The Investigation

When the police arrived at the Northcott ranch, they found that Gordon and his mother Sarah had already fled. It later transpired that they had made their way to Canada. Northcott was a British Columbia native but had moved to Los Angeles with his parents in the 1920s. On the ranch, police found blood soaked earth, three empty graves, and “a toenail, two finger bones, nine bits of flesh, two clumps of hair on a piece of scalp, a knee cap and a piece of skull”. A .22 automatic gun, bloodstained axes and cleavers were also found.The three empty graves had recently contained bodies which had been covered with quicklime, supposedly to make them decompose more rapidly. It was speculated that the bodies had been hurriedly moved upon Clark’s escape/disappearance. They were never located and it is most likely that they were buried out in the Mojave desert.Pieces of clothing were identified by the Winslow parents as belonging to their sons, while a library book from Pomona Public Library that was checked out to one of the Winslow boys was recovered. A note written by the Winslow boys, addressed to their parents saying that they were fine, was also found. This conclusively placed the kidnapping of the Winslow boys at the door of Northcott.