing. Our two star witnesses, the four year old twins, were able to contribute little. We stayed on it another three days of pounding the pavement, knocking on doors and asking stock questions led nowhere. As in most cases like this one, the criminal enjoyed the distinct advantage of having victims who were unable because of their age, to clearly identify him. Tuesday, August 10th. In the late afternoon, we got a call from Bernice Hopper, a real estate agent in the West Hollywood area. 4:15pm Ben and I drove out to interview her. Excuse me, Officer. I just gotta find that listing book first. Well, right ahead, Ms. Harper. I just know it's gotta be here someplace. Only yesterday morning, I remembered a stink. Oh, here it is. There. Now I can start to do business again. Well, I don't know if this is gonna help you any in your case, officers, but I certainly think something should be done about it. Flagrant. That's the only word I Can think of just flagrant. Would you like to tell us about it, ma'am? Well, I saw him yesterday, for one thing. See, I was coming back from lunch about 2:30 in the afternoon. Mondays I always have late lunch. Yes, I see. I was just passing the corner a few blocks from the grammar school right up above on Prospect Avenue, and I saw this truck parked and this truck driver leaning out of the window talking to some children. Just tops, they were. Just tops. Yes, ma'am. What happened? Well, what happened is not so much that. It's just the way this truck driver was talking to these children. I must have been at least 20ft from them and even I could hear. What was that, ma'am? His language. Just filthy. I couldn't understand a grown man talking to little tots like that. Every kind of filth, every obscene word you think of. Flagrant. Just flagrant. Was there any point in the way he was talking to the children, Ms. Harper? I mean, was he mad at them? Did he seem sober or what was it? It was filth. That's all I know, officer. Just dirt and filth. Some of the children didn't like it and they told him that only made him do it all the more. I really think you ought to check up on him. Yes, ma'am. Well, can you tell us anything else about it? Oh, would you excuse me? Yes, ma'am. Go right ahead. How do you do? My name's Bernice Hopper. May I help you? How do you do? I'm Arthur Tomilson. You showed me in the wife place last weekend. No. Oh, yes, of course, Mr. Thomason. A cottage out on Norwich, wasn't it? Yeah, that's right. Well, the wife and I certainly did like it. She wants me to put a deposit on it. It's still for sale, I guess. Well, no. As a matter of fact, I sold it Monday. It's just like I told you. Things go fast. Of course, you had a substantial down payment to make at the time. Oh, yeah, it did take me a few days to get some money together. That's too bad. Lorraine certainly loved the place. It's too bad, I guess. I'm very sorry, Mr. Thomason. There wasn't anything I can do. Oh, yeah, I know that. Well, thanks anyway, ma'am. I guess we'll keep looking. Something may turn out. I'm sure it will. Thanks for stopping by again, Mr. Thomason. Yeah. Bye. Oh, my. Everybody wants something for nothing. They want houses, but they don't show the money. Now, what was it the truck driver that you saw, Ma'am? Oh, yeah. Well, after hearing that talk of his, I just copied down the license number of the truck. I've got it right here in my desk. How about the truck driver, ma'am? Did you get a good look at him? I certainly did. The way he acted to those children. Anything unusual about his appearance? No, nothing besides his foul mouth. He was tall, dark, had a mustache, ties in. One more thing. Truck he was driving? Yes, ma'am. There were pictures painted on the side. Circus animals, I think. Did you notice the color? Oh, yes, it was red. Even the pictures were red. 4:45pm we took the license number of the truck which Bernice Hopper had given us and drove back to the office and checked it through dmv. We found the truck was registered to a commercial baking firm in the south end of town. Through their personnel department and their dispatcher's office, we got the name and address of the employee who was driving the truck. The same day Bernice Hopper had spotted the driver talking to the school children. His name was Lester Wiley. We checked a little further, found that he was driving the same truck the day the Karsten twins were abducted. We called into R and I. Wiley had no criminal record. 6:30pm we located the suspect at his home, an old style green and white bungalow on the edge of the Highland park district. He sat in the dining room and drank some kind of sweet wine from a large water glass while we questioned him. That's sure stupid of me, huh? I didn't even ask if you wanted some of this. No, thank you, Wiley. Like to have you explain about your language in front of those school kids. Nothing to explain. Bunch of those kids are hanging around the truck. Thought maybe they wanted to get in and grab some of the cakes and stuff. I read them off, that's all. Well, that still doesn't explain the filthy language, Wiley. I don't know. Maybe I wasn't feeling good that day. Might let a few cuss words slip. I didn't mean anything by it. I like kids. Do you usually make deliveries up around that school area, Wally? Once in a while, yeah. I get around quite a bit. That's not what they tell us down where you were, huh? You had no business in the neighborhood of that school. You deliver routes on the other end of town. So I can't drive where I want, huh? I get the deliveries made. What are they squawking about? Like to know what you were doing up in that neighborhood. I was on my lunch hour. Drove up to see a friend. I got a friend living near the school. What's the matter anyway? Don't you think you've had enough of that? Look, you're not telling me what I have to do in my house. It's my house. I want a glass of wine. I have it. You're not telling me what to do. All right, Wiley, just take it easy. Take it easy, Nothing. I talked to you too. Long enough. There's the door. You're not coming in here telling me what to do. You better get your coat. We'll talk downtown. We're not talking any place. Now get out. Get out of this house right now. Afraid your alibi's not gonna hold up, Wylie? That it? I don't know what you're talking about. You're trying to frame me. Don't you think I know that? That doesn't make much sense. Why should we want to frame you? I know what you're getting at. Just what you're getting at. Those two little girls last week. You're gonna say I took em. You're gonna say I did things to em. Well, I didn't anything to do with it. Didn't you? Well, no. No, I didn't. Oh, look, I'm sorry. Why don't you sit down? I didn't mean what I said. Cause I just got nervous. Sure, Wiley, we understand. Why don't you let me get a couple of glasses, huh? Have some of this wine. Warms you up good. No, thank you. Just like to have you straighten us out on a couple of things and we'll let you alone. Yeah. Like to know if you can account for your time between 12 noon and 11pm last Saturday. That's the day somebody picked up those two little girls, isn't it? Yeah, that's right, Wiley. I don't know. I was making deliveries like I always do up to 11 o'clock at night. I was a little late. Yeah. Nothing unusual though. That so? Another working day. It's all that's good wine. I might have been near the park where those kids were. Doesn't mean anything, though. I get around quite a bit. A lot of deliveries to make. All right, come on. How about it, Wiley? Did you grab those two little girls? Watch a joke. All right, mister, that's enough. Get out of my house. Get out of my house. All right, Ben. Get him on himself. You never prove it, you know that? What about it, Wiley? It's the use. It's no good at all. You want to tell us about it? I didn't mean it. That's so. I didn't mean it just once in a while something goes wrong with me. I like kids. Like them too much, I guess. I didn't mean to hurt them. You ready to go now? Anything you say. Thought I had it with me when I grabbed the kids. What? Thought it was in my coat pocket. Glad I lost it. Glad you lost what? A pocket knife. I was gonna kill him. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On December 10, trial was held in Superior Court Department 87, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, friends. As you might have heard me say before, on Dragnet we try to present the kind of entertainment that you want. You're the boy. Lester Wiley waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and at his arraignment in Superior Court, he entered a plea of guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of child molesting. He received the sentence as prescribed by law and is now serving his term in the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Now there's more exciting listening with counterspy on NBC.
