Florence "Sally" Horner (April 18, 1937 August 18, 1952) was an American girl who, at the age of 11, was abducted by serial child molester Frank La Salle in June 1948 and held captive for twenty-one months. It is believed that Vladimir Nabokov drew on the details of her case in writing his novel Lolita, although Nabokov consistently denied this.
Background
Florence Horner was born on April 18, 1937, in Camden, New Jersey, to Russell Horner (1901–1943) and Ella Horner (née Goff, 1906–1998). Russell committed suicide when Horner was five years old, leaving Ella to raise her daughter as a single parent, helped by Horner's older half-sister, Susan Panaro (née Swain, 1926–2012), who was seven months pregnant at the time of her sister's kidnapping. Horner was a 5th grade student at Northeast Elementary School, where she was noted as an honors student.
Frank La Salle
Frank La Salle was a 51-year old mechanic and convicted sex offender, also known by several aliases, including Frank Warner, Frank Patterson, Frank Johnson, Frank LaPlante, Frank Robinson, Frank O'Keefe, Frank Fogg, Harry Patterson and Jack O'Keefe. He already had an extensive criminal record, dating back to June 1938, when he was suspected of kidnapping and sex trafficking in St. Louis, Missouri, and included enticing a minor, indecent assault, bigamy, check fraud, assault and battery, hit-and-run, statutory rape, and "desertion and non support" of his second wife and daughter.
La Salle made varying claims about his life. In his Social Security applications and prison intake forms, depending on his current identity, he gave differing information on his parents' names, hometown, and birth date, though most commonly the first names Frank and Nora, Chicago or Indianapolis, and the date May 27, with a birth year between 1890 and 1901 respectively. He claimed to have served a sentence between 1924 and 1928 for bootlegging in Leavenworth Penitentiary under a false name.
On July 31, 1937, 41-year old La Salle, as 36-year old Frank Fogg, was listed as having married Dorothy May Dare in Elkton, Maryland, when she was 17 years old. Her father, David Dare, tried to have La Salle arrested when he discovered his false identity and the fact that he was still legally married, but the charges were dropped by police when he provided a marriage certificate. In 1944, La Salle was convicted for the molestation and sexual assault of five underaged girls in 1943. Dorothy Dare subsequently filed for divorce the year of his conviction. He was released on January 15, 1948, after partially serving a five-year sentence at Trenton State Prison.
Abduction
In March 1948, 10-year-old Horner attempted to steal a five-cent notebook from a local Woolworths as part of a dare by schoolmates and was caught in the act by Frank La Salle. La Salle approached Horner and told her that he was an FBI agent, threatening to have her sent to a reform school unless she reported to him periodically.
On June 15, 1948, he abducted Horner. La Salle instructed her to tell her mother he was the father of two of her school friends and she had been invited on their week-long family vacation to Atlantic City to see the Jersey Shore. Initially, Horner was made to send letters to her mother in which she was informed that the "vacation" would last longer than expected, until July 31, 1948, when the last letter was received by Ella Horner. At this point, Ella contacted the police, who investigated the sender address in Atlantic City on August 4, but found the home empty, except for two packed suitcases and a studio photo of Horner sitting on a swing. According to Horner, they were first accompanied by one "Ms. Robinson", whom La Salle referred to as his 25-year old secretary and paid her a weekly salary of $90, but left after they arrived in Atlantic City.
Over the course of 21 months, La Salle traveled through several U.S. states with Horner under various aliases, claiming to be the girl's father, and according to charges later brought against La Salle, it was during this period that he raped her repeatedly. They first stayed in Baltimore, Maryland, where Horner was enrolled at a Catholic grammar school under the name "Madeleine La Plante". During this time, La Salle would carry a handgun on his person to dissuade Horner from attempting escape.