Jury Duty

Notice: I’m on jury duty, so posting will be light until it’s over.

Robber Holds Up Streetcar

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March 12, 1910: This story reminds me of Walter Collins’ streetcar robberies, but those didn’t occur until 1923. In fact, a streetcar conductor killed a robber in 1908.

Dear 'Changeling' Fans

Dear "Changeling" fans, The Daily Mirror appreciates your interest and feedback. Some of you may wonder why your comments aren't posted. The reason is that the Daily Mirror is dedicated to not spreading misinformation and some of your posts have errors--really bad ones. I'm speaking specifically of a message by "Lost" from ISP 161.149.63.106, (Typepad's commenting keeps track of Internet addresses, so nobody@bugmenot.com doesn't really help you). In the same way, I don't post links to other sites of unknown or dubious accuracy. So "bloodygoryphotosofbodies.com" is never going to see the light of day. The answers to almost all your questions about Christine Collins are here. The best way to find them is a Google restrictive search like this: site:latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror "Christine Collins" And thanks for reading!

Changeling Articles

The boy claiming to be Walter Collins poses with Christine Collins, Aug. 18, 1928

Note: Typepad's indexing feature is a little off. Here are the "Changeling" stories appearing in the Daily Mirror: Christine Collins' letters All "Changeling" stories Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Finding Christine Collins

Voices -- Christine Collins, January 12, 1933

And so we complete our journey through the official documents telling the unfortunate saga of Walter and Christine Collins. I heard from a number of Daily Mirror readers who enjoyed the trek (scanning all these documents was more labor than I expected), one author working on a Collins project who was not terribly pleased that I was posting them on the Internet and from at least one reader asking "who cares?" One of my goals was to share the experience of discovery, of unearthing human drama in papers that I didn't even know existed. I'd like to thank Chris Garmire of the California State Archives for alerting me to the existence of the Walter Collins file. "Changeling" offered a unique opportunity to explore the historic record and I'm not sure anything like this will come our way again. But I do hope to post more original documents when possible because they can be so rich in information that is otherwise undocumented and they provide the opportunity for people who are long gone to speak to us once again.

Voices -- Christine Collins, January 11, 1933

Voices -- Christine Collins, September 29, 1932

Voices -- Christine Collins, September 25, 1932

Voices -- Christine Collins, August 28, 1932

Walter Collins in an undated prison photo.

Voices -- Christine Collins, August 25, 1932

Voices -- Christine Collins, August 24, 1932

Voices -- Christine Collins, August 22, 1932