Adolph Coors III: The Brewing Heir's Murder

The Brewing Dynasty

Adolph Coors III was born into one of America's most famous brewing families. His grandfather, Adolph Coors, founded the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado, in 1873, building it into a legendary American brand.

By 1960, Adolph III was 44 years old and deeply involved in the family business. He was a devoted husband to his wife Mary and father to their four children. He was known as a hardworking, principled man who took his responsibilities seriously.

On the morning of February 9, 1960, Adolph left his home in Morrison, Colorado, and headed to work at the brewery in Golden. He never arrived.

The Disappearance

Adolph's car, a 1958 International Travelall, was found abandoned on Turkey Creek Bridge, about 12 miles from his home. The engine was still running. The radio was still on.

There was blood on the bridge.

Adolph's glasses, hat, and other personal items were found at the scene, along with clear signs of a violent struggle.

Adolph Coors III had vanished.

The Ransom Demand

The Coors family soon received ransom notes demanding $500,000 for Adolph's safe return. The notes were typed and contained specific instructions for the ransom drop.

The FBI became involved immediately, launching one of the largest manhunts in American history.

Despite the family's cooperation and the FBI's efforts, Adolph was never returned.

The Discovery

Seven months later, in September 1960, Adolph's remains were discovered in a remote area near Sedalia, Colorado. He had been shot twice and left in a shallow grave.

The investigation intensified.

Joseph Corbett Jr.

Investigators identified Joseph Corbett Jr. as the prime suspect. Corbett was a convicted murderer who had been paroled from California's Folsom Prison just two years earlier in 1958.

Evidence linked Corbett to the crime:

•His fingerprints were found on ransom notes

•Witnesses placed him near the scene

•He had purchased handcuffs and rope before the kidnapping

•He fled immediately after the crime

Corbett was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

The Capture

After months on the run, Joseph Corbett Jr. was captured in Vancouver, Canada, in October 1960. He was extradited to Colorado to stand trial.

In March 1961, Corbett was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial and for the rest of his life.

Joseph Corbett Jr. died in prison in 2009 at the age of 80, never admitting to the crime.

The Legacy

The murder of Adolph Coors III devastated his family and shocked the nation. His widow Mary raised their four children alone, and the Coors family continued to build the brewing empire despite their profound loss.

The case remains one of the most infamous kidnapping-murders in American history, a tragic reminder of how violence can shatter even the most prominent families.

Adolph Coors III was a husband, father, and businessman whose life was stolen in a senseless act of violence. His story is one of tragedy, justice, and a family's enduring strength.

Adolph Coors III

[00:00:00] Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a True Crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? I'm doing wonderful. How are you? I'm good. I forgot to tell you, I'm going on a field trip tomorrow for my son's school. Where are you going?

Yeah. The science center. Oh, fun. That brings back memories, right? But it's like four or five hours and I'm like, I've never kept my kids there longer than two hours. What are we gonna do with. 20 kids for five hours. So that's a long time. Um, yeah, and I, I can't listen to podcasts 'cause that seems I [00:01:00] wouldn't want somebody listening to podcasts while they were watching my kids.

Are you the chaperone? You're the response chaperone party? No, no. There's a few. There's a few. It's not just me, but I'm one of them. Wow. Too much, too much stress for me. I don't do well in these situations. Were you asked to do this and you said Yes. Well, my son didn't really wanna go, and I was like, well, what if I'm a chaperone?

He was like, yeah, if you'll be a chaperone. So then of course I'm gonna do it. But, um, oh, of course. Yes. Yeah. But not happy about it. Well, that'll be fun. That'll be fun. I like my, I think so kids don't really go on. Field trips, I guess. Yeah. Um, they went to like SeaWorld one time, but that's an expensive field trip, so my kids didn't go.

Yeah. 'cause we've been to SeaWorld a million times. We used to have passes, so of course I'm not gonna pay. Right. I don't, I think it was still like a discounted rate, but like it was still expensive so we didn't So expensive. Yeah. Yeah. But we don't really do field trips. Do you remember that time, Melissa, that we went with a homeschool group on a field trip to the worm farm?

Oh my gosh.

I [00:02:00] have blocked that out of my memory. Wait, there's like pieces of it are coming to me. Did my son lose his shoes, throw his shoes out, or just have a breakdown? One of those things happened. Shoes feel like they were involved. It wasn't good. I know on my age, I think shoes were involved. Our. Little ones were so young.

Mm-hmm. I feel like they were literally just barely even toddling at that point. Yeah. They were really young. A worm. A worm farm. But we got to go learn about earthworms and What do you remember? Bread? Not much. And bread. You're right. Oh my gosh. And then we took some home. They were just like, here's some worms.

I have truly, and for good reason, forgotten about it. Like it was literally in a plastic water bottle, like a drink water drinking bottle that they just had like poked holes in and put some dirt in and like put some worms inside. Yeah. And then we were supposed to come home and. [00:03:00] Set them free yard. Let let go.

Yeah. I don't know. I remember the field trip. That was like the field trip that stood out. Yeah, well, as it should. As it should. That was, um, that is a very homeschool field trip to go to a.

Oh my gosh. Good times. Okay. Thank you for that memory. That's awesome. Uh, Mandy, one thing I was thinking this week, we've gotten some new advertisers and stuff and I just wanted to thank people for listening to the ads and supporting our advertisers. I know that's like a weird segue, but when I think of my life with worms, I do think how appreciative I am that we have this podcast now for this job.

Yes. So thank you for anyone that takes the time to listen to them and check out our sponsors. We really have some cool ones, so we do. That means a lot to us. Yeah, and of course our Patreon. If you look@thatpatreon.com slash Moms and Mysteries podcast, keep us off the wor worm Farms. That's what we're asking today.

Yes, please support us. Keep us off the worm farms. Yes, it's not too much to ask and if you like this [00:04:00] ridiculous silliness, us just talking back and forth. Now we have that as well on Patreon. So. We're not gonna take up too much time at the beginning of the episode. No. Just kind of blathering on about worms.

Uh, we're gonna move right into the story for this week. But yeah, if you wanna check out Patreon, we have some new content that's been going up over there. So, yeah, very exciting stuff. So there are times in life that Melissa, I think all of us wish we just had more. The average person really can't fathom what it might be like to have just this massive family fortune or have access to millions of dollars.

Sure. It might seem like an endless supply of money is what would truly solve all of your problems, but at the same time, having all that money could also put a target on your back just as it did in today's story. It's a really weird concept to think it really is like mo money mo problems. I couldn't wait.

I was wondering which one of us was gonna say it and I'm so happy it was you. It just goes so perfectly this week. Um, so it's kind of weird to think about how some of the wealthiest families and the wealthiest people living [00:05:00] in the US are people who. We're really just born into money that they didn't have any hand in making.

And that's fine if that is your law in life. I promise I'm not sliding anyone for being fortunate or being born into a wealthy family. I'm just pointing out how weird it is when you think about how some of the oldest companies in the country have literally been around since the 17 hundreds, and the wealth from those companies have, you know, been passed down through generation after generation of members of the same family a lot of times and like.

What a life that would be to be born into. Just imagine growing up and finding out that your great, great grandpa was the founder of Colgate, which by the way wasn't always a toothpaste company. But we'll get into more of that later. But that would be pretty cool. And dare I say, pretty lucky. Seriously, my grandparents owned beachfront property, and that's like literally the story that everyone's talked about for years.

Like they own this property and how it would be worth a lot of money now, but they sold it for really cheap, and that's the closest I came to Generational Wealth. That's the family legacy. Yeah, [00:06:00] it really is. And now it's for our kids. It's Warm Farm. So it was January 13th, 1915 when Adolf Herman Joseph Kors III was born in Golden, Colorado.

If you caught that last name, you probably guessed that Adolf was born into the famous Coors Brewing Company family. Adolf was the oldest of three boys that his parents, Adolf Coors, Jr. And Alice had together. His father, who was the og Adolf Coors, started the brewing company in 1873, and he ran it until his son, Adolf Jr.

Took over. Then when Adolf II was old enough, he ended up becoming the president of the whole company. Yes, there are three ados, but from now on when we say Adolf, we're gonna be referring to Adolf I third, unless we specify otherwise. And Adolf ii Adolf was described as being a cheerful and a good person.

He obtained a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell, but he was also an avid skier and ended up being instrumental in developing [00:07:00] modern skiing in Colorado. He used his resources and his love for skiing to establish many quality ski resorts in the state, and he actively promoted Colorado as ski country USA.

I thought this bit of information about him was like some of the most fascinating information as like, you know, my family enjoys skiing and snowboarding and things like that. I, I've went skiing in Colorado when I was really, really young. I would love to go back and like take my family there to go skiing sometime, but I had no idea that a member of the course.

Family Legacy is really who was responsible for like, creating that industry in Colorado. That's pretty neat. Yeah, I, I would've never put it together, especially Coors being who was behind it. But wait, isn't Coors Beer? Don't they have like a mountain on their drinks? I think, I really don't know. I'm not sure.

Like a rock. Don't ask me that. Nope, that's Ford. Um, okay, nevermind. Let's keep going. Okay, so in 1946, Adolf had a hand in [00:08:00] founding the Aspen Ski Corporation and he served on the board of directors. He was there for the opening of Sun Valley and he became one of the first members of Arberg Ski Club at Winter Park in 1938.

Adolf also helped bring ski racing to Colorado by bringing the World Alpine Ski Championships to Aspen in 1950, which was the first time this event was ever held in the us. Adolf and his wife Mary, had four kids together and he imparted his passion for skiing onto all of his family and friends. Though he would eventually go on to take over the brewing company, Adolf never hesitated to take time away from the business to pursue time on the slopes and family vacations.

In July of 1958, the Coors family moved to a country home in Morrison, Colorado, situated near Turkey Creek. It was in 1940 when he took over the entire Coors Brewing Company. It became a well-known millionaire, but like we alluded to in the beginning, Adolfs fame and fortune would come at a cost. On [00:09:00] February 9th, 1960, Adolf said goodbye to his wife Mary and left home at 7:55 AM to head into work where he was expected to arrive in time for 9:00 AM meetings instead at 10:00 AM the local milkman found Adolfs travel all station wagon abandoned on the small one-way bridge that was near the intersection of Turkey Creek Road and Soda Lake Road, which was about a mile or so away from his home.

The Turkey Creek bridge wasn't part of a main highway or a main road. It was actually on a secondary road that was kind of out of the way. So it was something that was mostly just used by locals that were living in the area. When the milkman approached the bridge to get across the river, he noticed that the station wagon was parked on the bridge and blocking the only way across, but there was nobody inside the vehicle.

The car was still running and the radio was on. When the milkman tried honking his horn to get the attention of the driver of the vehicle, he realized that nobody was inside, and so he proceeded to get in the [00:10:00] station wagon and move it off the bridge so that he could get back in his milk truck and cross the bridge himself so he could go on about his deliveries.

When the milkman was on his trip back an hour later, he saw that the station wagon was still sitting in the spot that he had moved it to earlier, which really struck him as being very suspicious. So he drove straight into Morrison and reported the incident to the State Highway patrol. When the police arrived at the bridge, they saw that the registration card on the steering wheel post listed the name of the owner as a Coors.

The officer also noticed two different hats floating in the water of Turkey Creek, about three to four feet from the edge of the bridge. One of these hats was a baseball cap, and the other was a brown felt fedora. Now, Melissa, you, we. Kind of tried to figure this out earlier. Apparently fedoras came in like sizes.

They probably still do. This is how much I think lots of hats do. Yeah. This is what, this is how little I know about hats. I don't know about hats beyond just like picking up a hat at Target and putting it on my head and buying it. [00:11:00] Apparently you can actually buy like a hat that fits your head. Yeah.

Right. And that is truly a problem for me all the time. And I don't notice it until I see a picture of myself and it looks like it's trying to pop off my head. And I think my head's a little bigger than this hat would allow me to believe. But yeah, I guess some hats, half sizes. So this fedora had a size.

Melissa, did we figure out exactly how you're supposed to say this? Size seven and three eights. Okay. Okay, so it's not 73 eighths. Nope, but that's how it was written originally. Okay. So seven and three eighths is the size of this fedora, and we're only going into that because it ends up becoming very important.

Later on at 11:40 AM the highway patrolman left the Turkey Creek Bridge area and went back to Morrison, where he called Adolfs two brothers who were named Bill and Joseph to let them know that AOL's car had been found, but he was nowhere to be seen. His brothers immediately drove to meet the officer at the bridge and they all arrived at around 1245 that afternoon.[00:12:00] 

AOL's brothers told the police that the khaki baseball hat was AOL's, but they didn't recognize this brown fedora. It was noticed that there was blood on the front. Left bumper of the station wagon and traces of blood went all the way back to the second window. More bloodstains and some scratch marks were found on the west railing of the bridge, so the whole railing was removed and taken for evidence.

