Going West: True Crime - Dorothy Jane Scott // 179

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

RE-DO EPISODE! This was originally episode 4 of Going West (which no longer exists!). We have re-researched and re-recorded it. “When I get you alone, I will cut you up into bits so no one will ever find you”. That was call received by Dorothy Jane Scott, and the calls continued to come in both at her home and at work. On May 28, 1980, she disappeared forever. This is the story of Dorothy Jane Scott. BONUS EPISODE patreon.com/goingwestpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host, Teeth. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. So we actually covered this case in episode four of going west back in January of 2019. So three years ago, and we get so many requests to cover episodes one through seven, which got lost last year when we transferred our content to a different host site. But sadly, we don't have the audio files. So, you know, we're kind of in this position where we're like, should we just redo them? Because most of our listeners have not heard those cases?

And if you have, it's been a while. Right, and we can promise you that this will be a much better take anyway, because we also re-researched it and added a ton of new information that we didn't know to look for back when we started this show. Yeah, I actually learned a lot more doing the research this time around, and hopefully you guys will too. And I'm so glad we are redoing this show. Yeah, I actually learned a lot more doing the research this time around and hopefully you guys will too. And I'm so glad we are redoing this case right now because it has stuck with me all these years.

It's just one of those cases for me. The elements are so unbelievably bizarre and unsettling. So thank you guys for tuning in and I think our show has gotten so much better over the years. So if you did hear this case three years ago We're sorry for the redo episode. We're sorry that you heard it three years ago. Yeah, that's what we're sorry about Yeah, because that ship was bad. It was not great. We were not very confident as podcasters back then

But we are now so we were so very scared and shy, but here we are our true selves So thank you guys for tuning in. We love you guys so much. If you're looking for more going west content, if you're all caught up on going west, and two episodes just is not enough for you a week, we just released our 60th full length ad-free bonus episode on Patreon on the disappearance of Leo Croucher that happened in England in 2019.

It's very weird. Yeah, so you guys can head on over to patreon.com slash Going West podcast and binge all those episodes. Absolutely. Also, we're gonna be at CrimeCon this year in Vegas, April 28th through May 1st. April 29th. Oh, oh, sorry, the 29th through the first of May.

So make sure you get your tickets. You can also use our code going west to get 10% off of your standard badge. All right, guys, this is episode 179 of Going West. So let's get into it. When I get you alone, I will cut you up into bits so no one will ever find you. That was a call received by a 32-year-old woman in Anaheim, California, and the calls continued to come in both at her home and at work. On May 28, 1980, she disappeared forever. This is the story of Dorothy Dorothy Jane Scott was born on April 23, 1948 to parents Vera, whose descendants were from Ireland, and Jacob Scott, whose parents were Italian immigrants, in McKee's Port, Pennsylvania. But, she spent much of her upbringing in California.

But other than this, surprisingly, there is not a lot of information regarding her upbringing out there on the internet or in the papers. So where she went to school, you know, what she wanted to do with her life, these things are unknown to us. But we do know that she was considered a very kindhearted and compassionate person. We also know that she grew up religious and she took her faith very seriously. So fast forward to 1976, when Dorothy was 28 years old, she gave birth to a son who she named Sean.

And Sean's father wasn't in the picture and actually lived out in Missouri, but were unsure what their relationship was like just that they were not together and Dorothy raised Sean on her own. But not completely on her own, because her aunt helped her out and even allowed Dorothy and Sean to live in her house alongside her. So jumping four years ahead now to 1980 when this story takes place. 32-year-old Dorothy Jane Scott was living in Stanton, California, which is right next to Anaheim in Orange County, so just outside of Los Angeles with her aunt in her aunt's house. She was a 32-year-old single mother of four-year-old Sean Scott, and she was working as a back office secretary

for two jointly-owned stores. Swinger's Psych Shop, which sold psychedelic items like lava lamps, love beads, et cetera. It's like a cool head shop. Yeah, and actually custom John's head shop. So kind of two of the same type of shop, right next to each other owned by the same person person and she was the back secretary for these stores. Yes.

