The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. As always, at the top, I just
like to say thank you whenever we get like really
kind reviews that come in. I'm blown away that
people take the time to write as reviews. I know
I ask every single week multiple times on the
podcast, but it still amazes me that folks take
the time to write as a review. And so many of
you are so kind and so thoughtful. So thank you
so much for taking the time to do that. And they
mean a lot to Eli and I. I read all of them and
I share all the really positive ones with Eli
as well. Yeah, we actually have a... rule in
the house. I don't go and read the reviews or
comment sections of anything. I'm the kind of
person who just can be easily influenced by what
others say about me, working on it forever. But,
you know, it's really nice when Allie calls me
from another room if I'm folding laundry or something,
and she reads such an in -depth review of what
we're doing here and how people feel about the
work that we're doing. And it feels really nice
to know that everything we do here aligns with
the mission that, honestly, Ali has put in
place with starting the podcast. And it's reflected
in those comments and reviews, so it really does
mean a lot to us. But with that, we will go ahead
and just get into this week's episode. Yeah,
we are on episode... One twenty -three this week.
And we are on a cold case. All right, let's get
into it. Let's do it. Today, we are talking about
the cold case of Dorothy Jane Scott. And this
takes place in May of 1980 in Orange County,
California. But first, a little bit about Dorothy.
Dorothy is 32 years old in 1980. She is a single
mother to a four -year -old son and works as
a secretary for a novelty and head shop. called
the Swinger Psych Shop. Despite working for a
head shop, those that knew Dorothy said that
she wasn't interested in drugs or partying. She
didn't really go out. She was focused on taking
care of her son. In fact, many of her days looked
the same. She would wake up and get her son ready
for the day and then drop him off at her parents'
house and then head off to work. Dorothy and
her son lived with Dorothy's aunt at this time.
Dorothy wasn't dating anyone at this time in
1980 either, but she had started to get strange
phone calls. A man would call her at her job
all the time. The calls had been going on for
months. According to her father, Jacob Scott,
quote, End quote. The stalker had also threatened
to kill Dorothy and cut her up into pieces. Dorothy
didn't have any clue who the man was that was
torturing her on the phone, and those that knew
Dorothy couldn't figure it out either. And now
a timeline of events. On Wednesday, May 28, 1980.
There was a nightly meeting for the Storrs where
she was working as a secretary. At the meeting
was her coworker, Conrad Bostron. Conrad wasn't
feeling well at all, and his arm was inflamed
from a spider bite. Dorothy insisted on taking
him to the hospital when the meeting was over
so he could get some medical attention. Another
coworker, Pam Head, said she would tag along
with them as well. So Dorothy, Pam, and Conrad
all get into Dorothy's white 1973 Toyota station
wagon and head out. Before going to the hospital,
Dorothy stops by her parents' home to tell them
what was going on and to make sure that her son
would be in good hands for the rest of the night.
Of course he was safe at his grandparents' house,
so Dorothy changed her scarf before leaving.
She is wearing long -sleeved maroon blouse and
a round turquoise ring. The color of her scarf
has been reported as different over the years.
However, the important part of this detail is
that she changed scarves and it was a different
color than the one that she was wearing at the
meeting. Dorothy, Conrad, and Pam all arrive
at the University of California Irvine Medical
Center. It's unclear exactly what time they show
up, but Conrad is there for the rest of the evening
and While Conrad was getting treated, Pam and
Dorothy sat in the waiting room together, reading
magazines and watching the TV. According to Pam,
Dorothy never left her side during this period.
Once Conrad had finished up, it was starting
to be the early morning hours of Thursday, May
29th, Dorothy told him to go get his prescription
filled at the hospital pharmacy. She was going
to go use the bathroom and pull the car around
since Conrad still wasn't feeling his best. Pam
stayed with Conrad to get his prescription filled
and Dorothy headed out to use the bathroom and
then out to her car. Pam and Conrad waited for
Dorothy, but when she didn't appear, they decided
to go out to the parking lot to see if maybe
she was waiting out there. The two of them do
see someone driving Dorothy's car, but they can't
see exactly who the driver is because the headlights
are on and it blinds them. Pam said, Conrad and
Pam are very confused by this turn of events,
and they decide to wait at the hospital for what's
reported between one and two hours. They think
that maybe there was an emergency with Dorothy's
son. and she would be back for them, that she
had to leave very quickly, but she'd return back
as soon as it was taken care of. After time had
passed, again, it's reported to be about one
or two hours, they decided to alert the police
at the medical center. The university police
put out a bolo for Dorothy and her car, and at
around 4 .30 a .m., police find her 1973 Toyota
station wagon about 10 miles away in Santa Ana.
