Dragnet - The Big Chance

It was Monday morning on June 4th. Detective Sergeants Joe Friday and Ben Romero were working the day shift out of the Homicide Division. It was 6:45 AM when they arrived at the San Pedro cutoff of the Imperial Highway. There, they met with an officer from the Sheriff's Department. He walks up to them and says "Hi. Are you Detective Sergeants Friday and Romero?" Joe says "Yeah, that's right". He says "I'm Pete Sutton of the Sheriff's Department". Ben says "How are you? We got here as soon as we could". Pete asks "Did Inspector Bowers fill you in?" Friday says "Yeah, you know, Ed Baxter in Central Homicide told us to check with Bowers at the Sheriff's Office. Bowers directed us to come out here and lend you a hand". Ben says "This thing happened so close to the county line they figure both departments ought to go to work on it". Pete says "Sure, we're glad to have you. Looks like a tough one". Ben asks "Is this the Highway Patrol Car the missing officer was assigned to?" Pete says "Yeah. This isn't just the way we found it. We turned off the ignition. The motor was running, and the lights were on. It's been idling quite a while. The temperature was up pretty high". Friday asks "When did you find it this way?" Pete says "45 minutes ago. Missing patrolman's name is Eugene Brewer. The State Highway Patrol called the Sheriff's Department a little before 6 AM and told us the missing officer wasn't acknowledging his radio call. I talked to Mark Benson". Ben asks "Is the radio all right?" Pete says "We checked it. In fact, it was operating normal when we found the car. The microphone was out of the bracket, laying on the seat there". Joe asks "Any ideas?" Pete says "There were no signs of struggle, and no blood stains. There were no footprints anywhere, and nothing on the shoulder of the road". Ben says "You said the car was running?" Pete says "That's right". Ben says "That eliminates any engine trouble". Friday says "Nobody has any idea why or when he left his car". Pete says "You've got it all. You know as much as we do".