A kidnapping in the 1940s supposedly inspired one of the most controversial novels of all time. Having not read the novel in question, I don’t want to draw attention to it. However, the story of a survivor who’s life was cut far too short deserves to be told. This is the story of the abduction and kidnapping of Sally Horner.
Florence Sally Horner, known to all of her friends and family as just Sally, was born on April 18th, 1937, in Camden, New Jersey to parents Russell and Ella. When Sally was young, her father committed suicide, leaving Ella raising Sally on her own. Sally had an older half-sister, Susan, who helped them when she could along with her husband, Al Panaro.
In 1948, Sally was a 5th grade student, just shy of 11 years old. Susan was 7 months pregnant, and Sally was really looking forward to being an aunt to her niece or nephew. Ella had difficulty holding a job, and often left Sally in the care of Susan as she looked for work, or worked very long hours to make ends meet.
In March of 1948, Sally was dared by some of her schoolmates to steal a 5-cent notebook from Woolworths. Sally was eager to impress the popular girls, and make friends. However, just as she was about to rejoin her schoolmates with the stolen notebook, she was caught.
A man calling himself Frank Warner informed Sally that he was an FBI agent, and he had caught her stealing. He told her that he would be forced to send her to a reform school if she didn’t do exactly as he said. Sally was to report to him whenever he asked for her, and she was to make sure she saw him whenever he wanted. The man warned her that he was placing her under surveillance, and he’d be watching.
The man was a fraud.
His real name was Frank La Salle, and he had targeted Sally because she perfectly fit his victimology – she was a young, pretty girl.
For a while, Sally was scared of the man. When he didn’t turn up for a time, she thought that she was in the clear, and he had gone away. But she wasn’t quite so lucky.
On June 15th, 1948, La Salle was seen waiting for her outside of her school. He told her that she had to go with him immediately to Atlantic City, by order of the government. La Salle instructed Sally to tell her mother she was going on a week-long vacation with friends, of whom he was the father.
Ella agreed willingly. She had just lost her job, and was worried about the bills. With Sally on vacation, that gave Ella time to find another job at very little cost.
La Salle had Sally write letters to her mother, as well as call her periodically. Ella was informed that Sally’s “vacation” was going to be extended until the end of July. Ella received her last letter from Sally on July 31st, 1948. At this point, she grew incredibly concerned about her daughter, and contacted police.
Investigators took the case very seriously. One detective worked the case full-time, following every lead that he could to try to get Sally back.
On August 4th, 1948, investigators went to the address in Atlantic City associated with the letters that Ella had received. When they got there, they found the house empty. However, they did find two packed suitcases, and a professionally taken photo of Sally sitting on a swing.
At this point, it was apparent that 11-year-old Sally Horner had been abducted and kidnapped.
For over 21 months – almost 2 years – Sally was forced to be in the company of her abductor and attacker.
La Salle forced Sally to travel with him through several states, often changing names and aliases as they went. La Salle would claim to be Sally’s father, and enrol her in school in an attempt to evade suspicion.
After leaving Atlantic City, La Salle took Sally to Baltimore, Maryland, where he enrolled her in school under the name Madeleine La Plante. He scared Sally into obedience, carrying a gun with him, and waving it around to make his point, and prevent her from attempting to escape.
In April of 1949, La Salle settled them in a trailer park in Dallas, Texas. There, Sally was enrolled in school under the name Florence Planette.
A neighbour, Ruth Janisch, was highly suspicious of La Salle. She found his “possessive tendencies” towards his “daughter” to be extremely uncomfortable, and often very overbearing. Ruth tried to befriend Sally, in an attempt to coax Sally to trust her, but Sally was skittish and wary.
In early 1950, Ruth worried after Sally. Her husband had found a lucrative job opportunity in San Jose, California which caused the family to relocate. Ruth was not inclined to leave Sally alone, or leave her behind for too long. She sent a letter to La Salle encouraging him to relocate to San Jose for similar job opportunities. She waxed poetic about the wonders of California, and the booming job market.
In February of 1950, La Salle agreed, and he took Sally to California.