It's located in an alleyway, and when the police
find it, it's engulfed in flames. When the fire
is put out, the car is searched, but Dorothy
is not inside. The university police handle the
case since Dorothy was last seen at the university
medical center. They handle Dorothy's case as
a missing person under suspicious circumstances.
The police also ask Dorothy's parents not to
alert the media that she's missing while they
work the investigation. Her parents agree to
do whatever the police ask. Investigators first
take a look at her son's biological father. He
had been in town recently from Missouri to visit
his son. However, police are able to prove that
he was in Missouri when Dorothy disappeared.
About a week after Dorothy disappeared, The exact
date was not published, but her father, Jacob
Scott, got a phone call at home. The man who
called asked, quote, are you related to Dorothy
Scott? When her dad said yes, the caller said,
quote, I've got her, and then hung up. After
Dorothy had been missing for two weeks and this
strange phone call, her father decides to call
the local media to get the word out about his
daughter's case and to get more people looking
for her. So on Thursday, June 12th, Dorothy has
been missing for two weeks, and a local paper,
The Register, runs for the first time that Dorothy
is missing. Later that same day, the managing
editor of The Register gets a phone call from
a man. The man says, quote, Dorothy Jane Scott.
She was my love. I caught her cheating with another
man. She denied having another man. I killed
her. End quote. The editor, Pat Riley, calls
police immediately. When he talks about the event
with others, he says this, quote, after a lot
of years, you get a feeling about people. He
did sound genuine, end quote. It also appears
that Pat Riley talked with the caller for a few
minutes. The caller had other details that at
this point weren't public knowledge. The caller
knew about Conrad's spider bite. and had details
about Dorothy's clothing, specifically her scarf
color that she was wearing at the hospital. And
remember, she had changed after her meeting.
The man also claimed that Dorothy called him
from the hospital. However, Pam Head, Dorothy's
co -worker, says that that was impossible. She
maintains that her and Dorothy were together
the entire time, except for when she went to
use the bathroom before going to grab her car.
That was the only time they separated and Dorothy
did not make a phone call. Her family is baffled
by her disappearance and the strange phone calls.
Her father Jacob says, quote, we just can't put
that together. She worked from morning to evening.
She lives with my sister. She might have had
an occasional date, but they were few and far
between, end quote. On Saturday, June 14th, it's
been 16 days, and the UCI police chief says,
quote, The Scots are probably reaching the point
that we have reached, that we probably won't
find her alive. There's always a glimmer of hope,
but it isn't very bright. End quote. Police say
that they are taking the caller at his word,
that he has killed Dorothy. Investigators say
that they do have several people of interest.
Three men specifically that they're looking at,
but they haven't zeroed in on any one of them
specifically. Police think that the phone calls
are a cry for help, that the killer wants to
get caught. Quickly though, Dorothy's case goes
cold. No sign of Dorothy is found. However, the
calls don't stop. Over the next four years, Dorothy's
parents, specifically her mother, will get calls
either asking if Dorothy was home or saying that
they had taken Dorothy. Her father says, quote,
Most calls come in the afternoon when my wife
was home. It was a soft -spoken voice, and they
didn't stay on very long. End quote. There was
no pattern to when the person would call. It
was randomly, but always when Vera was home alone.
The Scotts didn't change their phone number.
They hoped that if the person who was calling
actually had Dorothy, that they would be allowed
to speak to her at some point. Years they're
tortured by the caller. The police do try to
trace the calls. They tap the Scotts' phone,
but investigators are never able to trace the
call. Either the phone wasn't tapped when he
would call, since he was doing it so randomly,
or he wouldn't stay on the phone long enough
to trace the call. Years go by. And on August
6, 1984, it's been over four years since Dorothy
vanished, a construction worker was getting ready
to dig a trench so cables could be laid under
Santa Ana Canyon Road in North Anaheim. The area
is rugged, and according to police, when the
construction worker was backing his tractor over
some small trees and brush in the area, he observed
human bones and stopped to call the police. Police
come out to the area and confirm they do have
human remains. Investigators aren't able to recover
the entire body. They find a skull, pelvis, arm,
and two thigh bones. Investigators don't think
that she was buried here, but rather dumped here,
and over time, the soil started to cover her
up. Next to the human bones, it's reported that
dog bones were found as well. It's also been
reported that parts of the bones are charred.
This led investigators to believe that the remains
had been there for at least two years since a
fire had swept through that area about two years
before the remains were found. It takes about
a week, but it's confirmed that the remains are
Dorothy. They're confirmed via dental records.