And Dorothy's father, Jacob, previously owned the psych shop. So this is how Dorothy began working there in the first place. It was located in the neighboring city of Anaheim, which is, you know, at this time in 1980, hosted around 220,000 people. For those who don't know that, is where Disneyland is. Yes, there's a little geography for you. Yeah, and this is also where her parents live. Like Daphne mentioned, Anheim is super close by

and just about 20 minutes from her aunt's house. While Dorothy worked, her parents often babies at their grandson, as she worked tirelessly to provide for her son. And that was pretty much Dorothy's life. She didn't like to go out or date, she was kind of a homebody, and according to one of her friends, her life was quote, as dull as a phone book. So it's kind of funny that she worked for this very free-loving, hippy-cultured shop, because she was definitely more of a straight-laced person.

But just based on photos of her, she definitely seemed, you know, hippie-ish in a sense, based on her clothes and her hair, as well as flowers that she would sometimes put in her hair. Yeah, like looking at photos of her, I wouldn't have guessed that she was more of a homebody, a little more strict, didn't really like to go out to restaurants

or out with friends or go on dates, because she doesn't look like that kind of person, if that makes sense. Yeah. So, according to friends, family and colleagues, Dorothy was very religious, a devout Christian, and a compassionate woman who really didn't have any animosity towards anyone, and she preferred to stay indoors and attend church, rather than dabble in outside influences or attend social gatherings. So she did not drink or do drugs at all, meaning she was a pretty low-key person, but a wonderful low-key person. She would occasionally date men, but she mostly focused on her son, Sean.

And her parents noted that she never really had a steady boyfriend that they were aware of, and despite treating other people with generosity and seemingly not giving anyone any reason to dislike her, a man took a fondness for her that altered her life in such a drastic fashion that remains unexplained to this very day. It all began in the early months of 1980 when Dorothy started receiving anonymous phone calls on a regular basis for months at her work and at her home that she shared with her aunt. So off the bat, you got to wonder if this is someone she knew because how else would they know where she worked and What her home number was as well and I know phone books were very much a thing back in these days

But then I'd wonder if Dorothy was listed herself or if it was her aunt who would have been listed Yeah, I mean you would kind of assume that it would probably be her aunt that was listed in the phone books And she's the one who owns the house. Yeah, so that's why I'm thinking too So it's got to be somebody that she knows. That's just, you know, initial thoughts of these phone calls, but they're going on for months. And despite the fact that they're going on for months, she does not know who's on the other line. Yeah, so obviously this is kind of alarming for her.

And the man on the other line would often proclaim his love for her. And other times, he would threaten her with murder. But it was always the same voice. So this guy was really going back and forth, totally giving her whiplash with both extremes. Which is terrifying. How come one day and say, you know, I'm in love with you. And then the next day, it's some horrific message about him wanting to kill her.

Yeah, some threat. Like, what is that? And he openly admitted to her that he was stalking her and substantiated those claims by giving various details regarding what clothing she had on it certain times and her day-to-day activities, so it's clear that this guy is watching her. And watching her in multiple places. And Dorothy's mother Vera later noted that one time, when the man called the house, he told Dorothy to go outside because he had

something for her. So she did, she went outside and there was a single dead rose on the windshield of her car. So this is a very interesting part to me because if he had called her and told her to go outside and check her car, he would likely have either just put the Rose there or done so very recently, which could only really mean that he lived close by or that he used a nearby payphone to make that call to her. Because if he had put the flower there or the Rose there and then 30 minutes later or something, he calls her, she could have gone

out to her car before then. So it just kind of makes you wonder when did he put the Rose there in proximity to when he called her, which is very eerie. I mean, it doesn't 100% mean that he lives in this area. He could have driven to that area very easily if he had known where Dorothy was staying at the time. But I mean, it's a possibility that he was close. I mean, that is a good point because for all we know,

he put that there a while before. But at least this tells us he's in the general area if he put something on her car. Exactly. And also, I mean, superbalzy. It's a superbalzy thing to do right outside of her house where she, her aunt or a neighbor could have spotted him, especially because Stanton is a city surrounded by other cities. So there are people around. Yeah, there's enough people around that they would have just probably seen this guy. So yeah, you're right, very balsy. So there was one phone call in particular that really haunted Dorothy. The man told her that he would get her alone, all to himself, and dismember her into bits

