She had entered the pageant as a lark, never expecting to win. Uninterested in a show business career, the 17-year old also didn't want to drop out of school to fulfill her Miss America duties. With the help of her parents she contacted the 21-year-old Lou Off, who had earlier been assigned by pageant officials to escort her around Atlantic City. He spirited her out of her hotel and secreted her on a boat anchored 200 yards off the Steel Pier. Rumors swirled that they had eloped, but no such thing happened, since he took her home to her parents the very next day. The pageant people decided that she could keep the title, and she dutifully attended parades and participated in radio broadcasts, but her main priority was to finish high school. As a result of her incident with the male chaperone, pageant officials ultimately decided contestants would henceforth be chaperoned by socially prominent Atlantic City women.