Immediately below this railing was a large pool of blood in the dirt and sand, which was determined to be human. They also found a bone fragment in this blood, so this pool of blood, dirt and all was gathered for evidence testing. There were also skid marks that were leaving the area just in front of the north end of the bridge.

Authorities decided to search in the creek water and on the banks for more evidence, but they didn't really find anything. So the water level in Turkey Creek was lowered and in the stream that was near the bridge, they did end up finding a pair of glasses that had a cracked lens. [00:13:00] The police were able to take these glasses and they showed them to Adolfs ophthalmologist who confirmed that these were the same prescription strength as the ones that he had previously prescribed to Adolf.

As we go through this, I am amazed at how much research and how many details we're able to find in a time before like DNA and all of this stuff. Like they really were on it in this story and I don't know, it just kind of, I was impressed the entire time. It is kind of crazy to think like, this is like a rudimentary way of identifying someone's belongings.

Yeah. And to say like, okay, these are glasses. We literally have no way this could belong to anyone, but to think like, right, well this is the person that we, you know, know is missing. Right. Let's find out like, if, you know, let's track down his eye doctor and see what his Yeah. You know that, I mean, yeah.

It's just, it's. So basic and simple, but like it is very interesting. I just think it's something we don't necessarily have to get into today. And you know, like typically there's DNA NA, right? There's something else. So it never comes down to this. So you're like, oh wow, this is how, [00:14:00] yeah. You know, they used to do it.

So after searching all around the area, there was still no sign of a d olf. So officers believe that he had been kidnapped from the bridge. Oddly enough, AOL's father was nearly kidnapped 30 years earlier. But the FBI actually found out about the plan before it could happen, and the kidnapping was interrupted.

The FBI was called in to help with Adolf II's disappearance and possible kidnapping as well, and dozens of officers fanned out to search everywhere they could think of to find Adolf, but they never found him. Residents near the ridge talked to the police, and one said she heard a gunshot at about 8:00 AM She described the sound as being much louder than a 22 would make.

She said it was a louder gunshot than she'd ever heard around there and said it was like lightning hitting a tree. Another witness who lived about a mile and a half from the bridge also said that it was around 8:00 AM when she was hanging clothes and heard the shot from the area where the bridge is.

I. And yet another witness reported seeing [00:15:00] Adolfs station wagon parked on the bridge at eight 15 and again around 10:00 AM. Later that evening, officers went to speak with Mary. She told them she last saw Adolf when he left for work around 7 55 and that he was wearing a khaki type baseball cap. A navy blue nylon jacket, dark gray flannel slacks, a white T-shirt with faint green check lines, an unknown color neck tie, a tie clasp that had his initials on it.

A belt, a watch, and a pair of brown dress shoes. He may have also been carrying a silver key chain with a small pin knife with his initials. Police told Mary that they were putting a tape recorder on the telephone with the house and tracing all the calls. Two officers were actually assigned to stay at the house and work the recorder all night.

The phones of all the Coors family members were also monitored. Ados father told the media that his son had no enemies and that his kidnapping must be the work of quote, professional hooligans. He said he couldn't be emotional [00:16:00] about things because the kidnappers had something he wanted to buy, which was his son.

He said the price was secondary. Of course, AOL's mother was extremely distraught. Within days, AOL's wife received a ransom note that stated that he had been kidnapped and his car had been left by Turkey Creek. The note said that if the police or the FBI were notified, Adolf would be killed, but if the family cooperated, AOL's life would be spared.

The demanded ransom was $200,000 in tens and $300,000 in twenties for a total of $500,000, and it was not up for negotiation. They requested used bills that were not in consecutive order. They needed to be unrecorded and unmarked, and they warned that they would know if the serial numbers were recorded or if the police were notified the money was to be placed in an envelope along with the ransom letter and put into a suitcase or a bag.

And they said to have two men ready with a car to make this delivery. When they were ready to make this transaction, they were supposed to list an ad for a [00:17:00] tractor for sale in Denver, post section 69, and they were gonna sign this King Ranch, Fort Lupton. And then once the ad appeared in the newspaper, they were supposed to wait at a location, a very specific location for further instructions.

Honestly, that seems like even for a well thought out like kidnapping and ransom plan. It just seems like a lot could go wrong with this plan. Putting an A does on a paper and hoping that people will see it and everyone arrives. There's no cell phones. It's not like they're communicating like in real time with each other, but this just seems like a surefire way to like, right, and it's not like the a's gonna go up tonight, like it's probably gonna be a few, like, you know, there's just several things within this, but like I do feel like a lot was put into the planning of this.

Somebody that really knew what they were trying to do, at least Right. Yeah. But yeah, crazy. Yeah. So the note further said that if there was any delay in carrying out this plan, it would be regarded as a stall to set up a [00:18:00] stakeout. So basically they'd said, if you don't do these things right away, we're gonna assume that you've gotten the police involved, and act accordingly.

The note said that AOL's life was in Mary's hands, and all they really wanted was the money. They didn't wanna commit a murder. They promised to release Adolf unharmed within 48 hours of this money being received. And this note, of course was not signed by anyone, so under the guidance of law enforcement, the Kors family gathered the money for the ransom, and Mary followed the instructions from the note to a T, but she never heard anything back.

She waited by the phone for days, but she never got a call from the kidnapper. In the meantime, the FBI was working very hard to figure out the origin of this ransom note. They started by looking into when it could have been mailed. It was postmarked from a Denver post office on February 9th, 1960 at 3:00 PM and a postal inspector they spoke to said that meant the letter was definitely delivered to the postal station before 3:00 PM on February 9th, but it could have been delivered to the station as early [00:19:00] as 12 o'clock that same day.

The letter and the envelope were dusted for prints, but there were none on there. They noticed that there were no misspellings and the letter was written with proper grammar. There were also two spaces after every period, which is something that was taught in typing classes. So that tells them that this is somebody who at least has taken a typing class at some point, right?

The typeface itself told investigators that this letter was typed on a Roy Light portable typewriter, and the paper had an uncommon watermark, which told the FBI that it was Eaton's Diamond White Von Berkshire paper. So they set out to find where this paper and typewriter were purchased. So again, keep in mind, this is Wake.

At a time when these items, it's not like there's like different typewriters all over the place. Different, it's not Amazon. Amazon too, right. And like, there's probably not that many brands of like typewriter paper, because the typewriters are relatively new invention, you know, and they're not, like, they don't, it's not a computer where now we have all these companies, so I, I mean like, like it kind of goes back, same [00:20:00] thing as how they trace back the glasses.

