1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: It's been called the oldest missing person case in New 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: York City. Twenty five year old heiress Dorothy Arnold was 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: a bright, warm, well educated, pretty young socialite who from 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: the outside seemed to have the perfect life. So why, 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: on a cold Monday morning in December of nineteen ten 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: did she suddenly just evaporate into thin air? I'm Patty Steele. 7 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: Did Dorothy just want a different life or did her 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: older lover have something to do with her disappearance? That's 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 1: next on the backstory. The backstory is back. The sensational 10 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: disappearance of Dorothy Arnold in nineteen ten was the talk 11 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: of the town. Every sort of crummy journalist wanted to 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: find her, or, at the very least, uncover another salacious 13 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: story about her. But we have to start at the beginning. 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold was born into a wealthy family 15 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty five and raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side. 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: She graduated from a finishing school and then Brynmore College. Afterwards, 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: she came home hoping to start a career as a writer, 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: but it wasn't going so well. Dorothy had written several stories, 19 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 1: and she sent them to the Big News and literary 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: magazine of the day called McClure's. They were rejected. Her 21 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: family and friends were amused by her ambition to be 22 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: a writer, since young women in her position weren't really 23 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: encouraged to think about work, they didn't take her seriously, 24 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,119 Speaker 1: which of course upset her. She finally asks her dad 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: if she can get an apartment in Greenwich Village so 26 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: she'd have a place to write. But her parents simply 27 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: want her to find a guy in their social circle 28 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: and settle down to have kids and the life of 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: an Upper east Side socialite. So dad says no way 30 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: to the apartment, telling Dorothy a good writer can write anywhere. 31 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: She keeps trying to make a go of her writing, 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: but without any success. Now it's December to Wealth nineteen ten, 33 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: a frigid Monday morning. Dorothy is dressed in a slim 34 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: fitting dark blue coat and a black velvet hat. She 35 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: tells her mother she's going shopping for a gown for 36 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: her little sister's upcoming debutante ball. Now here's the first clue. 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: She told a friend she was going shopping with her mother, 38 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: but she told her mother that she didn't need to 39 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: come with her. She'd rather shop alone. She didn't bring 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: anything with her that would raise suspicion. No passport, no 41 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: jewelry or extra clothing, just thirty dollars in cash, which 42 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: is the equivalent of about one thousand dollars today. She 43 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: does go shopping at several stores. She looks at dresses, 44 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: but she doesn't buy one. She buys a book of 45 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: short funny stories and jokes at a bookshop, and then 46 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: a half pound box of chocolates at a candy shop. 47 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: She puts both items on her father's accounts. Now, it's 48 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: right around two o'clock in the afternoon by this time, 49 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: and Dorothy meets a pal at the corner of twenty 50 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: seventh Street and Fifth Avenue. The two have a fun 51 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: chat about upcoming social events, and she tells her friend 52 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: that she's going to take a walk through Central Park. 53 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: As she heads home to East seventy ninth Street, she 54 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: waves goodbye, and that's it. Dorothy Arnold disappears forever. Now 55 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: what happens that evening? She's a no show for dinner. 56 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: Her family starts to worry when she doesn't come home. 57 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: By late evening. The family starts calling around to friends. 58 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: No luck when she's still not home in the morning. 59 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: They get serious, but they don't call the police. Her 60 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: father hires a lawyer and a team of private investigators 61 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: from the Pinkerton Agency. They actually don't get the police 62 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: involved for six full weeks. Now that sounds kind of 63 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: suspicious to us, but keep in mind it was a 64 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: different time. But we take for granted that the first 65 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: thing you would do would be to call the cops. 66 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: But there was an attitude among elite types in those 67 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: days that the police were used for criminals and drunk, 68 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: not for fancy young heiresses that may have decided to 69 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: drop out of society for a little while. The folks 70 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: in the social register were exceptionally private, and once the 71 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: police were involved, the muckraking press would start digging in, 72 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: which would be socially devastating. Now, the problem is, the 73 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: family's team of Pinkerton detectives got absolutely nowhere after six 74 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: long weeks. So finally mister Arnold holds his nose and 75 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: he calls the NYPD. There's a press conference on January 76 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, nineteen eleven. Her dad describes Dorothy as being 77 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: five foot four, one hundred forty pounds, pretty and stylish. 78 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: He says she was wearing an ankle length navy dress 79 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: and coat and a velvet hat, her hair in a 80 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: full pompadour. Mister Arnold then offers a reward of one 81 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: thousand dollars that's almost thirty five thousand dollars today for 82 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: any info on her whereabouts. That's when the press swoops 83 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: in the next day, Dorothy's disappearance is on the front 84 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: page of every newspaper, along with her photo. Everybody is speculating. 85 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: The New York Times says her father is prostrated with 86 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: grief and worry, and her mother on the verge of 87 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: nervous collapse. The police don't suspect suicide or anything criminal. 