and pieces. She alerted her parents and even mentioned that she recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place who it was. So was it someone she used to know, or someone that she already knew who was putting on a voice? The disturbing phone calls and violent threats continued, so in May of 1980 Dorothy signed up for karate classes and even considered purchasing a firearm, though she didn't end up buying one because she apparently was a bit concerned about having a gun in the house with her young son. Now many of you were probably wondering if Dorothy ever called the police to report any of

this. But all we know is that she at least told her family, so although these days tracing phone calls is much easier, as well as the knowledge of warning police about stalkers, even though in modern cases, there's still sadly, isn't much that police can really do, it's possible that she either didn't know if the calls were pranks or just didn't know

how much could be done about the situation. Right, because you're correct, it is very sad, but in stalking cases even today, if something isn't actually done, if the person on the other line hasn't actually done anything to even if they threaten you, there's nothing, the police can't really arrest somebody. They can in some situations, for sure,

depending on what the person is doing or saying, but especially back in 1980, the police probably would not have done much about this. Yeah, and sadly, I remember reading about this because we did a case on stalkers for the dark parts, which is our sister show. And we had talked about the fact that stalking wasn't illegal until like the 90s. Yeah, right, which is another thing. So as much as, you know, we can say, oh, why didn't she call the police, there's probably a good reason for it. Yeah, absolutely. But, you know, she was smart

in that she was starting to take some self-defense classes. Absolutely. And I think that this does prove that she was scared. So she was taking this somewhat seriously. She's going to sign up for self-defense classes to kind of help her if this person is serious. Definitely. One week after receiving that terrifying phone call that Heath just explained for us on Wednesday, May 28, 1980, Dorothy, though feeling relatively safer after beginning her karate classes, but remember she had just started them, so you don't learn to hold too much. She still felt very unnerved as she headed to work around 9pm to attend an employee meeting after dropping her son at her parents' house.

During the conference, she noticed her coworker, Conrad Bostrin, was looking pretty ill and even had a concerning red rash on his forearm. And being the kind and considerate person Dorothy was, she offered to take him to the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, California, in her car with another colleague, Pam Head. And if you're not familiar with the area, Anaheim, Orange

and Santa Ana, which we will bring up shortly, are all next to each other. And their work was just 10 minutes away from the hospital for reference as well. So, before heading to the hospital, since her parents live very close by, Dorothy wanted to head over to her parents' house to check in on her son and let her parents know what she was doing where she was going. It's noted in many articles that she changed her black scarf to a red one.

I'm sorry for all my comments here because I feel like I'm kind of looking into everything, but this case fascinates me. So I had in my previous notes for this case, and although this may not be relevant, it is a bit interesting. So this area gets very hot, because it's freaking Southern California in May, but her mom actually suggested that she change into a thicker scarf, hence why she put on the black one. So it wasn't a fashion scarf, but I've always found this a bit interesting, though I may be overthinking it,

and she simply changed an article of clothing, and there's nothing to it, but I don't know. Do you think that's weird at all? Yeah, it's a little bit bizarre. Just given, you know, like, you and I know, Southern California is very hot. Yeah. So yeah, we're on a scarf in May.

I just, yeah, I just kind of wonder about that. And I know it was nighttime, so maybe it was a little brisk, but anyway. Yeah, just interesting little detail. Yeah. So after changing scarves and updating her parents, Dorothy, Pam and Conrad headed to the hospital and went straight to the emergency room. Medical personnel determined that Conrad had suffered a black widow's spider bite, and they treated him for it while Dorothy and Pam remained in the waiting room for him to

be discharged. So Pam notes that Dorothy was never out of her sight, that the two remained in the waiting room until Conrad came out just reading magazines. At approximately 11 p.m., Conrad was released from the hospital with his prescription, and he was completely confused about how and when he would have been bitten by the spider. Prior to leaving the hospital, Dorothy went to the restroom while Pam waited with Conrad.

