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 the world. And like I mentioned at the top, if you could, take a minute to rate and review us.
We appreciate them so much. We read them. We yearn for them. So if you can take the time this week to add one yourself, we would appreciate it so much, and they will be cherished. And also, 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.