It's like, okay, they can actually maybe figure out who bought this typewriter just because there aren't that many of them. Right. So at the same time, police also learned that a witness had reported seeing a 1951 yellow mercury just kind of hanging around the bridge. On the day before ADOS kidnapping, this car had Colorado license plates and the plate numbers started with the letters and numbers.

A T six two police thought this car could have been involved in the kidnapping. So they looked into it and found that only four of this type of vehicle were registered in the state and only one was the color yellow. And this car was registered to the name Walter Osborne of Denver. Interestingly, when police went to Walter's apartment, they found that he had moved out the day after the kidnapping, and he had left no forwarding address.

So the police go through the dumpsters behind the apartment and they find empty boxes for handcuffs and leg restraints. And so they're really [00:21:00] sure that this is where the kidnapper had lived. So they go inside and they dust the place for prints. Shockingly, when they tested the prints from the apartment, they came back to someone who was not named Walter, but instead they belonged to an escaped murderer from California named Joseph Corbett Jr.

When police showed Joseph's mugshot to the landlord at the apartment, they confirmed that the person they knew was Walter. Was really Joseph and we still have more to get into after a quick break to hear word from this week's sponsors. So before the break we were talking about the kidnapping of Adolf Coors iii, who was at the time the sole heir and owner of the Coors Brewing Company, and he was kidnapped from a bridge as he was heading to work.

The police have now tracked down the man that they believe is responsible for this kidnapping, and they have learned that he was using a fake name and. It is likely, uh, this person who's already been in jail for murder named Joseph Corbett [00:22:00] Jr. Who is an escaped convict. So Joseph Corbett Jr. Was originally from Seattle, which is where he had lived until 1950.

He attended elementary and high school there and went on to pursue a physics major at the University of Washington, which he attended for three years. In 1950, he submitted an admissions application to the University of California in Berkeley, and he did get accepted and enrolled in some pre-med classes there in September, but by mid-October, he notified the university that he was actually withdrawing from school.

By December of that year, things were quickly going downhill. Joseph was depressed and he really became despondent shortly before Christmas that year, sometime in the middle of December, he actually stole a car that had been parked near the University of California campus. A week later, he picked up a hitchhiker and things took a quick turn for the worst.

This hitchhiker was a man named Alan Lee Reed, and [00:23:00] he was a sergeant with the Air Force who was stationed nearby at Hamilton Air Force Base. Alan allegedly wanted to go to El Cerrito to have what he called a big night out. But according to Joseph, they actually started arguing for some reason, which led to the sergeant reaching for Joseph's gun that was lying on the front seat.

And in this scuffle, Joseph ended up shooting Alan three times and killing him. Joseph's attorney later said that he panicked and dumped Alan's body in the Larksburg Hills and then abandoned the car and took a ferry back to the East Bay. He allegedly ditched the gun that he used in this shooting in the Bay.

On his way back, the deputy district attorney wasn't buying the story, and he told the media that it was full of holes. A few months later, in March of 1951, Joseph did end up pleading guilty to second degree murder, and he was ultimately sentenced to five years to life in prison. That's a weird, a weird one, right?

Five years all the way to life. It does. That's a good range. That's a huge [00:24:00] range. Um, and after about four and a half years behind bars, Joseph decided that. Prison life was not the life for him. So on August 1st, 1955, he put on clothes that he had hidden in a laundry cart, opened a window screen, and escaped from this minimum security prison that he was at for murder.

Minimum security in for murder. Window screens, akimbo apparently hop out a window. Easy peasy. 1955 prison. So somehow Joseph still had not been caught by December, so several months have passed, and at this time he decided to relocate to another state entirely. He wanted to get completely away from California, which probably is a good idea if you have escaped from prison.

So he moved to Denver and settled into an apartment using the name Walter, and he kept to himself. The apartment house manager and the other tenants that lived there described him as being quiet and reserved and all around. He was a good tenant. One little fun fact here, 'cause we mentioned about like [00:25:00] typewriters and kind of how not everybody just had a typewriter and was a typist, right?

But his neighbors actually said that they could often hear Joseph typing on his typewriter. So he blended in flawlessly and he started working for a paint company in Denver in March of 1956, and he continued working there for years. He didn't quit until October of 1959, and at that time he told his employer that he was going back to college.

He continued to live in the same apartment though, and he was still living there at the time that Adolf Co II was kidnapped. After learning more about this guy, investigators believed that Joseph could be the person responsible for Adolfs kidnapping, and they put an all points bulletin out on Joseph Cielo Mercury, and on February 17th they found it in Atlantic City.

On fire. The car was found burning in a dump area in the city, and when police checked the serial number, they found out the car belonged to Joseph. The vehicle was badly burned and clearly the [00:26:00] result of arson Atlantic City authorities alerted the police who were working on AOL's case and they collected soil samples from the car.

This part is really fascinating. Neither Mandy or myself have ever heard of this being done before. I'm sure somebody else has, and this might have even been the first time it was ever done, but they were able to take soil samples found in four separate layers. So the top or the fourth layer was from New Jersey Sand.

Which you would expect because it was a New Jersey. The second layer was unremarkable and probably came from driving this car across the country. The third layer had large amounts of granite flicked with pink feld spar. The police weren't really sure where the soil came from, but they thought it could be from a site where Joseph likely left AOL's body.

At this point, they believe that Adolf was dead for many reasons, including the amount of blood they found on the bridge, and of course the lack of the kidnapper actually contacting the family who had the money to hand over. [00:27:00] And the fourth layer soil had shale, which matched soil found near the Turkey Creek Bridge.

So the police set out to figure out exactly where that third layer of soil came from. They took over 600 samples from areas around Denver and concluded it was similar to soil from near the Rocky Mountains. They strongly believe that Adolfs body was in this area, but. It's the Rocky Mountains. This is a massive area to search.

It was like looking for a needle in 50 different haystacks, but they did focus on searching areas. They thought a body would be left, but they didn't find Adolf. As the investigation continued, police found even more evidence to suggest that Joseph was responsible for AOL's disappearance. It was figured out that Joseph owned the same vehicles that were spotted near the crime scene.

He owned a two-tone Gray Ford Club Fairlane until he had sold it to a used car dealer in Denver on December 23rd, 1959 for $900. He also mentioned to, I [00:28:00] guess, this dealer that he sold the car to, that he had quit his job at the paint company and was planning on going back to school. On January 9th, 1960, so just a couple of weeks later, he bought the yellow mercury from another used car dealer in Denver, and this car had a license plate number of a T 62 0 3 according to the owner of a mine that was located about 125 feet from the Turkey Creek Bridge.

