NY DOROTHY ARNOLD: Missing from New York, NY - 12 December 1910 - Age 25

Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

On December 12, 1910, Arnold left to go shopping for a dress and was seen by a cashier as well as a friend on Fifth Avenue. She told the friend that she had planned to walk through Central Park before returning home. That evening, when Arnold failed to return home for dinner, her family grew suspicious.

Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold | Historic Mysteries

On 12 December 1910, heiress and socialite Dorothy Arnold vanished from the streets of New York City, never to be seen or heard from again.

www.historicmysteries.com

Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold – The Charley Project

edited by staff to media link

DOROTHY ARNOLD: Missing from New York, NY - 12 December 1910 - Age 25

On December 12, 1910, Arnold left to go shopping for a dress and was seen by as a friend on Fifth Avenue. She told the friend that she had planned to walk through Central Park before returning home. That evening, when Arnold failed to return home...

www.crimewatchers.net

*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.

 

[Sunburst]

I've been intrigued by Dorothy's case for years. What do others think happened to her?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Best theories about the NYC socialite who vanished in 1910

Dorothy Arnold was 25 when she disappeared from her Upper East Side mansion with today's equivalent of $1,000 on an icy Monday morning in December 1910.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The girl who never came back: New York socialite who vanished in 1910 is America's oldest missing persons case - here are the top theories about her disappearance​

Dorothy Arnold was 25 when she disappeared from her Upper East Side mansion with today's equivalent of $1,000 on an icy Monday morning in December 1910.

The eldest daughter of perfume importer Francis R Arnold left her jewelry and passport at home and strolled towards Central Park, never to be seen again, according to The Charley Project which tracks missing persons cases.

Her disappearance has stumped detectives for more than 100 years, making her case the oldest recorded missing persons case in American history and what the Times has called 'one of New York's greatest mysteries'.

'A hundred years later, I don't expect any kind of resolution,' Jane Vollmer, Dorothy's great-niece told the National Geographic last month.


Full name Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold, the socialite's last words to her mother were 'I'll telephone you' as she stepped out of their Manhattan mansion on East 79th Street.

Arnold gave different accounts of her plans for the day to different people - telling one friend she was shopping with her mother, and her mother that she wanted to go by herself.

She set off toward Fifth Avenue and stopped at the Park and Tilford's candy store where she paid for some chocolates using her father's credit card at 1.45pm. The clerk told investigators at the time that she had appeared to be in high spirits.

Arnold went on to purchase a book at Brentano's on 27th and Fifth, before bumping into a friend who she chatted with for a few minutes, telling them she was headed for Central Park.

Her mother waited to meet her for lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel that day, but she never turned up.

When she didn't return home that night, the family grew concerned. Fearing bad publicity from contacting the police, they hired a private investigator.

Nonetheless, the case later prompted a flurry of media attention across America and Europe, along with a mammoth search mission involving the NYPD, private detectives and even the Pinkerton Agency.

But no conclusive evidence ever emerged. Theories abound, ranging from abduction to voluntary disappearance, yet none provide a definitive answer to the question that has haunted generations.

One prevailing theory suggests that Dorothy may have met with foul play. As a young woman of privilege, she undoubtedly attracted attention from admirers, some of whom may have harbored less than honorable intentions.

Investigators did uncover one piece of information - that Arnold had been secretly dating George C Griscom Jr., a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania engineer in his forties at the time of her disappearance.

He too heralded from a wealthy family. Police found that Arnold had spent a week with him several months prior to her disappearance. At the time, she told her family she was staying with college friends.

On the way home from her secret visit, she also pawned $500 worth of jewelry for $60.

Griscom is not a suspect because he was in Florence, Italy, in December 1910.

He also joined the search party for her in Manhattan and said that he would propose to her once she was found.

Another theory authorities looked into was that Arnold had faked her disappearance, but this was largely discredited over time.

'Some people believed that Arnold took her own life; others theorized she had been pregnant and died in a botched abortion,' according to The Charley Project.

But area hospitals were checked and Arnold was never found. Though the case has been closed for almost a hundred years, mystery continues to shroud the life of Dorothy Arnold.

 

[Sunburst]

I have long believed that she walked away and started a new life elsewhere. With someone her parents and social circle most likely would not have approved of. Hollywood movies were in their infancy and Hollywood could not hire screenwriters fast enough to meet the demand for new movies. Many of those early screenwriters were women. She wanted to be a writer. The allure was probably irresistible.

The book and chocolate are something that could be purchased for a train trip. She had a wealthy aunt that lived in Canada. She and the aunt were very close.