Among the remains, investigators find a watch
and a turquoise ring. They were all identified
as Dorothy's. It's reported that the watch stopped
at 12 .30 a .m. on May 29th. So this would have
been about an hour after Dorothy was last seen
at the hospital. Her parents are relieved to
have this ordeal over with. Her father, Jacob,
says, quote, before you didn't know whether she
was or wasn't. It's a big relief. It's one hell
of a relief." But there is still overwhelming
sadness that their daughter is dead. While her
family gets to work making plans to hold a memorial
service for Dorothy, the phone calls start up
again. They hadn't heard from the anonymous caller
in months. The last time that he had called,
Jacob actually picked up the phone. They think
that since the caller had been talking to Vera
for years, that when Jacob picked up the phone,
he didn't recognize him and thought that the
Scotts had moved. But on the Friday after it's
reported that the remains are Dorothy, the calls
start again. It's not reported what exactly the
calls were saying this time. Vera and Jacob,
as well as the police, believe that it's the
same person that was harassing Dorothy on the
phone has been harassing them for years. And
it is also likely that the caller is the murderer.
Her mother, Vera, says, quote, Dorothy got one
call just before she disappeared that upset her
horribly. The voice said, OK, now you are going
to come my way. And when I get you alone, I will
cut you up into bits so no one will ever find
you. End quote. On Wednesday, August 22nd, 1984,
over four years since Dorothy went missing and
was murdered, she is laid to rest. This was actually
originally scheduled to be her uncle's funeral.
He had passed the week before of cancer, but
the family decided to have both of them at the
same time. Her brother spoke at her funeral.
He says, quote, to me. She exemplified the word
give. She'd just give and give and give, no matter
what it cost her. She spent her last hours giving
and being concerned about others. Police at this
point don't have any suspects in the case. But
that is truly it. Over the years, Dorothy's case
will get mentioned in the paper, but there's
no updates on the case. It never appears that
police reopen the investigation into it and no
new details emerge in this case. So if you know
anything about the murder of Dorothy Jane Scott
in May of 1980, please call the Orange County
Sheriff's Office at 714 -647 -7000. So that is
the case of Dorothy Jane Scott. I'm so happy
that you brought Dorothy's case to my attention,
to our listeners' attention, because I think
cases like these involving a young mother in
the 1980s is just after a big wave of serial
murders that all across the United States. And
I think in the 1980s, those serial murders were
continuing to happen. So it makes sense to me
that her case kind of got lost in the shuffle.
And that's so heartbreaking and so sad because
none of these cases should ever be lost in the
shuffle. So I think... cold and missing covering
it and even though it's been mentioned before
maybe people have covered it before I think bringing
it back up again can create ripples and waves
in in her case again yeah Dorothy's case is one
that I was not familiar with myself but you know
when I start researching cases, I kind of see,
you know, are there other podcasts that have
covered this case before? And Dorothy's case
is one where there have been a lot of podcasts
who have covered her case before. But for me,
I wasn't familiar with it. So I wanted to kind
of get back to, you know, the newspaper reporting,
the original reporting, and get those details
because I think what can happen too a lot of
times is You know, theories can get repeated
over and over again as fact. And I wanted to
get down to the basics of what we know and what
we don't know. And that's what I tried to do
here. Yeah, bringing back up that original timeline
that was recorded in newspapers at the time,
I think clarified a lot for me. And honestly,
as I was listening, I couldn't stop writing.
My mind was coming up with question after question.
And this is a case where enough time has passed,
but bringing it back up again, I think, puts
fresh eyes on it. Absolutely. And I think that's
true with any cold case or any missing person
is we should continuously be talking. Their name
should always be popping up in, you know. rotation
cycles of media. So I'm all for bringing this
case to cold and missing. And I'm sure this case
is new to some of our listeners as well. Circling
back to the very top of the timeline, I guess
this is kind of catalyst before the timeline,
but the phone calls she was receiving long up
until her disappearance and murder. Were those
phone calls ever reported? I guess I don't really
know what you do in that circumstance if someone
is calling and harassing you, but there's no
way to tell who they are. I don't know how that
interaction goes with law enforcement. So I'm
just curious if there was anything, you know,
if she went to the police beforehand or... Maybe
her parents encouraged her to go or they did
on her behalf. I'm curious to know more about
that. So from everything I gathered, I did not
get the impression that this is something that
was reported to police. I do know it's 1980.