There was a gray or off white colored Ford that had been in the area at 8:00 AM on December the ninth. So this was. Of course, I know the, I'm saying so many dates, but that gray and white Ford car. Being seen on December 9th would add up to, because he didn't get rid of that until December 23rd, so they're saying Got it.

He first was visiting the, you know, site where he ended up kidnapping Adolf from, he was first visiting it in this gray car, then he got rid of the gray car and then the yellow car started showing up. The gray car was seen, stopped in front of the mineshaft, and the driver of that car got out and actually [00:29:00] talked with the owner of the mine for about 20 to 25 minutes, and the mine owner was able to later positively identify the man he talked to as being Joseph and said that during their conversation, Joseph was asking the man if he was working in the mine and he was.

Same questions about how deep it was and was asking about where other mines were located, specifically the Four Corners Mine. And he asked whether the road that crossed Turkey Creek went on to Deer Creek. So just asking a lot of questions about the lay of the land, which I guess doesn't seem suspicious.

Um, to me it would, I would be like, why? Do you wanna know how deep the mine shaft is? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So while they were talking, the mine owner's wife actually showed up to give her husband a message, and she also identified Joseph as being the man that her husband was speaking with that morning. Keep in mind, as I just said, the gray car would've been the one that he got rid of a couple of weeks after this interaction, it was also learned that the yellow mercury was spotted near the bridge in February of [00:30:00] 1960.

The woman named Virginia was crossing the bridge as she did twice a day going to and from work. And at 4:30 PM on February 6th, she crossed the bridge and noticed a yellow car pulled into a cave around 35 feet from the bridge with a man standing next to the car. She kind of slowed down to go over the bridge.

She looked down at the man. He looked back at her, and she got a very good look. She was also later able to identify him as being Joseph when she spoke to the police. Virginia's husband also reported seeing the same yellow car on February 8th, so that was two days later at about eight in the morning while he was on his way to a local ranch to buy feed.

He said there was a man wearing glasses and what he described as being an ordinary brown businessman's hat, Virginia's husband had allegedly seen this vehicle three or four other times as well. Furthermore, an employee of the Colorado School of Mines said that she crossed Turkey Creek Bridge daily and she saw the yellow car three mornings in a row about a week [00:31:00] before Adolfs kidnapping.

Okay, here's my question. Why on earth would this guy get a yellow car? To me, that seems like you had a gray one. I feel like you could kind of blend in, except everyone in this city knew everyone's business and Right. You know, notice this, but a yellow one seems like the worst idea. Of a like were yellow cars popular then?

I don't know. Like to me, I would think you would stick with like, I guess a muted one. I don't think so. 'cause didn't they say there was only four of them in the whole state? So yeah, it's like definitely. And only one was yellow, right? So, yeah. Not a good idea, buddy. No, really weird. So other details also pointed to Joseph's guilt.

Things like the fact that he left town immediately after AOL was kidnapped. On February 10th, the next morning, Joseph was seen carrying boxes from his apartment to his car, and at one point he accidentally locked himself out after he goes out the back door of the house. So he has to ring the doorbell to get back inside and the apartment manager let him back in.

During this interaction, Joseph told the apartment manager that [00:32:00] he was vacating his apartment. Right that second, his rent was paid through February, but he explained he was going to college. The landlord said that if she was able to re-rent the apartment, she'd give Joseph a partial rental refund, but she never ended up hearing back from him again.

He left several things in his apartment, including furniture and his TV set with the understanding that the apartment manager would try to sell these things to the new occupant that moved in. Joseph was seen by another tenant getting into his yellow mercury, which was covered in mud that morning. When police tracked down some of Joseph's friends, they learned that Joseph did own a brown fedora that matched the one found floating in the water near the crime scene.

They also learned that when Joseph was arrested for murder back in 1951, he was wearing a size seven and three eights hat. Which is the same size as the Brown Fedora. So throughout the investigation, the police were able to determine that Joseph had bought a Royal Light portable [00:33:00] typewriter from a mercantile store under a fake name in October of 1959.

And in December, he bought Berkshire Bond paper from a dry good store in Denver. In June of 1957, he bought a K two Smith and Wesson revolver, and at some point in 1959, he bought some navy hand and leg irons in four pairs of handcuffs. This is before C-C-U-T-V. I'm just shocked at how much they're able to find truly no credit cards.

Like how, how are we doing that? And like out in the middle of nowhere, Colorado as well. I mean, you're out in the mountains and stuff like it's crazy. Unless they only sell one of these like ever, then it doesn't really make sense. It's pretty wild. So in each instance though, the merchandise was purchased from a mail order company in the east and shipped to Joseph under the name Walter Osborne in Denver.

Investigators also learned that while Joseph was in prison, he told other inmates about this plan. He had to make a big score and to leave the US for good. He told them he wanted to [00:34:00] move to a country with no extradition treaty where he could lose his identity and live on the proceeds of this big score.

So employees at the paint company Joseph worked for under the name Walter told police about a number of suspicious things that he actually had said to them. Apparently guns and money were very hot topics for Joseph, who brought these things up constantly and even showed off his nine millimeter gun on one occasion.

Joseph had once casually remarked that if he ever did something, it would be for such a large amount of money that he'd never have to do it again. Another coworker said that one time Joseph told him he'd been spending a lot of time checking out mines, caves, shafts, and abandoned mining towns, and he specifically talked about exploring the area behind the Air Force Academy.

Which I'm sure they would not be thrilled to hear, and as well as in the area of Central City, Colorado. Joseph said that he would carry a 22 caliber target pistol and a 22 caliber automatic rifle. [00:35:00] When he was out exploring in these hills, he told the same coworker that he was planning a big job with a giant payout, and that's why he'd been studying these areas over the last two and a half years.

Joseph planned to do this job in the summer of 1958, but he apparently had to postpone it. Interestingly, as far as that timing goes, the summer of 1958 is the time when Adolf and his family actually moved, uh, into their new home near Morrison, Colorado, which could have been what delayed Joseph from being able to carry out the kidnapping.

Then, if he's been going through all this trouble to plan this and then the family ups and moves, he pretty much has like a lot of planning to start over again at that point. Right. So Joseph told the coworker that he should watch the news because there was going to be a big event happening, and then after that.

They wouldn't be seeing Joseph anymore. He must have really thought he was gonna be able to leave the country. 'cause why would you give so much news that it's like so much, there's gonna be something Right. And pay attention. I'll be on the news. Right. Like, that's wild. You're never gonna see me again after this.