Ruth befriended Sally again, earning more and more of the young girl’s trust. Finally, in March of 1950, Sally broke down.
She confessed to Ruth that she’d been kidnapped, and that Frank La Salle was not her father. She confided in Ruth that La Salle routinely abused her, and often raped and sexually assaulted her.
Sally Horner asked Ruth if she could call her mother, because she wanted to go home.
Ruth instructed Sally on how to place a long-distance phone call, and encouraged her to call home.
Sally’s first call didn’t go through. The phone lines to her childhood home had been disconnected, as Ella had lost her job a month earlier, and was unable to pay the phone bill.
Sally was determined to get home, and placed a second call to her sister, Susan. Her brother-in-law picked up the collect call, and was relieved to hear it was Sally on the other end. Sally told Al that she wanted to go home, and asked him to send the FBI.
On March 22nd, 1950, Frank La Salle was arrested by the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office. He maintained his innocence, and insisted that Sally was his daughter. It didn’t take long for the combined efforts of various law enforcement agencies to prove that La Salle was lying.
On April 1st, 1950, Sally Horner was reunited with her mother, Ella Horner, at Philadelphia International Airport – the closest airport to Camden, New Jersey.
At the time of Sally’s kidnapping, Frank La Salle was a 51-year-old mechanic. He also had a history of convictions for various sexual offences, mostly towards minors, and a list of aliases a mile long.
In 1944, La Salle was convicted of the sexual assault of five underaged girls. He served a five year sentence at Trenton State Prison, and was released on January 15th, 1948.
Following his arrest for the abduction and kidnapping of Sally Horne, it was discovered that he had also been regularly sexually assaulting Ruth Janisch’s 5-year-old daughter.
La Salle was extradited to New Jersey, where he was tried and convicted in very quick order. On April 3rd, 1950, he was sentenced to 30 to 35 years in Trenton State University.
Despite advice to move far away from Camden, Sally returned home, and returned to her old school following her rescue. She was isolated and ostracized. At the time, the community sentiment was that Sally had allowed herself to be taken, and had consented to the acts La Salle forced on her. She was routinely harassed and teased, but tried to keep her head held high, and keep to herself.
Sally met Carol Starts in homeroom when they were both 14 years old, and they got along very well. They talked about what they wanted for their futures, and dreamed of what life would be like when they were all grown up. While Carol knew about Sally’s kidnapping, they generally didn’t talk about it. Carol was respectful of her friend, and was intuitive enough to realize that Sally, like any other girl their age, just wanted to be treated like any normal teenage girl.
In 1952, at the age of 15, both girls worked summer jobs as waitresses to earn a little pocket money. They saved up, and decided to take a bus, spend a weekend together at a resort town in southern New Jersey.
While there, Sally met 20-year-old Edward Baker, and became completely smitten. They spent a fair amount of time together at the resort, taking walks along the boardwalk, and discussing what a future relationship would look like for them as a couple.
When it was time to head home, Sally told Carol she wanted to ride with Edward in his car. Carol agreed, and boarded the bus alone.
On August 18th, 1952, 15-year-old Sally Horner was killed in a car accident on her way home to Camden. Ella was so distraught at the news, Al, Sally’s brother-in-law, had to be the one to identify her body.
Edward Baker was arrested for vehicular homicide, but the charges were soon dropped as further investigation made it clear that Sally’s death was a horrible, tragic accident.
Frank La Salle died in prison at the age of 69 on March 22nd, 1966.
— — —
Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for the latest updates!
Sources:
The Salacious Non-Mystery of “The Real Lolita” – Katy Waldman – The New Yorker
The Disturbing Kidnapping And Captivity Of Sally Horner, Who Likely Inspired ‘Lolita’ – Erin Kelly – All That’s Interesting
‘The Real Lolita,’ kidnapping victim Sally Horner, was held in a West Dallas trailer park – Rachel Stone – Advocate Magazine
Sally Horner was “The Real Lolita”: The 1948 crime that inspired Nabokov – Mary Elizabeth Williams – Salon
Wicked Words podcast – Sarah Weinman: The Real Lolita
Florence Sally Horner Wikipedia page