The only time the two women were separated. Shortly after, Dorothy insisted that they go to the pharmacy store with Conrad, the only time the two women were separated. Shortly after Dorothy insisted that they go to the pharmacy store that was mere feet away to get his prescription filled, while she retrieved her car, a white 1973 Toyota station wagon from the parking lot to pick them up out front because she didn't want Conrad walking in his condition because he was very ill

and still feeling very weak. Yeah, and for those of you who know anything about spider bites, they can be very, very serious depending on which type of spider bites you. Oh, absolutely. And there is a lot of speculation around this decision for Dorothy to go retrieve the car by herself. Because as we know, Dorothy had just received a terrifying phone call one week earlier,

where a man basically told her that he wanted to brutally murder her. Yet Dorothy had gone out by herself in a dim, large parking lot at 11 o'clock at night. So later, many speculated if she had possibly taken a phone call while she went to the restroom and was maybe going to meet somebody outside, but it's not clear if she did. Though I will say that Pam really didn't believe she took a call. So it's also possible that she thought, I'm at a hospital, I'm safe here, I'm just going to go grab the car, I'll be fine. Yeah, exactly.

There's lots of people around. You know, I mean, this- That's the place you're supposed to feel safe. Right, it I'll be fine. Yeah, exactly. There's lots of people around. I mean, this place are supposed to feel safe. Right, it's a fucking hospital. So yeah, absolutely. I don't think she would have had any sort of fear, just in especially knowing that, you know, Pam is there, Conrad's there. There's people she knows.

People right inside who can help me, you know? So I think that was probably more likely the situation. Right, so the pharmacy only took Pam and Conrad about five minutes, and then they assumed that Dorothy would be waiting directly outside for them. But she wasn't there when they got out of the hospital. They proceeded to walk to where Dorothy had originally parked her vehicle, and suddenly they were confronted by her car driving way too fast in their direction with the headlights on full beam, partially blinding them as they waved their arms in the air to get her attention, assuming Dorothy was behind the wheel. Right, but since the beams were right in their face, they could not see who was behind the wheel of the car.

Exactly, but crazy enough, the driver of the vehicle, so whether it was Dorothy or somebody else, never stopped, as the vehicle swirled past them erratically and made a sharp right turn out of the parking lot. Pam and Conrad briefly ran after her car, but after it turned, they stopped instead. They're absolutely dumbfounded. They're like, why the fuck did she just leave us here? They originally assumed that an emergency came up regarding Dorothy's four-year-old son, or maybe she had an important obligation that she had completely forgotten about. So they decided to remain at the hospital for two whole hours believing that she would return, but Dorothy never did.

Finally, Pam decided to call Dorothy's parents and ask if they had any contact with their daughter, but they hadn't. That's when they promptly notified the police and reported Dorothy missing. Because at this point, they felt like something terrible had happened. The whole situation just felt very off. Around 4.30am on May 29, 1980, so the following morning, Dorothy's station wagon was discovered engulfed in flames in a back alleyway 10 miles away from the hospital in the city of Santa Ana, but Dorothy was nowhere in sight. And it wasn't initially known that

this was Dorothy's car, but over the next few days, search parties gathered to see if they could find any clues nearby or any sign of Dorothy. But there was nothing. Of course, we can assume that her car was burned to destroy any evidence, though the technology at the time wasn't very advanced anyway. But that was actually the year that the first computer database of fingerprints was developed. And that was actually the year that the first computer database of fingerprints was developed. And this just brings us back to the night before at the hospital. What had happened to Dorothy in the mere five minutes that she was alone

while she walked to get her car? Was someone waiting for her out there and did they drive her car out with her in the back seat or in the trunk. Something that was also reported early on in this case was that the car was followed by another car. Now, it's unknown if that was on purpose or this car just happened to be going in the same direction, but what's really strange is that the attacker would have had to have driven a car to get there in the first place, right? Unless he took a cab. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing because, you know, maybe was there two people

involved in the other person had driven the other guy's car out of the area when the other guy left to endorse these car, you know, so definitely very suspicious. And it just makes you think how this person got there because to me, and as we'll get into like, this is not Dorothy driving her car. Yeah, you would definitely think that she would never leave her, her co-workers there at the hospital. The only way that I would think it was her driving her car

is if she had seen the man she was confronted and then she sped away and the car behind her is actually her stalker following her. And then something happened somewhere else later. You know what I mean? Absolutely. So that's definitely a possibility. Also there's a lot of speculation that she was probably attacked that night because

