Arrest photo and fingerprint from 1943 for underage drinking. "The Black Dahlia" was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 - January 15, 1947), an American woman who was the victim of a much-publicized murder in 1947. Short acquired the moniker posthumously from newspapers in the habit of nicknaming crimes they found particularly lurid. Short was on January 15, 1947, in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. Her mutilated body was completely severed at the waist and drained of blood. Her face had been slashed from the corners of her mouth to her ears. She had several cuts on her thigh and breasts, where entire portions of flesh had been sliced away. The corpse had been posed, with her hands over her head, her elbows bent at right angles, and her legs spread apart. Short's unsolved murder has been the source of widespread speculation, leading to many suspects, along with several books, television, and film adaptations of the story. Short's murder is one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in Los Angeles history.