Yeah. [00:36:00] Right. He also confided that Walter Osborne wasn't his real name, but that he was using it only because it sounded trustworthy and dependable. Based on all of this, it was now believed that Joseph was behind or involved in AOL's kidnapping. So on March 21st, 1960, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was charged with unlawful interstate flight to avoid confinement after conviction for murder. Police continued to manhunt for him and found out that after he left his apartment on February 10th, he was next seen in Toronto, Canada. On February 21st, he rented a room where he stayed until August 31st, and then he left without notice and he didn't take a single one of his belongings with him.

The landlord there said he left everything he had, including his clothing, and he wasn't seen again for months. When authorities weren't able to immediately find him, Joseph was placed on the 10 most wanted fugitives list, but the trail remained cold throughout that summer. The [00:37:00] story about Adolfs disappearance stayed in the public eye and it was featured in various publications, including national news articles and Readers Digest.

You can imagine just like how massive of a story this would be. Yeah. Just even thinking about living back in that time and like now, you know, true crime is such a huge. Thing that, you know, there's so many different ways to consume true crime content, but imagine living back in this time and like you just pick up the paper every week and try to like look for an update.

But this would've been like a huge story to them back then. Yeah, like if there was anybody that was interested in true crime, they were like eating up this story for sure. My grandparents had all of the Readers Digest, so now I want to go through them and find this. Yeah, I won't, but I wanna, yeah. And we have so much more to get into after one last break to hear a word from this week's sponsors.

So before the break, police now have their sights on Joseph and they're trying to find him in connection with Adolf K's kidnapping. They really haven't caught a break. They know who it [00:38:00] likely is, but that's about as far as they've gotten. Then on September 11th, 1960, which is around seven months after Adolf was kidnapped, there was finally a break in the case.

A man who was searching the Rocky Mountains looking for a place to do some target shooting, stumbled upon a pair of shoes. Socks and men's pants. The man picked up the pants and heard a jingling sound coming from the pocket, so he continued to investigate the situation and found some keys attached to a key ring with a small pin knife with AC three engraved on it.

The man immediately left to alert the FBI as to what he found, and later that same afternoon, he returned to the area with agents to relocate the clothing during a search of the whole area. Police ended up finding a ski shaped tie clasp with ADOS initials on it as well. They also found a blue jacket, a shirt, an undershirt, shorts, a tie, and a belt.

All of these articles of clothing were [00:39:00] identified as belonging to Adolf. The clothing was found to have two bullet holes in the back of the jacket and two in the back of the shirt and undershirt. The location of these two holes would be directly over the right scapula. It was determined that these shots would've been fired at a point blank range.

The evidence told police that Adolf had been shot twice in the back. The following day, 26 FBI agents began searching the general area where these articles of clothing were found, and they ended up finding a watch with a brown leather band that had a quarters, the third inscribed on it. Near the watch, numerous different bones were found and later identified as human remains from a man about six feet tall, who had been dead for about six months.

A human skull was recovered and dental records were examined to make an identification. The remains were soon confirmed to be ados. These bones were found to be in normal condition except for the right scapula, which was found with two holes that were likely created by gunshots. [00:40:00] It was the opinion of the pathologist that the location of these shots would've called injury sufficient enough to cause death, as these bullets would've entered the lung area causing bleeding and shock.

All of this new information really confirmed that Adolf was in fact shot and killed. Their theory was that Joseph had spent years planning to kidnap Adolf so he could extort the CO's family for ransom money. He bought himself a typewriter paper, the yellow Mercury, a gun handcuffs and leg restraints in advance, and he was seen by multiple people numerous times in the area of the bridge that Adolf was attacked on.

Police believed that on the day of the kidnapping, Joseph backed his car onto the end of the bridge to make it look like he was broken down, forcing Adolf to pull over. When Adolf got out to see what was going on, Joseph pulls a gun on him and tries to get Adolf into his car, but Adolf put up a fight.

It's thought that Adolf likely tried to run back to his car, but he was shot in the back as he ran. [00:41:00] Once he was shot, Joseph put his body into the mercury and drove it to the Rocky Mountains to dispose of his body. Next, Joseph went home and mailed the ransom letter and left his apartment. The next morning he headed to New Jersey where he set his car on fire to destroy evidence, and then he fled to Canada.

A warrant was issued for Joseph's arrest on September 27th, 1960, and the search continued. In October, a Reader's Digest reader in Canada saw an article about AOL's murder and the manhunt for Joseph that was still going on. The reader thought that these photos of Joseph looked just like the man that had recently moved into the apartment right next door to him.

So he called the police and the FBI to let them know just in case. How scary would that be? I know. Yeah. Like, just knowing that and then the weight has to be like the worst. Yeah. Like, let me just go, let me just lock myself in my apartment until, mm-hmm. The, until the police are here and this is over. So the next day, the manager of a rooming [00:42:00] house in Winnipeg called to report that somebody who resembled Joseph had recently stayed at her flop house, and she noted that this person was driving a fire engine red colored Pontiac at that time.

So that new information was then circulated throughout Canada, and on October 29th, a Vancouver officer noticed a similar vehicle parked outside of a local Motor Inn. Before long authorities were knocking on the door of the hotel room and coming face-to-face with Joseph Corbett Jr. When the officer asked the man if he was who they thought he was, Joseph said, I'm your man.

I give up. I'm not armed. Police confirmed that he was not carrying a weapon, but they did find a loaded gun in his suitcase in the room, and that was not the gun that was used in the murder. They never did find the typewriter, the paper or the envelopes used in the ransom letter and they didn't find the weapon that was used to kill Adolf.

Joseph was questioned by various agents, but he declined to answer any questions regarding AOL's death. He did [00:43:00] admit that he was wearing the brown fedora that was found at the crime scene though. And Joseph never did speak to the police or the media about the case. On March 31st, 1961, Joseph went to trial for the murder of Adolf Kors ii.

Since AOL's remains were found in the same state he went missing from Joseph was not tried on federal kidnapping charges, but the jury was only able to pick between two verdicts. He was either to be found guilty of first degree murder or not guilty. If Joseph was acquitted, he would be taken back to California.

Because by the way, he had escaped from prison there while serving time for another murder that he did in 1951. You know that small detail Uhhuh, right? So if he's acquitted of AOL's murder, he still has to go back to. Prison in California because he was not finished serving his sentence in the murder of Alan.

So prosecutors said that Adolf was killed in a kidnapping gone awry. Joseph just wanted some ransom money and he planned what he hoped would be the perfect scheme for over two [00:44:00] years. But when the day finally came, nothing went according to plan, and Joseph ended up shooting Adolf right there on the bridge instead.

