Hattie DeBardelaben

Hattie DeBardelaben, a 46-year-old farmer and mother of eight, was killed on March 23, 1945 in Autaugaville, Alabama, after Autauga County Deputy Clyde White and three federal Alcohol Tax Unit officers conducted a warrantless search of her home for illegal whiskey. Witnesses, including her children, said officers beat her; she died in the back of the officers' car. An FBI inquiry at the time attributed her death to a heart attack and the case was closed within months; a state grand jury later declined to indict. Records released in 2024 under the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act confirmed the officers' identities and the case's handling.

Autaugaville, AL · Autauga County

• 1945: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity, age, and the March 23, 1945 date and location, per federal records released in 2024.
• The identities of Deputy Clyde White and the three federal officers present, per the same released records.

• No one was ever indicted for her death.
• The full extent of what investigators privately concluded at the time, versus what was made public, remains debated by historians.

• Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board — official case summary
• Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (Northeastern Law) — case archive
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs