(4 of 4)
Having risked everything for some piddling shoplifting, the three then made a disorganized, frantic escape, abandoning the van, stealing and discarding three cars along the way, and briefly kidnaping an 18-year-old boy named Tom Matthews, whom they eventually released unharmed. Matthews later said he thought that one of the women was Emily Harris, but he could not recognize the second from police photographs.
Cocky Gesture. From a parking ticket found in the Volkswagen, police traced the group to a house in a black neighborhood of nearby Culver City.
But when they converged on the hideout on Friday morning, no one was there. Left behind were some clothing, boots, wigs for disguise and two boxes of shotgun shells.
At about the same time, Mrs. Mary Carr, 52, dropped by to visit her daughter, Minnie Lewis, who lived with Christine Johnson at 1466 East 54th St. To her astonishment, Mrs. Carr learned that her daughter had put up a group of strangers the previous night—people who had been willing to pay $100. Mrs. Carr later said that she saw one of the visitors—a white woman who was wearing a pistol belt. The stranger patted her gun and smiled at Mrs. Carr. It was a cocky and senseless gesture of power.
Mrs. Carr told reporters that she quickly tipped off the police. That night, when the Shootout began, Mrs. Carr and Minnie were there to watch.
At week's end the anguished question remained without answer: Where was Patty Hearst? If indeed she is still alive, authorities believe that she may be found soon. The Los Angeles gunfight cost the S.L.A. its muscle, Donald DeFreeze, and its brains, Nancy Ling Perry. Their combined talents enabled the S.L.A. to dodge their pursuers so successfully in San Francisco.
There are reports that Patty was seen with the Harrises before the shoplifting and shooting at the sporting-goods store. Investigators regard the Harrises as bunglers. "If Patty is with them she probably will turn up quickly," said one law enforcement official.
"But if she isn't found, we'll have to face the possibility that she may have been murdered by DeFreeze and his group before they were killed."