I found something very interesting in a cemetery thousands of miles from NY on findagrave, but I am still trying to find more info before I post.

By 1922, her father stated she was dead. He didn't leave her anything in his will. The death date I found corresponds to the Spanish flu epidemic raging. Her mother never stopped looking and hoping. This case has long fascinated me. It fascinated my grandfather too. He was intrigued by what he called history's mysteries. He had about 8 different things that he spent hours trying to figure out what happened or where.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I have long believed that she walked away and started a new life elsewhere. With someone her parents and social circle most likely would not have approved of. Hollywood movies were in their infancy and Hollywood could not hire screenwriters fast enough to meet the demand for new movies. Many of those early screenwriters were women. She wanted to be a writer. The allure was probably irrestible.

The book and chocolate are something that could be purchased for a train trip. She had a wealthy aunt that lived in Canada. She and the aunt were very close.

I found something very interesting in a cemetery thousands of miles from NY on findagrave, but I am still trying to find more info before I post.

By 1922, her father stated she was dead. He didn't leave her anything in his will. The death date I found corresponds to the Spanish flu epidemic raging. Her mother never stopped looking and hoping. This case has long fascinated me. It fascinated my grandfather too. He was intrigued by what he called history's mysteries. He had about 8 different things that he spent hours trying to figure out what happened or where.

Interesting.

It's so odd to look at something so old from 1910 of all years. Several things stand out to me on a first read.

She was going to telephone he mother from "whee?". Why would she need to telephone her if they planned to meet for lunch? She used dad's credit card? Now I was born WAY past 1910 and so were my parents but there WERE credit cards then? Maybe in NYC I guess... Charge and credit accounts sure, but a CREDIT card?

The 40 year old man of course would be the first and primary thought imo. She had lied before and told several stories this day supposedly to different people as to where she was going. Of course being a woman with a family of means and going to Central Park even though back then MAYBE safer, she may well have attracted someone just looking to rob, take advantage, etc.

I though, most know me, would go toward the 40 year old man UNLESS he was CLEARLY cleared. How do you even do that in 1910? Seriously? There is no video cams, cell phone data, GPS,

One thing kind of nice about more than century old cases is I don't feel so bad wondering or judging.

She dated and spent a week with a 40 year old man. I kind of doubt they kept separate rooms and just lunched together and played some bridge so I DO think the pregnancy thought is very possible. Birth controlw as basically nonexistent exempt for abstinence, etc.

She had the equivalent of $1,000, how much was it then for a back street abortion? That would seem a lot but it also seems a lot for even a well to do 25 year old to be carrying of money from I'd guess her parents. HOW is it known she had that much on her. This is 1910, what could you possibly shop for and buy that would cost you $1,000. 25 dresses probably wouldn't amount to that and again it said she used dad's credit card that day and so why did she even NEED cash?

For those younger, let me tell you my grandpa was born in 1894 and I couldn't even begin to tell you about that era versus ones a few decades later. Of course like anyone I know some. Sears Roebuck had a card or charge account maybe in the 50s and perhaps even years and years before. I have no idea what NYC would have been like that way but they are the center of US finance, etc. and were likely back then too.

I can also tell you THIS, in 1910, $1,000 would have likely bought a HOUSE. And so her leaving and starting life on her own isn't impossible I guess... I'm not making this up. My folks paid I can't recall it was 4,000 or 6,000 for the one I grew up in which they remodeled over the years and sold for far more decades later and they bought it in the 60s. Of course she was not carrying 1,000 but the equivalant of what it would be today.

If I get a chance I'll look up what $1,000 today would be in 1910. I'm guessing it will be under $100 due to just how much things have inflated. Maybe even less than $50 BUT it would be equivalent value in that day.

I find that very interesting about your grandpa @Sunburst So mysteries and crime runs in your blood I'd guess or you grew up around those interested in such.

I think it's possible she left and started a life and maybe (don't know enough) life at home was too much helicoptering, not enough freedom, etc., that's the best thought, but I know it has happened but I find it really hard in such cases to believe they'd never miss their family nor ever make contact and she was only 25. However, I guess it would depend on who and what your family was or was like and if a man had you convinced well then that's another thought.

Even though she was headed to Fifth Avenue and supposedly lunch with mom at the Waldorf (seems to be a bit of a contradiction there in that wanted to be alone but also was going to telephone, etc.) even today, carrying $1,000 (equivalent then) in your hand bag wouldn't be that usual. I'm not saying NO ONE does but then again why need the credit card, etc...

