Name: Beverly Sharpman
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 11, 1947
Location Last Seen: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Date of Birth: December 10, 1930
Age: 17 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0" - 5'6"
Weight: 100 - 180 lbs
Hair Color: Brown, long, wavy hair.
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Babe
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Possibly had pierced ears.
Dentals: Not available
Fingerprints: Not available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Gray or brown suit or dress. Brown or black shoes, flush colored stockings.
Jewelry: Was wearing earrings when last seen.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Beverly Sharpman was last reported seen at a train station with a suitcase, and sent her parents a telegram telling them she was leaving home to marry and not to worry. She was never heard from again. On September 10, 1947 Beverly told her mother she had something to tell her. Beverly seemed troubled, her mother later told police. Nettie Sharpman went to make tea and did not pressure her daughter to reveal her secret. And Beverly, apparently reconsidering, later went to bed without confiding her concerns. The next day, she disappeared, leaving her parents and brother agonizing over what could have driven the teen away. Police labeled Beverly a runaway. Although she'd gone to Overbrook High School to register for her senior year the day she disappeared, she was last seen carrying a suitcase at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station at 24th and Chestnut streets. Her parents received a telegram that night: "Got married. Leaving town. Will not be back. Don't worry. Babe."
Beverly had no boyfriends, and her friends told police and relatives that they knew of no men in her life, nor of anyone with whom she might have eloped. Police found that Beverly had taken $173 from her savings account, resigned her clerk job at a downtown firm the day before she vanished and told coworkers she was going to Chicago. Although she seemed to have left willingly, police still searched for her.
Detectives checked marriage-license bureaus in all 50 states but found no evidence that Beverly had married. And although the Sharpmans had family in Chicago, those relatives reported that they hadn't seen or heard from Beverly.
Agency Name: Philadelphia Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Viviana Reyes
Agency Phone Number: (215) 686-3093
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 2010-16-028710
NamUs Case Number: 7034
NCIC Case Number: M38894331
NCMEC Case Number: 1148707
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 11/10/2023 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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