Then he dumped his body and mailed the letter before going on the run again, which. I don't understand mailing the letter. If like everything went wrong and you know that you killed this guy, like, why would you even mail the ransom letter at that point? Just aban. Why wouldn't you just abandon the whole thing?

Especially because at that point you're actually giving them more clues to come find you by saying, I did this for ransom also, I use this type. You know, like they're able, right? They found so much because of that. Had it just been this random yellow car, who knows? Yeah. Who, I really can't figure out why he would do that, but that had, doesn't make any sense.

Like you would just say, this is scrapped. I need to get to Canada and I'm not gonna try to get. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense. But the defense claimed though that Joseph was simply innocent of the charges against him and that he was not involved in AOL's murder in any way at all [00:45:00] whatsoever.

Wow. They claimed that the evidence against him was purely circumstantial and speculation. The defense didn't even call any witnesses, and Joseph didn't take the stand either. After 16 hours of deliberation, the jury ended up finding Joseph guilty of first degree murder. He was given an automatic life sentence.

He always maintained his innocence, but his appeals were all unsuccessful. Sadly, the death of Adolf III wasn't the end of the tragedies the Kors family would endure. In 1968, Adolf and Mary's oldest daughter, Brenda, passed away from cancer at the age of 26. Then in 1975, Mary was at a friend's house when she fell down a flight of stairs and tragically died from her injuries at only 55 years old.

Joseph actually applied for parole a few times over the years and in 1979 he told the parole board that he saw himself as a commonplace man who quote through sheer bizarre circumstances, [00:46:00] got involved in something notorious and quote, Mandy, don't you hate when you get moed in something Notorious? Yeah, just through she bizarre, circum, sheer bizarre circumstances.

Exactly happens to me all the time, you know? And so this guy who was convicted of murder, not once but twice, was actually released from prison in 1980. He was 52 years old. That is crazy. Not only did you kill the first person you escaped from prison, which in itself is its own thing. Then you kill another person, kidnapped while kidnapping, a fugitive, all kinds of stuff.

Yeah, as a fugitive. And in 1980 they're like again, you know, sheer bizarre circumstances. Something notorious gotta let you go. So weird. So after his release, he drives a truck for the Salvation Army until he retires in 1996. Joseph agreed to give his first interview ever at the time of this interview, he was [00:47:00] about 68 years old.

During this interview, he still maintains his innocence and AOL's murder, but he did explain what happened in the 1950 killing of Alan. He said, quote, I shot the guy. There was a fight and I shot him. It was a terrible thing, but I pleaded guilty in quote. As for his escape from prison, he said he just didn't like being locked up.

He said it was a quote, young man's natural desire to be free. End quote. Well, yeah, prison, no kidding is not supposed to be fun. And then he thought, quote heck. I'll go to Denver and quote, I, I can't. Um, so Joseph was asked why he fled his apartment one day after Adolfs disappearance, if, you know, he wasn't involved in this.

And Joseph said it was actually a coincidence, another sneaky coincidence. He was a fugitive. And he had been in that area that Adolf went missing from, he knew, he said he had. Intuition that the police would come knocking. So instead of [00:48:00] saying, Hey, I wasn't there that day, he fled. I mean, you know, I get the line of thinking, you know, I'm a, I'm a fugitive from the law.

Something bad has happened in my area. I probably shouldn't be around here. Okay, good point. He, he, I forgot he was a fugitive still. Right? My bad. So, I mean that does, you can see where he was going with that. Okay, I'll give him that. But Joseph said he did give up on trying to prove he was innocent and said he really didn't have much to add to the story.

But this is kind of weird what comes up next. So, in February, 2009, Joseph has asked for an interview for a long form article being written by 52 80, but he declines the interview. Said he's put this case behind him and that it was just a gruesome memory. Hmm. Which is a very weird thing to be like, that's gruesome about a thing you didn't do.

Yeah. It's an interesting choice of word. Are you gonna agree with him on this one too? No, just the last one. Okay. No, I think that's definitely an interesting word. Choice. Yeah, I agree. But in [00:49:00] August of 2009, Joseph, who was 80 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer, completed suicide. He never admitted to murdering Adolf.

In 1998, Adolf was inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. His family spoke about what skiing meant to Adolf, and they called him an avid, enthusiastic and inexhaustible skier who was active in developing the major ski industry in the state of Colorado. His daughter said Adolf loved Colorado and loved to ski, and he really wanted to see a marriage of these two things and wanted to help those He cared about gain a taste for the sport that he loved.

The Hall of Fame remembered Adolf by saying quote AD was a skier for life and tirelessly contributed time, money, and energy to help others understand and appreciate his love for the sport. And of course, we can't end without mentioning that, you know, Adolf, of course, was so much more than just being an heir to the course fortune and the victim of this terrible murder, uh, his [00:50:00] family.

Always wanted him to be remembered as being a loving husband and a very awesome father to his four kids, and you know, they had to grow up without him. He really did seem like a hard worker. Like I was saying in the beginning, I had no idea that he was responsible for so much of like the pioneering for creating like ski.

Country in Colorado, but he really wanted to create, you know, that space and create a better world for people. And he did end up doing that. He probably would've done a lot more in his lifetime if his life wasn't taken away from him. So it's just, yeah, so sad. I did love that he had this whole company and this legacy and all that and he still was saying like he made time for his family.

That wasn't the most important thing. And I think that says a lot about him and about his memory for sure. Yeah, he kind of strikes me as like even though he was born into this and like he knew that he was going to be taking over the company, he. Wasn't the type of person who was like, well, that's it. I don't have to do anything for the rest of my life.

Right. You know, he actually had his own goals and things that he wanted to work on, um, throughout his life. And yeah, like you [00:51:00] said, I think that says a lot, you know, that he wasn't just like, oh, I can't wait to inherit the Coors Brewing Company and like not do anything ever again. All right. So that was our wild ride of a story this week.

Um, Melissa, before we get outta here, would you like to do a last thing before we go? Absolutely. So the last thing before we go this week is something that I threw together. Well, I thought I was gonna throw it together and then I ended up being like, wow, this actually, um, required me to do a little bit more research than I had originally intended.

Yeah. Uh, but it's gonna be fun. So. I'm excited, Melissa? Yes. Mm-hmm. So at the beginning of the episode, I threw in a little fun fact about the toothpaste company, Colgate, that we all know. But you may have missed it if you were listening, and I kind of went through it quickly. But the fun fact was that Colgate hasn't always been a toothpaste company, which.