Laws are a little different, especially kind
of around stalking and domestic violence towards
women. So I don't know if there would have been
much action. done here during this time if she
had or if she did go to police. But it did seem
that she was worried enough to tell her friends,
her co -workers, her family about what was going
on because everyone in her life seemed to know
about these phone calls. My curiosity around
if the calls were reported or not is because
I'm wanting to know If the calls ramped up, I'm
searching for a number count of how many and
if there were a lot leading up to the day that
she, I think I can assume or speculate that she
was kidnapped. That's where that question was
rooted in. Yeah, so it wasn't reported like strict
timelines. And I'm not sure if the family was
recording it, you know, logging each call as
it came in. But it does seem like to me there
was ramping up in the caller's activity. We had
him coming to her workplace. It does seem like
he was calling her a lot at her job. And he went
to her workplace and left that. dead red rose
on her windshield and then was also threatening
to kill her and cut her up into pieces so to
me like you know getting that close to her and
then calling like that all feels like really
ramped up behavior almost as if like getting
ready for this big act yeah that makes sense
I mean the description reminds me of an almost
of an animal the the stalk before the kill But
I don't know, it feels shameful to equate it
to an animal because animals would be ashamed
of the way we treat each other. To get back into
the timeline of the actual day she went missing
and or was kidnapped, I know she was with coworkers
and that they stopped at her parents' house before
they went to the hospital. Do you know the timeline
on that? I know she changed scarves and that
was of note, but what I'm trying to find out
about that space of time was did she receive
a call while she was at her parents' house within
that moment of time? It's a great question. It
was never reported that there was a phone call
during that brief period. The only kind of phone
call that's kind of reported that night is the
anonymous caller says that Dorothy called him,
which Pam maintained didn't happen. But it doesn't
appear that a phone call was made that evening
that Dorothy got at least. OK, so they get to
the hospital. Conrad is triaged and Dorothy and
Pam are waiting in the waiting room. My question
for you. now is, do you think that someone was
just watching her that entire time? I mean, stalkers
are, when they are committed to stalking, they
are very, very good at what they do. And to me,
it seems like someone was just watching her.
That's where my mind went immediately, and I'm
curious to know if you thought or felt something
similar. Yeah. To me, it definitely feels as
if the stalker was trailing her car, following
her after the meeting and, oh, she's going somewhere
different now. She's going to the hospital, you
know, like I can see that happening. And while
it is like a little bit of speculation, I also
think that it's not like police say that they
believe the caller is also the murderer. And
to me. I do think that Dorothy was likely kidnapped
in the parking lot. It was the first moment she
was really alone and outside of people. You know,
she was next to Pam the entire time. But even
when she had gone to the bathroom and was just
moving through the hospital, there still would
have been people even at an early hour moving
around. So the parking lot was the first time
she was probably really alone. That's when I
think they struck. Of course, that's speculation.
We're not exactly sure what the details are,
but he found her at the hospital. I don't know
how, but he did. I mean, people who stalk, you
know, make it their full -time job, I think.
Stalking cases really scare me, so I don't spend
a lot of time doing my own investigation into
them. But I think if someone is consumed with
stalking someone, then you probably know their
every move. When Conrad is discharged and he
and Pam exit the hospital, And the car, you know,
comes careening around and speeds away from them.
I'm curious on what your thoughts are on who
was driving. Did they see her? I can't remember
if you said that or not. So they said they couldn't
see who the driver was because the headlights
were on. So they were kind of blinded by that.
And just personally, I think that. It's the stalker
that's driving the car at this point. We know
that later the car is found in flames. So it
seems like, you know, whoever took the car like
needs to get rid of the car and the evidence
of the car. So to me that that would place that
somebody was in that car that shouldn't have
been. That's interesting to me because how it
played out in my head is that she was driving.
And that someone else was in the passenger seat
calling the shots by whatever means necessary.
That's just my brain speculating. And it could
be a number of possibilities. But again, just
to emphasize, I think that this is a fresh case
to you and I. And we both have different perspectives
on what the perpetrator of this crime feels.
Could have been doing or perpetrators. Yeah.
And I think what you say makes total sense, too.
I think ultimately it comes down to somebody
was in the car that shouldn't have been. That
wasn't Dorothy. That wasn't Pam. That wasn't
Conrad. Somebody else was in that car and they
had to torch it ultimately to get rid of it.