the stalker went into a rage after finding out that she was nurturing another man because remember, he was seemingly constantly watching her. Vera and Scott, Dorothy's parents, feared the worst, especially since they had known about the harrowing phone calls. While investigators worked on finding any trace of Dorothy, they warned her parents to keep quiet for the time being and not speak to the media or the newspapers at all. But things only got more horrifying when Vera received a phone call from a man saying he had her daughter. When Vera picked up her phone, a male asked, are you related to Dorothy Scott? Vera replied, yes, to which the caller stated, I've got her, before hanging

up the phone. Then I can't even imagine what Dorothy's parents are thinking. What, she's like, do you really have her? Yeah, the fact that their daughter is missing and then they're getting these taunting phone calls is just so creepy and sad. Because we know that Dorothy had a stalker, of course, and they would call her and say horrifying things. So automatically you're gonna think this has to be the guy calling her parents to freak her out. Yeah. But there's also the people out there who are total assholes who like to get involved in

investigations and taunt the family and make shit up. Yeah, just for like their own sick pleasure. Right, but it doesn't seem that this case was highly publicized. You know, the parents have not yet spoken to the media or the newspapers. So it kind of makes you wonder, is this really the guy? But luckily, the police were immediately called regarding this disturbing phone call.

But still, they told the Scott family not to release any details about their daughter's disappearance or this phone call, but still, they told the Scott family not to release any details about their daughter's disappearance or this phone call to the media in order to have an upper hand with, you know, pivotal information and to steer clear of false confessions. So after a week had gone by without any new information or results, Jacob and Vera decided to report the story to the local newspaper, the Santa Ana Register, and offered $2,500 to anyone who would provide information leading to Dorothy's whereabouts, dead or alive.

With Dorothy's disappearance now in the eyes of the public, Pat Riley, the editorial manager for the Santa Ana Register, received a nameless phone call on June 12, 1980. The caller said to him, quote, I killed her. I killed Dorothy Scott. She was my love. I caught her cheating with another man. She denied having someone else. I killed her.

So either this is a delirious man who has never been involved with Dorothy at all, or it's someone she previously dated or someone she was dating that no one knew about, and I don't know why no one, even her parents or aunt, wouldn't know if she was dating someone or why she would keep it a secret, especially after receiving threatening phone calls, but knowing what happened at the hospital, it really does seem like it was someone who was completely stalking Dorothy, and they saw her with Conrad and freaked out, which is sad because she was just being a helpful coworker. I don't really believe that this was someone she was secretly seeing.

Yeah, I don't think so either. And I think you're right. I mean, this person is definitely unhinged if they're going to call her and threaten her, you know, with death threats and then be like, I love you so much. So yeah, I would assume if they saw her with Conrad, that they were like, what the fuck is going on? Right, and knowing that Vera had received this phone call at home from a guy saying that he had Dorothy,

since that did come out before this story was really publicized, I personally believe that that was her stalker. And I also kind of think that the call that came into the Santa Ana register was as well, because people can fake this stuff, but we know this guy is calling her. We know he called her mom. So to say I killed her, she was my love.

I caught her cheating with another man. She denied having someone else I killed her. That seems like something her stalker would say. And it's just so sad because if this was at, you know, if these crimes had been taken at, had been done at a later date, we would have caller ID so we could determine who this person was, but because it's 1980, they just don't really have anything. Right. So, and we'll get into that later too, as we discuss more calls that come in.

It's just a very, very frustrating thing that this guy is calling in. Numerous calls were made, and nobody can fricking track this guy. The caller then went on to relay intimate details specifically about the night of her vanishing that wasn't released publicly. Acknowledging Conred's Spider-Bite and the fact that Dorothy had changed from a red scarf to a black scarf after the work meeting, which is a very creepy thing to relay, and that would lead us to believe that this person followed her that entire evening and noticed that scarf change.

And that's why I say, too, this has to be the guy. Right. And because it really, just from previous calls as well it seems like this guy was somehow devoted his whole life to just following her around. Yep. Like to even mention the scarf so creepy. Yeah, and he even mentioned that Dorothy had called him from the hospital hours before she disappeared.

