The Black Dahlia murder, also known as the Elizabeth Short case, is one of the most famous unsolved murders in Los Angeles history.

As the 80th anniversary of the murder approaches, public fascination with the case has not waned.

On January 15, 1947, Betty Bersinger was walking with her young daughter when she discovered the body of Elizabeth Short, whose torso had been cut in two and drained of blood.

Short had also been mutilated and her mouth had been slashed from ear to ear, a gruesome cut known as a Glasgow Smile.

The brutal and ritual nature of the killing, as well as the connection to the glamour of the area, led to a media frenzy.

Over 50 suspects were interviewed, but the murder was never solved. The case has since inspired university theses, art projects, and even the name of a death metal band.

In 2006, a major motion picture adaptation of James Ellroy’s best-selling novel, which was inspired by the case, was released.

Ellroy himself has stated that he does not believe the culprit will ever be found.

Kim Cooper and her husband Richard Schave, who run Esotouric’s literary, crime, and culture bus tours of Los Angeles, say that many people who take their Black Dahlia tour “have their heads full of misinformation”.

They try to focus on the story of Elizabeth Short as a person and debunk the many theories about possible killers.

However, new theories about the case continue to surface. In recent years, Steve Hodel, a former homicide detective, has claimed that his physician father, George, was the killer and responsible for other notable murders.

A cadaver dog searched Hodel’s former home in 2013 and reportedly “alerted” for human remains.

During my research for Gourmet Ghosts, a series of true crime books, I found that many talkative Los Angeles bartenders claim that their establishment was actually the last place Short was seen alive, not the Biltmore.

Some theories suggest that her murder was the result of a date turned violent or that Short left to hitchhike home and got into the wrong car.

The Black Dahlia case continues to be a source of fascination and intrigue for the public.

It remains a tragic reminder of a young woman whose life was cut short and whose killer was never brought to justice.