May 6, 1957
Los Angeles

SUBJECT’S NAME: Sandra Brandner
SUBJECT’S DESCRIPTION: Age 16. Height, 5 feet, 5 inches. Weight, about 135 pounds. Light brown hair. Brown eyes.

The subject was last seen in El Segundo in July 1954. Any person with
information concerning her whereabouts should contact Capt. l.W.
Maxwell of the El Segundo Police Department.

There is a mist of gaiety and glamor which hangs low over the grounds of circuses and carnivals.

For many adults it fades in a clouded, vague memory.

But for youngsters it’s something real and vibrant. And it can, with little effort, cast a spell.

In July of 1954, the carnival came to El Segundo.

And Sandra Brander went to see it.

She was a mature girl for her 14 years.

She was also a lonely girl, to a certain extent. Her parents were
separated and her mother was unable to devote to her daughter the time
that a mother should.

At the carnival, Sandra met a man. Police say his name was Ben Allan Benson. He was 31 years old.

Two weeks after they met, Benson, an electrical technician, quit the carnival and Sandra reportedly disappeared with him.

For Sandra’s mother and her grandmother, the last three years have not been easy ones.

They’ve received a couple of letters and a couple of phone calls, but
now, after a year and eight months of silence, they’re beginning to get
strange feelings.

I talked recently with Sandra’s grandmother, to probe out possible clues to the girl’s whereabouts.

Here’s what I learned:

Sandra was separated from her mother for two moths before she
disappeared. She was living with a friend of the family in El Segundo
and had just graduated from junior high school.

Only days before the girl left Mrs. Brandner had promised her daughter that they would soon be able to be together, permanently.

But then the carnival came to town and Sandra went.

There followed five months of silence and search, broken finally three days before Christmas, 1954, by a greeting card.

It was in a man’s writing and signed: "Ben and Sandra."

Then a few weeks later Sandra called her grandmother.

She promised to visit her family but never did.

Next, this time a few months later, came a letter from Sandra.

I’m fine and very happy," she wrote, "and we’ve got a home now."

It was postmarked "Los Angeles."

Final contact came that September. A man called Sandra’s grandmother with the following message:

Ben and Sandra were parents of a 1-week-old daughter named Sharon Ann.
They were living in the East and Sandra was very happy. She had two
television sets and all the comforts.

"But," the man continued, "she’d like to see her family again. Except
that she’s afraid she might not be welcome after running away like she
did."

The girl’s grandmother assured the caller that Sandra was not only welcome but needed by her mother, who was quite ill.

"Just a visit would help," the grandmother explained.

The man promised to do what he could.

But there were no more calls or letters. And Sandra Brandner hasn’t been heard from since then.