Joseph Force Crater - Nationwide Investigation

Nationwide Investigation

The story captivated the nation and a massive investigation was launched. The official investigations started vigorously, but quickly slowed. Detectives discovered that the judge's safe deposit box had been emptied and the two briefcases that Crater and his assistant had taken to his apartment were missing. These promising leads were also quickly bogged down by the thousands of false reports coming from people claiming to have seen the missing man. Crater's wife later found the missing money in a dresser drawer in her home, along with a note from the judge.

In October, a grand jury began examining the case, calling 95 witnesses and amassing 975 pages of testimony. Interestingly, Mrs. Crater refused to appear before the grand jury. The conclusion was that "The evidence is insufficient to warrant any expression of opinion as to whether Crater is alive or dead, or as to whether he has absented himself voluntarily, or is the sufferer from disease in the nature of amnesia, or is the victim of crime."

None of the investigations succeeded in discovering the judge's fate or possible whereabouts. His case—Missing Persons File No. 13595—was officially closed in 1979.

It is sometimes claimed that Sally Lou Ritz disappeared in August or September 1930, but this is not the case. Ritz was interviewed in late September 1930 in Youngstown, Ohio, where she had gone "to be with her sick father." As late as July 1937, Ritz was interviewed by police in Beverly Hills.