Dorothy Arnold (1884-?)
On Monday morning, Dec. 12, 1910, she told her mother she was going shopping for a new evening gown. Mrs. Arnold offered to accompany her daughter, but Dorothy declined. "Oh, no, I wouldn't put you to that trouble for the world," Mrs. Arnold recalled Dorothy saying. "When I select the dress I shall telephone you. Then you can come down and look it over." No call ever came. Her family did not worry when Dorothy failed to return that evening. Dorothy had many girlfriends, and it was not unusual for her to spend the night at the home of one of them. But it was unusual for her to neglect to call and tell her family where she was. When there was still no sign of her the next morning, her family knew something was wrong.
Instead of rushing to police, her publicity-shy father first called in a family friend and lawyer instead of the police. This disappearance was considered one of the biggest news stories of its time comparable to coverage of the Lindberg baby
kidnapping. Her family spared no expense in trying to locate their daughter, to no avail. Several articles discuss the fact that Dorothy was involved with a 44 year old man. He was overseas at the time of her disappearance, and received a letter from her in which she stated that she faced a long road ahead of her, and that her mother would think it was an accident. No one could explain what was meant by that, but her family said they firmly believed she did not commit suicide. Dorothy wanted to be a writer, and had submitted numerous publications to various editors. None of her writing was ever accepted for publication.
In the letter she wrote to her 44 year old boyfriend, she mentioned that her writing had been rejected yet again. Although Dorothy's body was never found, her parents both believed her to be dead. In fact, in their wills, her parents made mention of the fact that they were leaving nothing to Dorothy, as they did not believe her to be alive.
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