Christine Ida Collins (December 14, 1888 – December 8, 1964)
was an American woman who made national headlines during the late 1920s and 1930s after her nine-year-old son, Walter Collins, went missing in 1928. During the trial testimony of Gordon Northcott, the state of California concluded that Collins's son had been murdered in the
Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, which were led by a man named
Gordon Stewart Northcott
Gordon Stewart Northcott (November 9, 1906 – October 2, 1930) was a Canadian serial killer, child rapist, and child abductor who was convicted of the murders of three young boys in California and confessed to the murders of nine in total.
Sen ...
, who was executed at
San Quentin
San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...
in 1930. Her search for the whereabouts of her son was the subject of the 2008
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
film ''
Changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
'', in which she was portrayed by
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
.
Early life
Christine Collins was born in 1888 as Christine Ida Dunne. She married Walter J. Collins, an ex-convict using an alias. Collins was born Walter Joseph Anson, and hid his past from her. They had a son, Walter, in September, 1918.
Disappearance of Walter Collins
Collins' son disappeared on March 10, 1928, after she gave him money to go to the cinema. Walter's disappearance received nationwide attention, and the Los Angeles Police Department followed up on hundreds of leads without success.
The police faced negative publicity and increasing public pressure to solve the case.
[ (Microsoft Word document)] Then, five months after Walter's disappearance,
a boy claiming to be Walter was found in
DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 according to the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian- French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died ...
. Letters and photographs were exchanged before Christine Collins paid for the boy to be brought to Los Angeles.
Impostor and abusive internment
At the reunion, Collins said that the boy was not Walter. Under pressure to resolve the case, the officer in charge, Captain J.J. Jones, convinced her to "try the boy out" by taking him home. She returned three weeks later, again saying that he was not her son. Although she had dental records and backing from friends to prove her case, Collins said Jones accused her of being a bad mother and bringing ridicule to the police.
Jones had Collins committed to the psychiatric ward at
Los Angeles County Hospital
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, or by the abbreviation LAC+USC (and sometimes still referred to by its former name Los Angeles County General), is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located at 2051 Marengo Street in ...
under a "Code 12" internment – a term used to jail or commit someone who was deemed difficult or an inconvenience.
Jones questioned the boy,
who admitted to being 12-year-old Arthur Hutchens, Jr., a runaway from Iowa. Hutchens was picked up by police in Illinois, and when asked if he was Walter Collins, he first said no, but then said yes. His motive for posing as Collins was to get to Hollywood so he could meet his favorite actor,
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...
.
Collins was released ten days after Hutchens admitted that he was not her son and filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department.
Collins won a lawsuit against Jones and was awarded $10,800, which Jones never paid.
Aftermath
In 1929,
Gordon Stewart Northcott
Gordon Stewart Northcott (November 9, 1906 – October 2, 1930) was a Canadian serial killer, child rapist, and child abductor who was convicted of the murders of three young boys in California and confessed to the murders of nine in total.
Sen ...
was found guilty of abducting, molesting, and killing three young boys in what became known as the
Wineville Chicken Coop murders. Northcott's mother, Sarah Louise Northcott, confessed in late 1928 to her participation in the murder of Walter Collins as being amongst her son's victims. Following her confession, she was sentenced without trial to life imprisonment for her role in Walter's death. The state chose not to prosecute Gordon Northcott for Walter's murder and instead brought him to trial for the murders of three other young boys for which there was also forensic evidence. On February 13, 1929, he was found guilty for all three murders and sentenced to death. Despite these convictions, Gordon Northcott denied killing Walter Collins, and Sarah Northcott later attempted to rescind her confession and gave other scattered and inconsistent statements.
Collins, who chose to believe her son was still alive (in spite of the guilty plea entered by Sarah Northcott to a judge, and corroborating testimony by Sanford Clark, in the murder of Walter Collins), corresponded with Gordon Northcott and received permission to interview him shortly before his execution. Northcott pledged to explain the true account of her son's fate, but he recanted at the last minute and professed his innocence of any involvement. Collins was further encouraged by the appearance of another boy that Northcott had abducted and probably molested. The police initially thought the boy might have been a murder victim of Northcott's. Collins continued to search for her son for the rest of her life. Collins attempted several times to collect the money owed her by Jones,
including a 1941 court case, in which she attempted to collect a $15,562 judgment in the Superior Court.
She died in 1964
and was buried in Los Angeles.
Portrayal in media
![Jolie set](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Jolie_set.png)
* ''
Changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
'', a 2008 film directed by Clint Eastwood, depicts the events from the disappearance of Walter Collins in 1928 until the reappearance of one of Northcott's other victims in 1935. Christine Collins was portrayed by actress
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.
[Dave Karger, "Best Actress," ''Entertainment Weekly'' 1032/1033 (Jan. 30/Feb. 6, 2009): 45.] Eastwood stated Jolie was cast because she was a mother and had the physical look that would fit the time period, and Jolie said of her role, "The character reminded me a lot of my mom, so it was nice to play somebody who had the nuances of somebody I loved."
* ''The Big Imposter'', the June 7, 1951, episode of the radio program ''
Dragnet'' where a boy disappears in Los Angeles and is seemingly found about 9 months later in Dayton, Ohio when a runaway is caught by police and claims to be the missing boy from L.A. The imposter is brought to L.A. and "reunited" with the missing boys' grandfather, but eventually the grandfather realizes the boy is not his grandson and the imposter admits the ruse under questioning by the police. Four months later the body of the actual missing boy is found buried at a farm on the outskirts of Riverside, California, the victim of murder.
See also
*
Sante Kimes
Sante Kimes (born Sante Singhrs; July 24, 1934 – May 19, 2014) was an American criminal who was convicted of two murders, as well as robbery, forgery, violation of anti-slavery laws, and numerous other crimes. Many of these crimes were comm ...
*
List of solved missing person cases
Lists of solved missing person cases include:
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-2000
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
See also
* List of kidnappings
* List of murder convictions without a body
* List of people who dis ...
*
Personation
Personation (rather than ''im''personation) is a primarily-legal term, meaning 'to assume the identity of another person with intent to deceive'. It is often used for the kind of voter fraud where an individual votes in an election, whilst prete ...
Further reading
* ''Nothing Is Strange with You'', James Jeffrey Paul
* ''The Road Out of Hell'', Flacco, Clark,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Christine
1888 births
1920s missing person cases
1964 deaths
Formerly missing people
History of Los Angeles
missing person cases in California
People from Los Angeles
History of women in California