Now Pam said that she was by Dorothy's side that entire time, other than when Dorothy went to the restroom towards the end of their time at the hospital, and then when she went to her vehicle. Right, so this gives us a lot of questions too, is that part of lie? Or did she really know this guy? Maybe she knew him, she didn't know he was the stalker. There's so many possibilities here. Yeah. So after the horrific phone call that Dorothy's mother received one week after her daughter disappeared

She would go on to get anonymous phone calls by the same man every single Wednesday As weeks turned into months and months into years Dorothy would remain unfound and the harassing phone calls never stopped. That is just, it's the most terrifying, yeah, it's the most terrifying and interesting thing to me in this entire case is that even after Dorothy's gone and she's missing, this guy is still calling the family.

And that's why too, sorry Sorry, I keep saying this. Why I think this is her stalker, but Dorothy was receiving consistent phone calls and now her mom is. And on some days, the caller would ask Vera if she was related to Dorothy. And when she replied, yes, he would say, I've got her and hang up. So these were also very repetitive phone calls of this guy just saying the same goddamn thing. Yeah Other days he would profess that he killed Dorothy The phone calls lasted four years every Wednesday for four years and that's like hundreds of calls Yeah

And despite the police installing a voice recorder in Vera's home hoping to trace the calls, they were unable to pinpoint a location since the conversations were very brief. It just brings me back to black Christmas. Oh, 100% this guy would hop on the phone. Be very, very quick. Make his little crazy remarks and then he would jump off.

Well, because he would just say things or you're related to Dorothy, yes, I've got her hang up. Like that's five seconds worth of conversation. Exactly. So he was very smart in that way, knowing that he can call every Wednesday and taunt this poor woman, saying horrible things about her daughter,

and then just hang up and he knows he's not going to be found. I just can't even imagine what Vera and Dorothy's father had to go through. Like, it's just- And having that fear, sorry, having that fear and sitting there, the phone rings on a Wednesday and you know you've been receiving these calls for so long,

you know it's this guy. Yeah, and I feel like at some point, Vera probably just started to expect them. Like she's just like, it's fucking Wednesday again, you know? Yeah, like poor woman. Yeah. So in August of 1984, four years after Dorothy disappeared a construction worker discovered dog remains by Santa Ana Canyon Road approximately 13 miles away or 20 kilometers from the UC Irvine Medical Hospital where Dorothy was last seen.

Vine Medical Hospital where Dorothy was last seen. When he continued digging, he unearthed another set of remains that sadly belonged to Dorothy Jean Scott. And next to her were Turquoise Ring and a wristwatch that had stopped at 12.30 a.m. on May 29, 1980, just over an hour after her disappearance. And with this, I wonder, did she have a watch? Because that's the exact detail that I was able to find in multiple articles that said it stopped on that day.

So does that mean she had a watch that had the date on it? Is that a thing? Yeah, I guess so, yeah, maybe. So that's just what I found. So anyway, that's very, very eerie too that it stopped at that time was at on purpose. Yeah, I was almost thinking that might be a breadcrumb or like a glue that the killer left behind. This guy's so, so messed up. So her bones were partly charred and

authorities believe that they had been there for at least two years, since a bushfire had swept the area in 1982. So this would lead to the charring of her remains, which would lead them to believe, of course, that they would have been there. Before 1982, and obviously we believe they were there as of 1980 when she disappeared. Yes. And on top she was conducted, but the medical examiner

was unable to provide a cause of death due to the state of the remains, though foul play is undoubtedly involved. It was stated that the bones were Dorothy's skull, two thighs, a pelvis, and an arm, and those are all the remains that they found, and it's still unknown where the rest of her is. The bones apparently were also under the bones of a dog, like I had said, which could just be by happenstance, but we're not sure. And after the body was confirmed to be Dorothy's comparing dental records, a memorial service was held in her honor on August 22, 1984. And can I just point out that the calls stopped coming into Vera after four years.

