Unsolved Justice is a series of articles that explores the unsolved cases, disappearances, and unsolved crimes that continue to plague American families and communities. These stories re-examine known facts, unanswered questions and the latest developments in the case, while the search for the truth is far from over.
Decades after the 1980 crime, the murder of Dorothy Jane Scott remains a mystery. The circumstances that led to her disappearance still haunt the United States. Shortly after midnight one fateful day in May 1980, the 32-year-old disappeared.
Scott lives in Anaheim; californiais a single mother focused on raising her four-year-old son. She worked as a secretary at two joint venture stores in Anaheim.
However, shortly after midnight on May 29, 1980, Scott’s life took a horrific turn when she disappeared without a trace.
Dorothy Scott is missing
On that fateful night, Scott rushed colleague Conrad Bostrom to the hospital after he was bitten by a black widow spider. They are accompanied by another friend, Palmhead.
After Bostrom was treated at the hospital, Scott asked him to wait while she brought her car over to make things easier for him.
Bostrom and Hyde waited and saw Scott’s car approaching the exit of the hospital. However, instead of stopping for them, the car sped past, blinding them with its headlights. Neither could see who was driving.
Hours later, Scott’s car was found burning in an alley. She was never seen alive again.
That was the last time Hyde and Bostrom, or anyone, saw Scott — at UCI Medical Center in Orange. When the two saw her 1973 white Toyota station wagon pulling out of the hospital parking lot, they reported that Scott had been missing for nearly an hour.
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A short time later, the Santa Ana Police Department found her vehicle on fire in an alley in the 800 block of South Townsend.
The day before she disappeared, Scott was wearing blue jeans, a maroon long-sleeved shirt, a white scarf and a round turquoise ring on her left index finger, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The chilling events that preceded Dorothy Scott’s disappearance
The events leading up to Scott’s disappearance are extremely disturbing. in the months preceding her kidnappingScott had been receiving anonymous calls from a man who was reportedly stalking her. The unidentified man had been calling Scott, alternately expressing his love for her and his intention to murder her.
Scott’s mother later recalled: “One day, he called and said he was going out because he had something to give her. When she went out, she noticed a dead red rose on the windshield of her car.”
A phone call shocked Scott beyond measure. During the call, the man said he would leave Scott alone and “cut off” [her] Break it into pieces so no one will find out [her],” her mother said.
Scott was alarmed by the calls and had been considering purchasing a handgun. She even started taking karate classes a week before her disappearance.
After the Santa Ana Register published an article about Scott on June 12, 1980, a man called the newspaper. He told editor Pat Riley, “She was my lover. I found out she was cheating on her with another man… She denied having another man… and I killed her.”
In fact, A&E reported that a week after Scott disappeared, a man called her parents and said, “I found her.”
Over the next four years, the stalker called Scott’s parents frequently, almost always calling her mother on Wednesdays. The calls could never be traced, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department told A&E Crime+Investigations that the anonymous caller “did not have any recordings of evidentiary value.”
Dr. Christina Lane, a criminologist and co-founder of the Criminal Investigation Resource Center, told A&E Crime + Investigation that she had previously spoken about Scott’s abduction in a hospital parking lot, saying, “She was striking out in the parking lot when she went out to get her car, which suggests that it may have been a very knee-jerk reaction.”
Dr. Chris Kunkel, a forensic and clinical psychologist and co-founder of Russell Sage College’s Criminal Investigation Resource Center, told A&E Crime + Investigation that he believed the suspect “took advantage of the opportunity that she was alone in a seemingly deserted location to act” and “probably would not have approached her had she not been alone.”
Discovery of Dorothy Scott’s remains
On August 6, 1984, construction workers discovered a body about 30 feet off Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim. The bones had been charred, probably in a brush fire in 1982, and faded by the sun.
Dental records confirmed it was Scott, and her mother identified a turquoise ring and watch found in the body. The watch stopped at 12:30 noon on May 29, the day Scott kidnapped.
Although the anonymous phone calls stopped sometime in April 1984, they resumed after Scott’s body was discovered. The man began calling his family again, and police installed a voice recorder at Scott’s residence. However, the calls could never be traced because the unidentified man was not on the phone long enough.
“The potential murder suspect was a man who repeatedly called Dorothy and her family. However, this mystery man was never identified or found,” Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.
“Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Task Force are pursuing new leads in Dorothy’s case. Efforts to bring justice for Dorothy and her family are ongoing,” it added.