Going back into the timeline of when they put
the bolo out on her. I'm curious to know why
the police asked her parents to not say anything
to the press or to the media. This I'm not sure
about. You know, I think today people know it's
pretty standard that you need to get the media
involved for missing people to get the most eyes
searching for the person as possible. Things
were different. This was also the university
police handling the case, and I'm not sure how
much their department had handled as far as missing
people up until this point. So personally, I
think that was a huge misstep of not getting
her case out there quicker and getting it in
the media. That's my two cents on it. Yeah, it's
also bad press. for whatever institution is being
reported on. I would imagine, especially knowing
now that it was university police, I mean, we
don't need to get into it, but it seems like
politics could be involved in that and that it
doesn't look great for an institution when a
woman goes missing on their property. Oh, for
sure. I think that could also play into that
here as well. So the phone calls start rolling
in and you spoke about two, the one where the
caller said, I've got her, and the other one
where the caller said, I killed her. Do you think
it's possible that those phone calls could have
also been hoaxes because there is traction and
media attention around Dorothy's case now? I
thought about. The parents do seem convinced
that the caller that they got is the same one
that was calling Dorothy. I don't know if maybe
they ever heard it, but they made the comments
that it was like the same voice. So that leads
me to believe they believe it's the same person.
And then for it to go on for years, that's like
such a commitment with the parents, you know,
as far as the call to the newspaper editor. I
do think still that it was the killer. But like,
you know, it's also like it could be a hoax,
you know, like killers reaching out to the media
was like something that was like happening throughout
the 70s and whatnot. So like maybe somebody was
going to get like a little tickle out of this,
but. It was all like so pointed and specific
that it feels like the same person from the reporting.
Like none of them really stood out as different,
if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes total sense.
I, you know, I only heard you say the information
about the callers once. So I think I'm asking
more for clarification's sake. I know that police.
come up with three men of persons of interest
three men of interest is there any more information
on who those people might be no we're never really
given information we hear that they're looking
at these three men but then years later when
her body is found you know they say they have
no suspects at that time so I don't know if those
three men had been ruled out completely or, you
know, if they just never got any more information
or never really got anywhere with them. But it
does make me wonder who those three people are
and where they came from in Dorothy's life. Yeah.
And that leads me to my follow up question, which
is, are her co -workers ever interviewed in depth
or? I don't know if investigated is the right
word, but I'm curious to know more about that.
So it does seem like Conrad and Pam are questioned
quite a bit since they were the last ones with
her there at the hospital. But then beyond that,
I'm not really sure. And, you know, I think that
is like a really valid place to like ask because
she was getting the calls at her work. I kept
coming back to that, like that someone would
kind of know her work schedule and then like
know that she went to the hospital. It just it
feels like it could be somebody connected to
the job in some way, if not a coworker, a friend
of a coworker that just kind of hears what's
going on. But I would be curious if anybody was
looked at. her coworkers more seriously as a
suspect. Yeah. Or even just a coworker feeding
information to someone else. I think that like
an accomplice in a sense, I think that that's
an absolute possibility. That's like you, my
mind went to that end as well. I do have another
question and I hate to bring them up because
honestly, fuck this guy. But Joseph D 'Angelo,
do you think there is any possibility that this
is a Golden State Killer kill? You know, from
what I know of the Golden State Killer, he really
seemed to like attacking people in their homes.
Like that's one thing kind of again and again
he's caught doing. He's the peeping Tom. He's
doing all of that. That's my understanding of
like his M .O. a little bit. Whereas here, there
was months and months of stalking behavior, the
phone calls. I know the Golden State Killer maybe
made a couple phone calls, but these repeated
phone calls and then for years later to continually
call the parents, that just seems so specific
and targeted that it feels wildly different than
anything else. He did. And I agree with you.
I just, you know, there are unfortunately so
many serial killers around that time, that time
period that were making the papers. So I think
just because, you know, the time he was most
active, I think you got to bring him up. Yeah.
And I think the chaos of that time. could help
Dorothy's killer, like you said earlier, kind
of go under the radar and, you know, her case
not get as much media attention. But hopefully
in the future, we're able to get answers. You
know, we saw the Golden State killer be brought
to justice and those cases get closed. So I do
think that there is still a chance for justice
here. So again, if you know anything about the
murder of Dorothy Jane Scott in May of 1980,
please call the Orange County Sheriff's Office
at 714 -647 -7000. And we will, of course, have
pictures of Dorothy on our Instagram at coldandmissing.
You can follow us there if you're not already
and stay up to date with the podcast and other
cases that are happening around the country and
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if you or a loved one is hard of hearing and
you need a transcript to follow along, you can
find that on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com, along with all of our old episodes as well.
But that is all I have for you this week. Thank
you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host Ali. And I'm your co -host Eli.
Have a good week and stay safe y 'all. Stay safe
y 'all.