Nineteen sixty-eight was one hell of a year.
Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Nearly seventeen thousand U.S. armed forces died fighting in the Vietnam War.
In the face of such real-life violence, dark currents began to flow through American culture. The horror movie Rosemarys Baby , directed by Roman Polanski, was a surprise success in Hollywoodboth with critics and at the box office. It was about a group of Satanists who trick a young newlywed into carrying and giving birth to the devils spawn. (In a disturbing real-life twist the following year, the sociopathic cult leader Charles Manson ordered the brutal slaying of Polanskis pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, and four others in the Los Angeles hills. Charles Tex Watson, who was the Manson Family disciple in charge of committing the murders, told one of the victims, Im the devil, and Im here to do the devils business.)
As images of carpet bombings and body bags from Vietnam dominated the airwaves, young Americans increasingly began to challenge authority and the Man. As cars cruised up and down Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip, radios blared edgier, angrier rock and roll: Masters of War by Bob Dylan, Whats Going On? by Marvin Gaye,Eve of Destruction, by Barry McGuire. Musicians from bands like the Doors, the Byrds, Cream, and the Animals played the Whiskey-a-Go-Go on the Sunset Stripand partied with abandon at the Chateau Marmont Hotel up the street. Los Angeles became a mecca for the most hedonistic aspects of this emerging counterculture: psychedelic drug use, sexual freedom and experimentation, smoking grass.
Amidst all this turmoil and social upheaval in 1968, an event occurred that is not well documented by the eras historians: Tali S., age eight, was abducted on her way to school.
On September 25, 1968, at a little past eight oclock in the morning, eight-year-old Tali was skipping along Sunset Boulevard on her way to Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood, California. Tali was living temporarily at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood with her brother, sister, mother, and music-industry executive father because their home had recently burned down in a fire. No doubt, the Chateau Marmont (known as the castle on the hill and located at the top of a short, winding road above the Sunset Strip) held plenty of intrigue for the curious girl as she wandered through a Hollywood legend: plush carpeted hallways; invitingly cushioned velvet couches; exquisitely furnished bedrooms; luxuriously large living rooms and formal dining rooms; balconies overlooking the shimmering sheen of Tinsel Town; and lush gardens wending their way through arbor-draped pathways. The outdoor swimming pool, grand reception area, and open-air dining room rounded out the idyllic picture, offering guests the transient belief they were experiencing the grandeur of a French castle. If Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, or James Dean meant anything to the young girl, she probably felt like a princess among the ghosts of queens and kings.
The hotel was beloved by Hollywoods elite for its intimate charm, and the management was appreciated for its discretion. If you must get into trouble, do it at the ChateauMarmont, one Hollywood mogul in the 1930s had famously advised. By the end of the 1960s, getting into trouble had become an art form at the Chateau Marmont, particularly among the rock-and-roll legends who stayed there. Jim Morrison of the Doors was injured while (unsuccessfully) attempting to leap from the roof of the hotel into his room, and the drummer from Led Zeppelin rode his motorcycle through the lobby as onlookers cheered. The director Roman Polanski once commented about the Chateau Marmont that you can almost get stoned from sniffing the haze that seeps through the various keyholes.
As a child, Tali had little knowledge of what might be happening behind closed doors at her temporary home. She was more concerned with the problem of getting to school. Each morning she would wake up extra early and, without telling her parents, walk all the way to Gardner Elementary instead of taking the public bus. For some reason she felt unnerved on the bus and did anything to avoid it. As she strolled along Sunset Boulevard that sunny Wednesday morning, her skirt fluttered in the breeze and her pigtails flew this way and that. Her step was lively as her white Mary Janes tap-tap-tapped on the sidewalk. Tali thought about all the fun she would have at recess playing dodgeball and spending time with her new friends. She had memorized her multiplication table the night before and felt confident that, if called upon, she could say three times nine is twenty-seven without a moments hesitation. Tali had no reason to doubt that this would be another lovely day.
While quizzing herself, Three times seven is twenty-one; four times three is twelve, a car pulled up alongside her, momentarily interrupting her calculations. A nice-looking man peered out of the drivers window. Come on in, he said kindly. Ill give you a ride to school.
Knowing she was never ever to speak to someone she didnt know, Tali immediately responded, Im not allowed to talk to strangers. And with that, she walked quickly on.
Im not a stranger, said the soft-spoken man as he moved apace with the young girl. I know your parents.
Tali heard what the man said, but she decided not to pay him any attention. She continued on her way. I have a beautiful picture to show you, he called out cheerfully.
Hmm, thought Tali, he knows Mommy and Daddy and he has a pretty picture .
Come on, said the man congenially. Itll be fun!
Well okay, Tali said haltingly, and then lightheartedly hopped into the nice mans car.
Once settled, the soft-spoken man asked, What time does school start?
Tali thought for a moment, looked at her watch, and then responded, In about an hour. She felt proud that she could tell time as quickly as she could. She wondered if the man was aware of her accomplishment.
Good. Theres time for you to see the poster. Its psychedelic. Of forests and trees.
Tali was excited. She was not only getting a ride all the way to school but was also about to see something beautiful.
As they drove along, Tali enjoyed the breeze from the open widow. She felt lucky, too, that she didnt have to walk the long distance. But after a few minutes she had the strangest sensation that something wasnt quite right. The man kept looking over at her but saying nothing.
She thought about what she had done and wondered if maybe she had made a mistake. However, she knew she could always trust an adultshe really believed thatso she tried to bury her anxiety right then and there.
On September 25, 1968, at a little past eight oclock in the morning, Donald Haines was driving along Sunset Boulevard on his way to work. While pausing at a stop sign, he casually glanced out his window. There, on the other side of the street, he watched a scenario unfold. A car was inching along, apace with a young girl. The driver leaned out his window and said something to the girl. The girl stopped, said something back to the driver, and then walked quickly on. The car continued trolling alongside the girl.
