In Hollywood’s golden age, Jean Spangler was one of countless young women chasing a dream.

With movie-star looks, a tall frame and a handful of film roles, the 26-year-old actress seemed poised to make some kind of mark in Tinseltown, even if she never became as famous as stars like Betty Grable or Olivia de Havilland.

Instead, Spangler became famous for one of old Hollywood’s most haunting mysteries.

In 1949, she vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a torn purse, a disturbing handwritten note and a young daughter who never learned why her mother did not come home.

Her disappearance would drag major Hollywood names into the headlines, including Kirk Douglas, and spark theories involving gangsters, illegal abortions, secret lovers and even possible links to the Black Dahlia case.

Spangler was born in Seattle in 1923. She married plastics manufacturer Dexter Benner in 1942, but filed for divorce just six months later, citing cruelty.

The couple later reconciled and welcomed a daughter, Christine, in April 1944. But the marriage ended again in 1946, and Benner was initially granted full custody of their little girl.

A bitter custody battle followed, and Spangler won custody of Christine in 1948 before trying to build a career in Hollywood.

She worked as a dancer and extra in films including When My Baby Smiles at Me, Chicken Every Sunday and Young Man with a Horn, the 1950 musical drama starring Kirk Douglas.

She also worked at popular Los Angeles spots including Florentine Gardens and the Earl Carroll Theatre.

By the time she disappeared, Spangler was living with her mother, Florence, her 5-year-old daughter Christine, her brother Edward and her sister-in-law Sophie on Colgate Avenue in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles.

She had recently finished work on what would become her final film, The Petty Girl, in which she played a nightclub patron alongside her friend Robert Cummings.

On Oct. 7, 1949, Spangler left home around 5:30 p.m. after telling Sophie she was going to meet her ex-husband to ask for more child support. She said she would then go to work on a film night shoot.

About two hours later, she called home to check on Christine and told Sophie she would have to work the full eight hours and would not be home that night.

But when Spangler never returned, her family contacted police.

Investigators checked local studios and the Screen Extras Guild, but found no evidence that Spangler had been scheduled to work that night.

She had apparently lied about where she was going.

The question was why.

A saleswoman at the Farmers Market near Spangler’s home said she saw the actress around 6 p.m. browsing for groceries and appearing to wait for someone.

Newspaper reports later claimed Spangler was seen at a Sunset Strip restaurant around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 8, where she was allegedly arguing with two men.

Two days after she disappeared, the case took a chilling turn.

A Griffith Park employee found Spangler’s black purse about 5.5 miles from her home. The handle had been torn in half, as if it had been ripped from her arm during a struggle.

Robbery did not appear to be the motive. Spangler had not left home with cash, and the purse’s contents had not been taken.

But inside was a mysterious note in Spangler’s handwriting.

“Kirk — Can’t wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work out best this way while Mother is away,” the note read.

Her family and friends said they did not know anyone named Dr. Scott or Kirk.

Because Spangler had recently worked on Young Man with a Horn, suspicion quickly turned toward Kirk Douglas. The actor called police himself and denied having any relationship with Spangler.

In a formal statement on Oct. 12, Douglas said he did not initially remember her name until someone reminded him she had worked as an extra in a scene with him.

“Then I recalled that she was a tall girl in a green dress,” Douglas said. “I talked and kidded with her a bit on the set. But I never saw her before or after that and have never been out with her.”

Spangler’s ex-husband, Benner, also denied seeing her that night. His new wife, whom he had married just one month earlier, backed up his alibi. Benner said he had not seen Spangler for weeks before she disappeared.

Then came another possible clue.

Friends claimed Spangler had been three months pregnant when she vanished and had spoken about getting an abortion.

At the time, illegal abortions were common in Los Angeles, forcing women into dangerous underground networks of doctors and unlicensed practitioners.

There were rumors of a former medical student nicknamed “Doc” who performed illegal procedures, but police were never able to prove he existed.

Spangler’s personal life also came under intense scrutiny. Her friend Robert Cummings told investigators she had mentioned a casual affair and had said she was “having the time of my life.”

The mystery deepened because Spangler vanished just two years after the brutal murder of Elizabeth Short, forever known as the Black Dahlia.

Spangler’s resemblance to Short and her connection to Florentine Gardens, which was owned by Mark Hansen, a man tied to the Black Dahlia investigation, led police to wonder whether the cases might be connected.

Years later, George Hodel, a Los Angeles surgeon suspected by some in the Black Dahlia case, was also linked to Spangler in the 2003 book Black Dahlia Avenger by his son, retired LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel. Steve Hodel claimed his father had killed both Short and Spangler.

There were also possible mob connections.

Spangler was linked to David “Little Davy” Ogul, an associate of mobster Mickey Cohen. Witnesses claimed they had seen Spangler and Ogul in Palm Springs the week before she disappeared.

In another strange twist, Ogul vanished just two days before Spangler after being indicted on conspiracy charges.

Detectives later received tips claiming Spangler, Ogul and Frank Niccoli, a missing Cohen bodyguard and collector, had been seen in El Paso, Texas. A hotel employee reportedly identified Spangler from her photograph, while U.S. Customs agents said they believed she may have traveled to Las Vegas.

Other sightings came in from Northern California, Phoenix, the San Fernando Valley, Mexico City and Palm Springs.

None led police to Spangler.

Her mother, Florence, always denied that her daughter was involved with gangsters.

In 1951, Benner’s second wife, Lynn, tried to adopt Christine. A judge blocked the move, saying there was no proof Spangler had abandoned her daughter.

Benner died in 2007 after refusing interviews about the case.

More than seven decades later, Jean Spangler’s disappearance remains one of Hollywood’s most unsettling unsolved mysteries.