![\"sodel_blimp\"](\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sodel_blimp.jpg\")
Equipped with binoculars, the observers aboard a Navy blimp piloted by Lt. A. J. Slack skimmed the treetops of Palos Verdes, Playa del Rey, Hollywood Hills and Topanga Canyon searching for any sign of missing CHP Patrolman Steve Sodel.\u00a0 The terrain yielded nothing.<\/p>\n
Detectives attempted to piece together a plausible scenario for Sodel\u2019s disappearance from the scant clues available. \u00a0They believed that the officer had the misfortune to meet up with one or more so-called \u201ccop-haters\u201d who then forced him at gunpoint into the Chevy sedan. \u00a0\u00a0Tire impressions found at the scene showed that the sedan had backed up and then \u201cdug out\u201d past the parked CHP prowl car.<\/p>\n
![\"sodel_headline2\"](\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sodel_headline2.jpg\")
Late on the fourth day of the search a bloodstained sedan, riddled with bullet holes, was found abandoned near Las Vegas, Nevada. \u00a0A private plane owned by a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Aero Bureau flew members of the CHP and the Sheriff\u2019s department to the scene.<\/p>\n
The search of LA\u2019s environs was a bust, but the car in Las Vegas was a treasure trove of useful information.\u00a0\u00a0 The car was sitting in a Las Vegas police impound yard when LA detectives and criminalists arrived to examine every inch of it.\u00a0 The car was stolen, just as they had thought.\u00a0 There was a bullet hole in the trunk and something that may have been blood was discovered on the front fender. \u00a0Tests were needed to determine whether the stains were human and not animal blood.\u00a0 The vehicle was dusted for prints inside and out. \u00a0Paperwork, routinely carried by highway patrolmen, was also found in the car.![\"sodel-death-car\"](\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/sodel-death-car.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The evidence was flown back to LA and they got a hit on the fingerprints\u2014they belonged to Albert A. (Tony) Adams, a house painter in his mid to late 20s. \u00a0They also traced the owner of the stolen car.\u00a0 It belonged to Jeanne Trude, 10540 Cushdon Avenue, West Los Angeles, and was stolen from the parking lot of a Sunset Strip nightclub early on the morning of Sodel\u2019s disappearance.\u00a0 Trude said that she and her friend, Elyse Browne, met a man named Tony Adams at a local night club.\u00a0 When he suggested that they drive to another, they agreed. Once they arrived at the second night spot, Adams excused himself from the table saying he would return in a few minutes.\u00a0 He never did. \u00a0When Trude and her friend went out to get her car, it was gone.<\/p>\n
An all-points bulletin went out for Adams.<\/p>\n
A search of Adams\u2019s home led by Sheriff\u2019s Detective Captain Gordon Bowers turned up a photo which he showed to Jack Singleton.\u00a0 Singleton recognized the man as they guy he had helped with his car on September 17th. \u00a0\u00a0What didn\u2019t turn up in the search was the .32 caliber revolver which acquaintances of Adams\u2019s said he often flashed at bars and night spots.\u00a0![\"adams_pic\"](\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/adams_pic.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Five days after Sodel\u2019s disappearance, a 35 man posse on horseback convened at dawn to conduct a search for the missing man.\u00a0 Under District Inspector Walter P. Greer of the Highway Patrol the posse was divided into three groups and set out to search the hills near Loyola University for Sodel but, once again, they failed to find him.<\/p>\n
On that same day three young boys\u2014Robert Freyling, 9, Robert Irvine, 8, and his younger brother Blair Irvine, 5\u2014were playing near a new subdivision in Baldwin Hills when they found Steve Sodel\u2019s body.\u00a0 It was partly covered with dirt. His service revolver and handcuffs were missing but his identification papers and uniform were intact.<\/p>\n
The autopsy revealed that Sodel\u2019s skull had been fractured\u2014three .32 caliber slugs were lodged in his chest and two other bullets had passed through his body.\u00a0\u00a0 At least now there was physical evidence to support the original theory of the crime\u2014that Steve Sodel had been kidnapped and murdered.<\/p>\n
Steve Sodel\u2019s brother officers assisted his widow with funeral arrangements.\u00a0 The rites were scheduled for 2 p.m., Wednesday, September 25, 1946 in Patriotic Hall, with interment in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.\u00a0 Star Post No. 309, of which Sodel was Junior Past Commander, officiated.<\/p>\n
As Steve Sodel\u2019s family grieved, law enforcement continued their search for Tony Adams.<\/p>\n
\u00a0NEXT TIME<\/strong>:\u00a0 A killer is captured.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Equipped with binoculars, the observers aboard a Navy blimp piloted by Lt. A. J. Slack skimmed the treetops of Palos Verdes, Playa del Rey, Hollywood Hills and Topanga Canyon searching for any sign of missing CHP Patrolman Steve Sodel.\u00a0 The … Continue reading