On March 10, 1928, nine year-old Walter Collins from Los Angeles, California, went to the movies. His mother Christine gave him some money and he left the house. She never saw him again.
When he failed to return home, police quickly began searching for him.
Five months later, a child in Illinois claimed to be Walter and so police took him to Christine, where he lived for three weeks before she brought the child to the police station claiming that he wasn’t Walter.
Police however were adamant that he was. They accused Christine of not wanting to look after her child and that she wanted to embarrass the police. They forced her into a psychiatric ward in Los Angeles County General Hospital.
Eventually the child admitted that he really wasn’t Walter Collins after all. His real name was Arthur Hutchins, a nine year-old who decided to impersonate Walter after someone mentioned he looked like him. Arthur Hutchins wanted to meet his idol, Tom Mix, so stuck with his story for as long as possible.
What really happened to Walter is unknown.
Around the time of his disappearance police discovered a man named Gordon Stewart Northcott at a ranch 50 miles outside of LA, had been kidnapping and murdering children.
Since 1926, Northcott had been working with his mother Sarah, to abduct, sexually assault, and murder young boys.
In September 1928, Northcott’s cousin called police after he kidnapped her teenage brother.
When detectives arrived at the ranch they found scattered bone fragments and axes with blood and hair on them.
Northcott verbally admitted to killing 5 boys, including Walter Collins, and using quick lime to dispose of the remains.
Before signing his confession, he changed his story, saying he had only killed one boy, Alvin Gothea.
Northcott’s mother, with whom he claimed to have an incestous relationship with, confessed that she had been the one that killed Walter Collins, and had buried his body on the ranch. She was sentenced to life in prison for his murder, but there was never actually any evidence that Walter Collins had ever been on the ranch.
What happened to Walter Collins remains a mystery.
Sources:
https://westcorkpeople.ie/columnists/the-real-changeling/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/walter-collins
https://www.thatslife.com.au/true-crime/wineville-chicken-coop-murders-gordon-northcott/