Where I work I dislike handling a large amount of cash, but we do get some who come and make purchases and pay like $6,000 in cash. I hate it. Or more. And less. And the check writers oh my goodness. Not meaning to knock it but it takes so long. They have to go through the system, be approved and more. This is if cashiering which I don't do all the time but if busy you fill, etc. The other day I had a guy write one out, I had him all checked out and then he said it was his mom's checkbook, she needed to sign and she was in the bathroom. There were how many people in line at all registers.

Please be considerate and ready to check out. Or someone looking through their purse for half an hour for their card or driver's license, etc., etc. I am also going to knock men here in that I cannot TELL you how many times and order is scanned, payment due and the guy realizes he left his wallet in his vehicle. Almost ALWAYS men.

But I'm starting to sidetrack. Sorry.

Again it is 1910 why does she need the equivalent of $1,000 with her? Why would you today? She's got dad's credit card, they sound like a pretty wealthy and known family, etc. and she could have I'd imagine charge purchases and so on. What did a car cost in those years? A train trip? Surely not the equivalent of $1,000 but moving and starting a life maybe...

I don't care what era we talk of but for sure back then a 25 year old and from wealth and a known family would almost be considered a spinster wouldn't she? Old. We know it isn't old but different story then.

NY was a hub of people coming in to the country, news and more.

She could well have also met someone that was an immigrant but who knows...

I don't look at really old cases much but this one is kind of interesting in that again, it's so far back and it shouldn't hurt anyone to talk of the people in it. What year did the Titanic go down, we have to be back to that era somewhat too? The Roaring 20s coming up in a decade and the mob, gangsters and more...

She could have lit off to live a life no doubt but I tend to think that's unlikely unless she was committed to never returning or contacting family and/or she went with a man who never let her and that would mean controlling and abusive in which case she probably didn't live. AND of course she wouldn't be alive now but I mean for her lifetime.

I don't know the case and you do, and your grandpa did. So is there hard proof that she really did go shopping that day, leave home, have that much money on her, etc.? Was shopping, going to Central Park as a plan and meeting her mom for lunch? That again seems to be a bit of a confused story to me. And meant to phone her, etc. or said she would. WHY? Again? And from where? Good Lord in the 60s we had a party line and a rotary phone. I don't know WHAT it was like in 1910. I would be sure NYC would be head of much of the country but still...

I know I'm going on but this kind of grabbed my interest and is a bit fascinating being from a different time. It's sad as heck but is almost like a novel.

So I want to go back to she gave different people different accounts of her plans. Wouldn't it be maybe not the norm in 1910 for a woman even of 25 and single to be out and about alone in NYC and would her parents want her to be? And/or what were the different accounts and why did they okay it (not that she was a minor but still a very different time and age).

The money would lead one to think of robbery as would Central Park (these days) but it would seem to me there was a reason for the differing stories she gave and a reason she had that much money on her. Do you know HOW it was known she had the equivalent of that much with her?

If she saw this man even more than a few times for a length of time and they were sexual, pregnancy is far from out of the question. How was he known of? Did he come forward? I'd love to think she left for some life on her own but find it doubtful. Unless pregnant and so ashamed, etc. and NOT so unheard of them.

Talking myself through it all I guess and it's new to me, I do think I've heard of it before though, my lean would be the way I generally lean. She lied or told different stories as to where she was going, I am guessing she met her man and perhaps was pregnant or demanding he marry her or some such, ,and foul play resulted.

That could be so wrong as clearly the answers have never been found here but it's where I would lean.

And 25 from a well to do family would have been considered almost a spinster and unmarriageable then wouldn't it? I know you probably know history way better than I but that's what I'm thinking. Too many novels when I was younger lol. Wouldn't she have been a debutante when young unless the nouveau rich? Instead of old money. And meant to marry? or am I not back far enough in time?

It's kind of caught my attention. I almost did not even come in it was such an old dated case.

 

[Sunburst]

There was a holiday party that she had been invited to and planned to attend. Maybe it was her sisters debutante ball or something like that- I will have to look it up again..

She needed a new evening dress for the event and was going shopping for the new dress. Her mother had wanted to go also, probably as a second opinion on which dress looked best when Dorothy tried them on and approve of the cost of a dress. (Very pretty, but your father will throw a fit if we spend that much on a dress, dear. You should probably get the other one instead. It looks almost as nice and is cheaper).

But Dorothy apparently told her mother that Dorothy would call home if she found a dress she liked. (doesn't want Mom tagging along? Mom had apparently been ill, concerned about Mom's health on a cold and icy December day?). She didn't call. She didn't show up for dinner that night. Her parents weren't worried, they figured she was just spending the night at one of her girlfriends houses. Dorothy did that often. A few days later, they get worried because no Dorothy yet.

