Was Walter Collins Ever Found? What Happened to Him?

Was Walter Collins Ever Found What Happened to Him

Please note that we do not create all the designs featured in this article. Our primary focus is to curate and collect a diverse range of design collections and products to inspire and share with our audience. While we do not claim ownership or take full credit for the original designs and images, we occasionally make minor adjustments, particularly in home decor and fashion items, to present them more effectively. Additionally, we may produce and edit images to enhance their quality and composition before sharing them on our Pinterest page or website. For the design work we do on these creative designs, we also include our logo on the images shared on Pinterest and our website. This helps our audience recognize that these designs have been published on Entrepreneurmindz.com

Walter Collins was born on September 23, 1918, and died in 1928. He lived in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. 

The child, now 9 years old, lives with his mother, Christine, who works as a phone operator. Walter Collins was last seen leaving a local movie theatre before he vanished. 

His distressed mother eventually got in touch with the authorities. The account of the boy’s disappearance attracted much public attention immediately. 

Was Walter Collins Ever Found

His photographs were included in various magazines and exhibitions open to the public until the boy was found one day. 

On the other hand, the mother was confident that the child in question was not her son.

The disappearance of Walter Collins has received attention from multiple national media outlets and the Los Angeles Police Department. 

Walter Collins  kidneped

They have followed up on many leads and reports but to no avail. The authorities were immediately the subject of negative headlines, and the public’s expectation that they would quickly solve the crime intensified. 

Five months after Walter Collins was last seen, a little boy who asserts he is the missing man appears. It was in the town of Dekalb, Illinois, where he was found. When Christine found out about this, her happiness was through the roof. 

He had at long last found his most treasured offspring. She went as far as to pay $70 to meet the boy and bring him back to Los Angeles.

In response to the terrible publicity that the establishment had been receiving, the police decided to organise some public get-togethers. 

In addition, the reputation of the police department was harmed as a result of a corruption scandal that occurred at that time. 

When Christine and the child were brought back together, Christine insisted that the child was not her son. 

After that, the case officer, Captain J.J. Jones ordered Christine to bring the boy home for a few weeks. 

Despite Christine’s initial resistance to the choice, she soon accepted that she would have to bring the child with her when she left. 

After three weeks had passed, Christine reiterated to Captain Jones that the youngster in question was not Walter Collins.

Was Walter Collins Ever Found?

The search for Walter continued for several years without any success. A string of murders of children was referred to as the “Wineville Chicken Coop Murders,” and the nine-year-old kid was suspected of being one of the victims. 

The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders were a series of homicides in Riverside County, California, between 1926 and 1928. Several slayings took place throughout the period.

Was Walter Collins Ever Found?

According to the investigators, this presented a compelling argument that Walter was one of Northcott’s victims.

In the end, Northcott was only found guilty of the murder of three boys; nonetheless, he was still sentenced to death for his crimes. Yet, as far as Christine Collins was concerned, there was never any resolution.

Christine Collins was adamant that the evidence that had been uncovered did not provide sufficient proof that her son Walter had been a victim of Northcott. 

Even more shocking is that another one of the boys who was thought to be Northcott’s victim turned up alive five years after Northcott was convicted.

The fact that the youngster had escaped from the hen house motivated Christine to never give up hope that Walter was still alive and well somewhere in the world. 

She devoted the rest of her life to trying to locate her son until she passed away at 75 in Los Angeles.

Despite Christine’s protests, the police department felt enormous pressure to close the case of the missing child and urged her to take the youngster home and “check the boy out.” The case of the missing child was closed. 

The evidence that Christine brought with her included the dental records of Walter, which demonstrated that her son had multiple fillings. 

Christine also brought along some acquaintances who believed her story. 

It was not difficult to demonstrate that the child she was responsible for did not have the same fillings because the child did not have any sign of dental work whatsoever.

Is Changeling portering his true story?

Changeling is the film made on walter story. It is is based on the disappearance of real-life criminal Walter Collins and the murders at the Wineville Chicken Coop.

Compared to what occurred, the film’s depiction of the events surrounding the discovery of the killings contains some inaccuracies. 

The murders were not discovered by Detective Ybarra but by Jessie Clark, who stated the American consul in Canada. This statement was what opened up the investigation. 

On August 31, 1928, the consul contacted the relevant authorities in California, and as a result, two Immigration Service Inspectors went to the farm.

Like in the movie, five years after Northcott was executed, a little boy came forward and claimed that he had been kidnapped by the man but had managed to escape. 

However, there was no evidence of this, and Christine Collins’ investigation into the matter yielded no useful information as a result.

When it came to the injustice that was being wrongly committed by the police, Christine Collins would not give up the fight. She took legal action until a judge finally granted her $10,800 (equivalent to almost $180,000 in 2023 based on inflation). 

Sadly, she was never able to get her hands on the money. Despite that, some positive aspects did result from this. It is now against the law for law enforcement officers in California to hand someone over to the courts without a warrant.