On March 2, 1972, 69-year-old Jake Green disappeared from his workplace in Kansas City, Missouri, under alarming circumstances. Green, a male janitor, was last seen at the Bigger Jigger No. 2 Tavern, where he was employed. His sudden absence coincided with the disappearance of his colleague, 68-year-old Mabel Manley, a barmaid at the same establishment. The simultaneous vanishing of the two employees from the tavern immediately raised concerns among local authorities and the community, launching an investigation into their whereabouts.
Tragically, the search for the missing pair concluded with the discovery of their bodies several miles away on Blue River Road. Investigators determined that both victims had been shot multiple times with different caliber weapons, indicating a violent and deliberate act. The nature of the crime suggested a robbery-abduction gone wrong, a pattern that would later help detectives connect the Kansas City case to a broader spree of violence spanning multiple states.
Law enforcement eventually linked the deaths of Green and Manley to the McCrary family, a notorious nomadic clan known for committing a series of robberies, abductions, and murders across the United States in the early 1970s. The family, led by Sherman McCrary and his son-in-law Carl Taylor, often targeted individuals in vulnerable situations, such as late-night employees at isolated businesses. While the modus operandi in the Kansas City slayings closely matched the McCrary family's other crimes, including the use of specific weapon types and the abduction of workers, concrete evidence directly tying them to the murders of Green and Manley remained elusive at the time.
Consequently, no specific arrests were made or trials held exclusively for the deaths of Jake Green and Mabel Manley. However, the McCrary family faced justice for their extensive criminal activities elsewhere. Sherman McCrary and Carl Taylor were ultimately arrested and convicted for murders and robberies committed in other jurisdictions, including Texas and California. The Kansas City case remains a significant part of the timeline of the McCrary family's rampage, illustrating the deadly reach of their operations during that era.