Start making discreet inquiries among Dorothy's friends. No, I haven't seen her or talked to her in a week, Mrs. Arnold.

Uh-oh, whatever will we tell people?? We can't tell then Dorothy is missing. This is embarrassing, especially in our social circle.We are absolutely not informing the police. Imagine the scandal!! Our names might be dropped from the Social Register!! Imagine the gossip, especially among the Vanderbilt women!!

No, I am sorry Sara, Dorothy cannot come to the phone right now. She is sick, in bed and has lost her voice. I will have her call you when she feels better. Goodbye for now.

Six weeks go by. No Dorothy.A private detective is called in, as well as the family lawyer. Dorothy's room is searched.Lawyer discovers a letter written by Dorothy with a tantalizing sentence in the letter. "Mother will always think it was an accident."

 

[GrandmaBear]

There was a holiday party that she had been invited to and planned to attend. Maybe it was her sisters debutante ball or something like that- I will have to look it up again..

She needed a new evening dress for the event and was going shopping for the new dress. Her mother had wanted to go also, probably as a second opinion on which dress looked best when Dorothy tried them on and approve of the cost of a dress. (Very pretty, but your father will throw a fit if we spend that much on a dress, dear. You should probably get the other one instead. It looks almost as nice and is cheaper).

But Dorothy apparently told her mother that Dorothy would call home if she found a dress she liked. (doesn't want Mom tagging along? Mom had apparently been ill, concerned about Mom's health on a cold and icy December day?). She didn't call. She didn't show up for dinner that night. Her parents weren't worried, they figured she was just spending the night at one of her girlfriends houses. Dorothy did that often. A few days later, they get worried because no Dorothy yet.

Start making discreet inquiries among Dorothy's friends. No, I haven't seen her or talked to her in a week, Mrs. Arnold.

Uh-oh, whatever will we tell people?? We can't tell then Dorothy is missing. This is embarrassing, especially in our social circle.We are absolutely not informing the police. Imagine the scandal!! Our names might be dropped from the Social Register!! Imagine the gossip, especially among the Vanderbilt women!!

No, I am sorry Sara, Dorothy cannot come to the phone right now. She is sick, in bed and has lost her voice. I will have her call you when she feels better. Goodbye for now.

Six weeks go by. No Dorothy.A private detective is called in, as well as the family lawyer. Dorothy's room is searched.Lawyer discovers a letter written by Dorothy with a tantalizing sentence in the letter. "Mother will always think it was an accident."

I don't know WHY but this case rings some bell with me. Maybe seen it somewhere before I was here or some such or maybe before the last site crashed. Not to the point I recall all but a lot seems familiar.

So I wasn't off necessarily on a debutante ball?
I'd wonder I guess if she was always staying with gf's as the parents seemed to consider a norm and didn't worry until a few days later. Probably, just guessing, doing what every generation does at that age, maybe staying with friend but maybe using the friends as cover and seeing a man and this is back when, so even more difficult to do. I'm a bit surprised they were that okay with it but then she was 25 and not a minor...

Still it was a different time that makes me think of a female having to be chaperoned but then I probably get that from novels lol.

So she was going to buy the equivalent of $1,000 dress today? That would still seem over the top but we are probably talking people that lived that way...

Very worried about discreetness and I'd say that says something about the family and what the felt their status

They were CLEARLY worried about appearances. It's not funny but because it's so long ago I have to chuckle a bit when you mention the scandal and the Vanderbilts and Social Registry lol. So like a novel.

"Mother will always think it an accident" is interesting and new to me.

Now I get not wanting the neighbors or society thinking something but only if your daughter is maybe a bit of a rebel and/or you think she is safe. If you don't, then there is that line of when a parent wants to be sure they are safe versus what people will think depending on what she is like, who she may be with, etc. Of course again, she is not a minor so perhaps you wouldn't be quite as worried, she's an adult.

I'm getting a picture of a bit of a rebel. Told people different stories that day, had spent a week was it with a 40 year old man who came out and said he'd marry her if found and that's a bit odd of a statement...

I'm still wondering how they know some of this or leaned of it.

Of course anything could have happened, stranger, you name it but logically I think it comes down to a couple of possibilities, and most tend to be the usual.