So right around the time that Dorothy's remains were found? So is it possible that the killer is thinking, hey, they're getting a little too close to me right now because they found her remains. Technology is getting better. As the years go on, I better stop making these phone calls because it's just getting too hot. And actually, after the years go on, I better stop making these phone calls because it's just getting too hot. And actually, after the local newspapers announced that the remains had been identified as Dorothy's,

the phone rang again at the Scott home. When Vera answered it, a now familiar voice asked her, is Dorothy home? The caller called twice and the calls finally ended for good. Just so crazy, like they ended after her remains were found, what does that mean? It's just... I don't know, it's such a mystery to me. So on April 23rd, 1994, what would have been Dorothy's 46th birthday, her father Jacob passed away at the age of 69. Eight years later in 2002, her mother would also depart. They never received any answers as to who, why, and how their daughter died.

Dorothy's son, Sean, has gone on to live a meaningful life, but still pursues justice for his mother. It's now been over 40 long years, and Dorothy Jane's scots' abduction and murder remains unsolved. Now, let's discuss potential suspects in Dorothy's case because throughout this episode, there has been no inkling as to who this collar could possibly be. Dorothy's son, Sean's father, was investigated and questioned. However, he had an airtight alibi and had been in his hometown in Missouri at the time, so he was ruled out immediately. And as we know, he didn't play a role in Sean's life, so there doesn't seem to be much of a motive anyway. Although Dorothy's place of work, Swinger's psych shop, was previously owned by her father, Jacob,

but it was eventually sold to John Cousilla, who already owned John's head shop, hence why it's called John's custom head shop. Yes. So while Jacob, Dorothy's father was no longer actively involved in the business, John kept him around as a handyman to take care of any repairs needed around the stores. Something that's interesting about that last call to Vera after Dorothy's remains were found, so the man switched it up a bit and called at night this time. Well, Jacob answered the last call and the caller before saying anything hung up and never called again.

So people think that it may have been John and he was, you know, John Cosella, the one who owned the shops, and he was worried that Jacob would recognize his voice since they did business together. Now this is pure speculation, but definitely an interesting take, especially since we know that Dorothy recognized the voice but couldn't place it. And this would also explain how the stalker knew where Dorothy worked and lived. And speaking of John Cosella,

he was arrested in June of 1992 for cash structuring. And for those who don't know, cash structuring is like money laundering. So you're hiding large amounts of cash to evade taxes. So it's not like he was charged with stocking or murder or anything in the realm of a crime like that, but it's still a crime. But shortly after his arrest, he was released on a $100,000 bail. So John is a potential person of interest, but there's really no evidence to link him to any crimes pertaining to Dorothy Jane Scott.

Yeah, I think it's an interesting angle, especially with Jacob having picked up the phone and the guy suddenly stopped talking. So we can go on, go ahead and assume that Vera didn't know him very well or wouldn't know his voice right off the bat. But I also think that if Dorothy recognized the voice but couldn't place it, it probably wasn't John because we can assume that she saw John Herboss on a fairly regular basis, so I don't know how much weight I put on this one. Yeah, so the next suspect or potential suspect is this man named Mike Butler.

So according to an article with details given by Dorothy's son, a man named Mike Butler was an unstable individual who lived in the Santiago mountains right there in Orange County, California, and was involved in cult activity, though this is unconfirmed. He knew Dorothy through his sister, who worked at the psych shop, and according to those close to Dorothy, he was obsessed with her. He grew up in the area and attended Fullerton Union High School and then went on to major in English at California State University. When he became an adult, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but once he was released, he

moved back to Orange County. And he was later employed as a machine shop maintenance employee and later went on to become an electrician next door to the psych shop and the head shop. So he was right there. Unfortunately, there is hardly any evidence to consider him a real suspect, but it would make sense that he would be one because he knew where Dorothy worked. He apparently had a deep interest in her and would then also know that she took Conrad to the hospital, you know, assuming next door. Yeah. Yeah.

If he was there, I know this meeting was at 9 p.m. So maybe he wasn't, but what I would like to know if he had an alibi or if he was at work and he could have seen Dorothy leaving with Conrad and Pam and then followed them. And also something I saw online that I thought was interesting. If he was involved in cult activity, was the dog found on Dorothy's remains connected? You know, I mean, I don't really know what that would mean, but-

I don't know what it means either. I'm not in a cult, so I don't know. But someone had mentioned that, I'm like, yeah, that kind of could be a thing. I don't know. But I'm gonna mention that. I'm like, yeah, that kind of could be a thing. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I could definitely see where you're coming from with that. It's just kind of weird that there was a dog on top of her.

