Single mother Christine Collins lived in Los Angeles during the 1920s with her nine-year-old son, Walter. His father was incarcerated and not involved in their lives. On March 10, 1928, Walter asked his mother for money to see a movie. During the 1920s, children regularly went to the local theaters during the weekend.

Marc Hoover.

Christine gave Walter money to see a movie. However, after it grew late into the evening, Walter didn’t return home. The concerned mother called the Los Angeles Police Department to report Walter missing. The authorities found no trace of the missing boy. Fortunately, the police caught a break in August. Walter had reappeared in DeKalb, Illinois.

Christine must have felt comforted about the news. She bought Walter a train ticket so he could return home. After the boy arrived in Los Angeles, Christine became apprehensive. She didn’t recognize the boy. He wasn’t Walter Collins.

While under pressure to close the case, this led to an inconceivable act on behalf of the LAPD.

Authorities told Christine to just take the boy home and “try him out.” Reluctantly, Christine took the boy home. But after three weeks, she returned him to the LAPD.

Christine met with LAPD Captain J.J. Jones. To prove this wasn’t Walter, she brought along his dental records. Walter had fillings in his teeth. The boy in her care didn’t show any signs of receiving dental care.

Jones feared public humiliation and being accused of incompetency. He insisted that Christine keep the boy. She refused. Jones became angry and had her arrested for being a nuisance. He had her locked away in a mental institute.

Christine spent ten days in a mental facility. In the meantime, the boy admitted that he wasn’t Walter Collins. He was Arthur Hutchins Jr., a 12-year-old runaway from Iowa. He hated his life and impersonated Walter Collins after people told him he resembled Walter. Arthur treated his time in Los Angeles as a vacation.

After authorities realized Arthur had scammed them, Christine was released from the mental institute. She continued searching for Walter.

The police finally got a break in the case and arrested a chicken farmer named Gordon Northcott and his mother, Sarah Northcott. Police alleged they kidnapped and murdered Walter Collins.

Gordon Northcott had abducted two brothers and a Hispanic boy. He murdered them after sexually assaulting them. Northcott buried their bodies on his property. Sanford Clark, the young nephew of Gordon Northcott, claimed his uncle had murdered Walter Collins. Clark said Sarah Northcott also took part in the murder.

Authorities charged and convicted Gordon of killing three boys. He claimed he killed many more, but police found no evidence to support Northcott’s claim.

Northcott’s mother admitted to killing Walter, but then later tried to recant her confession. By admitting to her crime, Sarah Northcott avoided a trial. A court sent her to prison in 1928. She was paroled in 1940.

A court convicted Gordon Northcott of killing three boys and executed him on October 2, 1930. 

Before his execution, Christine Collins visited Gordon and asked him if he killed Walter. He claimed he didn’t kill Walter, and neither did his mother. Christine believed Northcott.

Although Sarah Northcott was convicted of killing Walter, Christine spent the rest of her life searching for him. She died on December 8, 1964, at 75. Today, LAPD considers the case solved. However, I have to wonder if Christine was justified in believing the Northcott’s didn’t kill Walter. The LAPD originally tried to force another child into her arms to resolve Walter’s case.

The authorities found three dead boys buried at the Northcott farm, but none of them were Walter Collins. This makes one question Sanford Clark’s statement. Did his uncle and Sarah Northcott kill Walter as he claimed? If so, how come authorities didn’t find Walter’s body? Perhaps the police accepted Sarah Northcott’s confession just to close the Walter Collins case. It seems plausible.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.