88 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: They think she's run away with a lover, pointing out 89 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,919 Speaker 1: that there's no trace of insanity in the family and 90 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: the young woman has never shown signs of a troubled mind, 91 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: although she's been devoted to books and speak several languages. Wow, 92 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: that's horrifying, right, The paper goes on to say. It's 93 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: troubling because miss Arnold was not of a secretive nature. 94 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: Although she'd been admired by many young men. A family 95 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: representative said she'd never been engaged as far as they 96 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: knew anyway. It's not an easy case. By now again, 97 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: it's been six weeks, and only then do the police 98 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: get involved. Keep in mind this is at a time 99 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: when it's incredibly easy to disappear. You just change your name, 100 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: your clothes, in your hair style, and voila. You can 101 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: fade into oblivion. But the press keeps digging. A bombshell 102 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: arrives on February fifteenth via The Daily News. The paper 103 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: says that the previous September, three months before she went missing, 104 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: Dorothy had pawned some of her jewelry to pay for 105 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: a week long rendezvous at a glamorous hotel in Boston. 106 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: She had told her family she was visiting a girlfriend 107 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: in Cambridge, but truth was Dorothy was meeting up with 108 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: George Griscom, a forty year old unemployed bachelor from Pittsburgh. 109 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: She'd apparently hooked up with him while at Bryne Moore, 110 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: and after three years, was still secretly seeing him. Griscom 111 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: wasn't much of a catch. He'd been engaged to another 112 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: very young heiress who canceled their wedding the night before. 113 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: Friends said he'd proposed to Dorothy as well, but her 114 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: dad had put his foot down about that. When that 115 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: story came out, the Arnolds denied every bit of it, 116 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: but then came word that Dorothy's mother and older brother 117 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: John had actually sailed to Europe weeks earlier to find 118 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: Griscom and confront him. The paper's headline read Griscom licked 119 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: by young Arnold in foreign hotel. For his part, Griscom 120 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: said he knew nothing about Dorothy's disappearance and that he 121 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: loved her and would marry her as soon as she 122 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: turned up. Police were apparently comfortable with that. The more 123 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: they dug into her past, the more complicated her life looked. 124 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: She was supposed to marry Well, have a vibrant social 125 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: and charitable life, and raise beautiful children who would also 126 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: marry well, and so on. That's the way it was done. 127 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: But that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted the bohemian 128 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: life in Greenwich Village. She wanted to write, to travel, 129 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: to take an older lover if she felt like it. 130 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: There was a sort of heartbreaking letter to Griscom at 131 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: one point, that's the boyfriend that shows her sadness, She wrote, 132 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: McClure's has turned down my writing again. Failure stares me 133 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: in the face. All I see ahead is a long 134 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: road with no turning, and this part is chilling. She 135 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: goes on to say, at least mother will always think 136 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: an accident has happened. Her mother, by the way, spent 137 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: the rest of her life believing Dorothy would eventually come home. 138 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: There were other theories about what might have happened to her. 139 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: Some thought she'd gone to a place in Pittsburgh, euphemistically 140 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: referred to as a maternity hospital, the House of Mystery 141 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: it was called, which was raided by cops. Turns out 142 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: it was an illegal abortion clinic where a number of 143 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: young women had died and been cremated in the basement. 144 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: Dorothy's dad called that theory ridiculous, and there were other stories. 145 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 1: There was talk she'd gotten pregnant and her parents had 146 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: sent her to Switzerland so that there wouldn't be any scandal. 147 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: In nineteen fourteen, an LA woman named Ellen Nevin said 148 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: she was Dorothy, and she told the press, if you 149 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,079 Speaker 1: don't believe I'm Dorothy Arnold, ask my sister Marjorie. She'll 150 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: know why my father doesn't answer my letters. By that time, 151 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: Marjorie had gotten married, moved to Europe and actually didn't 152 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 1: communicate with her family either. There were even tons of 153 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: postcards allegedly from Dorothy, including one in Dorothy's handwriting that 154 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: simply said I am safe. So the months, years and 155 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: decades went on and no trace of Dorothy Arnold ever 156 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: showed up where it is Her father spent a million 157 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: dollars searching for her, although publicly he claimed until his 158 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: death in nineteen twenty two that he believed she'd been 159 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: kidnapped and murdered. The police maintained she'd probably run away 160 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: to start a new life with a new name and 161 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: a new hairdoo. A lot of us probably wish it 162 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: was still that easy. Hope you like the Backstory with 163 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Please leave a review. I would love it 164 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new 165 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if 166 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 167 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 168 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:08,119 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 169 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 170 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 171 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 172 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 173 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: at real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 174 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the 175 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.