Did you know that it's interesting to about, no, I didn't. When the company launched in 1806, their product line actually consisted of soaps and candles, and then eventually in 1866, they added perfumes, but it wasn't until 1873 that the [00:52:00] company debuted its Colgate Aromatic toothpaste in jars. Okay, so then, which I don't, I.

I'm curious, but not that curious. Toothpaste in a jar. It sounds unsanitary. No, that's, do you dip it? I don't know how you get, I don't know how you do it. It doesn't sound. No, I don't like that. I'm glad we have tubes now. Mm-hmm. But when the company merged with Paul Mulli in 1928, that's when things really took off.

And now the Colgate Palm Olive brand has expanded globally to households across the world with so many products that we all use every day, from general hygiene products to cleaning supplies a. High chance you have a Colgate product within a few feet of you somewhere. Right. So today I thought it'd be fun, Melissa, to test your knowledge on some of the other longstanding companies that have become household names for Americans.

Oh, okay. Little trivia and also a little, I guess, I guess it's, you could call it trivia. I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you some info and then you're gonna tell me what the name of this co, the name of the company is. These are all companies that have been around for a very long time. All started [00:53:00] right here in the us.

Okay. Okay, so Melissa, what manufacturer of writing instruments got its start in 1795, making graphite pencils using graphite from the t Kondo RGA region of New York, but now has its headquarters located right here in our backyard. In Lake Mary, Florida. In Lake Mary. Yes. Um, I'm gonna go with Bick, but I don't think that's right.

No wait is BIC pens or razors? Uh, B is pens. Uh, so this company currently manufactures and distributes. Those boxes of a hundred plus pencils that your kid has somehow managed to use every single one of this year alone. Pencil company. Yeah. Think pencils. Their main thing is pencils. Um, was a playmate paper mate.

No, I don't know. I don't know what a pencil company is. It's like my brain is not just one Dixon type ta Kondo ro first two letters. Dixon Ticonderoga is the name of it. That's the company. How would I know that? Because that's. Because that's what Brand Pencils you probably bought your kids this year [00:54:00] together.

It's like the most together popular brand of writing, utensil writing, um, instruments send an AM email and they have a factory and a headquarters right here in Lake Mary. So I send an email for sure you two moms of mystery@gmail.com put the subject Mandy and tell her if you didn't know what those words were, I don't know what.

Perfect. I've never heard those words. I'm gonna have to Google it. Okay, well. I will send you this story. I'm hot about this one. I've never heard of it. Next one. Very un-American of you to not know that. It's so rude. I'm just kidding. Okay, next one. I know this company was started in 1765 by Dr. James Baker.

A business partner named John Hannon, and they set out to create chocolate for medicinal purposes. So Hannon made the first recorded chocolate sale in 1772, but when he went on a journey to the West Indies to buy cocoa in 1979 and never returned, the doctor had to take over the whole business and he started making his [00:55:00] own branded chocolate, which he released in 1780.

And the rest is history. It's chocolate. Obviously it's bound to do well. So in 1989, this iconic chocolate brand was acquired by Kraft Foods, and it remains well known for its high quality chocolate products. Bakers everywhere. Love it. Okay, hold on. It's not CAD berry. Take that off. It's not Hershey's. Take that off.

It's one I use for my son because it's like there's a good allergy one there Are the bags like kind of crinkly and pretty, or is it Nestle? The bags look like I've given you sos. The bags are like, like blue. I don't know. Can you gimme the first letter? The company was started by Dr. James Baker. Baker's Chocolate.

Yes. Oh my gosh. And I also said Baker's love it. That just even put me in a tizzy. I, I'm really struggling. Also, I looked at those pencils. Yes, I've seen them. I never looked at the word. I know the colors the green. [00:56:00] I only lu the, I never the last word 'cause I never knew how to say it until today. So there you go.

Oh, I'm impressed. Next thing the company founded in 1790, um, was originally known as the Sands, Taylor and Wood company. It has now expanded its product line over the last 230 plus years to include a wide range of baking mixes, flowers, different ingredients, baking tools, et cetera. They're known for using high quality unbleached flour.

A milled from a hundred percent American Wheat Flour Company. I always give you choices. Largest. Um. Okay. It's white with blue writing. That's the kind of stuff I know. Absolutely. Um, okay. I'll give you another little hint if you want. Yes. Okay. So the company changed its name. Remember I said originally it started as Sans Taylor and Wood Company, but in 19, or sorry, in 1896, they changed the name in honor of the famous medieval king by the same name.

Oh, King's Flower [00:57:00] King. Arthur's Flower King. Arthur Flower. Perfect. Yeah. I didn't realize, um, 1790. It's like the oldest flower company in the country. There you go, huh? Yeah. Fun, fun fact there. All right, so the next ones are really quick and short. Let's see if you know this, we'll do this one. This one can be the last one.

So this company is one of the oldest clothing retailers in the us. It got its start in 1818 selling men's tailored suits and other clothing and later supplied uniforms to union officers during the Civil War. Of course, they've changed ownership many times over the years, but they are still a leading retailer of classic American clothing.

I put that in air quotes 'cause I don't know what that even means. Classic American Dillards, Dillards, JC Penney's. Sears, but these are stores. Parisians, okay, the store. Okay, go further. Think about brands that might be found in these stores. John St. John's Bay. St. John Bay. That's actually a really good guess, but No, it's Brooks Brothers, but is it still?[00:58:00] 

Nope. Everything I've read said that it was like still such a popular leading retailer of maybe I don't wear shoes, maybe for men's classic American clothing, because I, I already said I didn't know what that was, but apparently I don't wear it. Air quotes. Okay. Brooks Brothers suits I have heard of, but like, yes, as a brand I would've never gotten there.

I wouldn't have either, honestly, but I liked it. Don't feel too bad because some of these facts blew me away as well, but I hope that you learned something. Yeah. About the oldest companies in the United States, I didn't realize some of them had been around. I mostly learned about those pencils. Yeah. Isn't that wild?

Nearly all of them happen. Isn't that wild that they started as they started making graphite? Oh, I don't remember the fact. Yes. Yeah. They started off making graphite pencils with graphite from Tay Kon Droga. Region of New York. Well, that name does make sense now it's Get Headquarters has moved down here to Lake Mary and I guess they aren't using graphite from Tay Kon Dega anymore.

Now they're using whatever they use. Yeah, pencil would be kind of weird. [00:59:00] Safer in Lake Mary. Okay. All right guys. Well, I think that was it for this week. Yeah, that sounds good. All right, Melissa. We'll be back next week. Same time, same place. New story. Have a great week. Bye.