I don't know, it's bizarre. So Mike passed away in 2014 due to health complications, and although he was and is on police's radar as a potential suspect, there just isn't any evidence and now that he has passed Especially with her car having been burned her remains being unable to actually figure out her cause of death or take any evidence off them because they had been there for four years What can you really do? How can you really point anybody to this crime? Especially if they're dead? Yeah, that's it's a really tough thing, you know, cases like this are really hard because it's just before we had really any technology.

Right. And Dorothy's son has apparently tried to get into contact with Mike's sister, the one who worked with Dorothy, to see if she has any information or knows if her brother was involved, but he has never been able to contact her. And although we don't know her first name, we know her last name is likely, but he has never been able to contact her. And although we don't know her first name, we know her last name is likely butler, but she's apparently a well-known singer in the area. So he has been trying to get in contact with her and see if she knows anything. And sadly, she has just not been responsive.

Yeah. So this is a really interesting angle. I wonder where that could potentially go. So hopefully they do investigate that but There's also been a lot of speculation that Dorothy's disappearance is connected to another disappearance of a young woman that took place in the area Just a couple years later. Her name was Patricia Jean Schneider and she was 25 years old On July 31, 1982, two years after Dorothy's disappearance, Patricia had just finished her shift as a cocktail waitress in Indian Hills, California, and stopped into a circle K and a peddly, California, at around 3.45 am. And by the way, Padley is around Pomona and it's about 20 miles or 32 kilometers from Anaheim. Patricia started to have car trouble, which is why she stopped the convenience store, where a clerk noticed that there were two men in the parking lot. Cut to the next morning,

her car was found burning in a field near an intersection with no sign of Patricia. If it were, in fact, two men, I don't really buy this connection. I would assume that a stalker is usually one person, especially in Dorothy's case when it seemed like it was the same guy every time. You know, they probably would have been working alone. And that really seems like the case in Dorothy's murder. Also burning evidence is extremely common, so it's horribly tragic that this happened to Patricia, and I really

hope her case gets solved as well, because especially if this guy saw two men in the parking lot, that's awfully suspicious. Yeah. So, the fire to the vehicles is pretty much where the similarities end. It was never reported that Patricia received harassing phone calls. So there's no connection there either. And also, if Dorothy's stalker had moved on to someone else, but sadly to this day, no new evidence has been uncovered

and Dorothy's case has very much gone cold. But her son is still out there looking for answers. [♪ music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in on Friday will have an all new case for you guys to dive into. So we're not going in order here as far as covering the cases because I don't wanna do one, you know, every, I don't wanna do them all in a row. Right, we don't wanna do the seven all in a row. Just in case other people have heard them. Yeah, that's really the only reason because for anybody who has been a going West fan

for a listener for a long time and you did hear those cases, maybe you're like, I don't wanna hear that again, I already know that case. So that's why we're not doing them in order one after the other, but just know that we are going to sprinkle them in here and there. And let us know what you guys think about that. If you dig that, because we've just gotten so many comments

from people asking for those episodes to be redone. And I would love to do that too, because it's been a while since we've covered them, so we'd love to. And also since you can't listen to them, we wanna help bring these back into the light. Absolutely, so thank you guys so much for listening to this episode.

And remember, we're gonna be at CrimeCon. So if you guys wanna come see us hang out, get a photo with us, do some high fives and hugs. We're gonna be there from April 29th through May 1st, and you can use our code going west to get 10% off your standard badge. Not only does it help out you, but it also helps out us.

Yeah, it is gonna be so fun, Heath and I have never been to CrimeCon, but it's basically gonna be like summer camp, but for true crime and in a hotel. Yeah. So it seems awesome. So we're really excited. A bunch of you guys have already commented that you're coming out and you're excited to come

and hang out with Heath and I and we can't wait to meet you guys. Because over the years, you guys will send us messages. You'll comment, but that's where it stops. We've been approached in public sometimes, but other than that, it feels, it's gonna feel very surreal to actually see you guys in person and know that you're real people.

It's gonna be a great moment. Honestly, I can't wait to meet you guys. We're very excited, so please make sure you use our code going west for 10% off your standard badge. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. you