The case has some fanciful novel type stuff in that she was shopping 5th AVenue, going to Central Park, going to lunch at was it the Waldorf Atoria? it was he sister's turn to be a debutante, they were an "important" family it seems or would not have worried so much about appearances.... I mean most people do to a point but some far more than others and when it goes beyond knowing your kid is safe it is harder to comprehend parents doing that. 25 year old kid of course.

To me it would not be a big leap to think of over involved parents or maybe parents that were NOT over involved but very concerned about what people thought. Again if known at some point she'd spent a week with a 40 year old mean, well there should go their concerns about appearances...

So she or her body has never been found I take it. And by now all would be long gone. I mean she'd be about 140 years old, her 40 year old bf way beyond that and her parents even more beyond that so all long gone short of a miracle or divine intervention.

At this point, just learning, my guess would be she was pregnant. She's 25 and not married. Met someone whether it was the 40 year old or someone else and was either getting rid of the baby or meeting the man who probably coudln't have her having one (see see that so often).

Do you know any more about him saying if she was found he'd marry her or whatever and how that all came about? My guess is he was caught out, they found out about the relationship and that was his best move and thing he could say.

She COULD have taken off to make a life of her own with or without a man but she is 25 and never seeing your mom, dad, sister, friends or anyone again I don't see unless it was all really bad and at the young age of 25 she committed to never doing so.

Therefore I think she met with foul play and the bf would be the likely one. However, I'm still finding her parents a bit odd. Is mom sick or going to meet her for lunch?

It may have been NYC but it still would have been scandalous if she was pregnant or known to be seeing a 40 year old. I could say more about that... Not because I did lol but about he era and how shocking, judgmental, etc. it was. Getting pregnant, and from a prominent family, would mean marrying quickly or being sent on "vacation" or somewhere to have the child in an unwed mother's home no?

Mom had been ill but yet was going to meet her for lunch on a cold, icy day? These kinds of details have me wondering a bit and I wonder how accurate I guess.

 

[Sunburst]

Dorothy's family was extremely socially prominent. So much so that the year she was born, her name was included and listed in that year's NY Social Register with the rest of her family who had been listed for years.

Her 40 year old BF had an iron clad alibi. On the day she disappeared, he was in Italy with his parents and they had been in Italy for at least a week.

Her parents disapproved of the 40 year old BF. Age, he was not in the Social Register of any city (oh, the horror!), and he did actual WORK to earn a living. From what I have read, there was a personality clash between him and Dorothy's parents on top of everything else. All of which probably made him more appealing to Dorothy.

 

[Sunburst]

If she was pregnant, that would have completely destroyed her family's social standing in NY society. A scandal of epic proportions that would have been whispered about for months.

 

[Guess Who]

If she was pregnant, that would have completely destroyed her family's social standing in NY society. A scandal of epic proportions that would have been whispered about for months.

This is what I think is connected to her disappearance. Not sure what exactly happened, but it very well could have been connected to a pregnancy or hint of one.

 

[Sunburst]

The intriguing thing is that about 6 months after she disappeared, a close friend of the Arnold family was on a business trip to Mobile, AL. The friend had known Dorothy since she was a small child and was very familiar with her. He was in a department store in Alabama and recognized her as a fellow shopper. He greeted her by name, she apparently smiled at him and moved away. He noticed she was with a young man he did not recognize at all, and he said Dorothy was wearing a small gold ring on her finger.
Soooo...3 options.
1) it was her
2) he was mistaken and the woman was too polite to tell him that
3) the young woman physically resembled Dorothy and was tired of being mistaken for her and just played along.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Dorothy's family was extremely socially prominent. So much so that the year she was born, her name was included and listed in that year's NY Social Register with the rest of her family who had been listed for years.

Her 40 year old BF had an iron clad alibi. On the day she disappeared, he was in Italy with his parents and they had been in Italy for at least a week.

Her parents disapproved of the 40 year old BF. Age, he was not in the Social Register of any city (oh, the horror!), and he did actual WORK to earn a living. From what I have read, there was a personality clash between him and Dorothy's parents on top of everything else. All of which probably made him more appealing to Dorothy.

Lol, like I said it is like a novel, however I get this is real disappearance but so long ago that talking of such I wouldn't think hurts anyone too much. The horror, I agree. That's kind of how I took it even though I didn't know all that, that they were socially prominent and appearances mattered big time. And in those years even if you were not socially prominent, pregnancy, etc.or dating some older man much less spending a week with him would have been a HUGE deal and had most families disowning you or taking you under control, even if a young adult.

I could sidetrack into some stories about such things easily. One brother when maybe 19 lived with a woman maybe 23? Divorced and with a child. OMG. It was the end of the world to parents, grandparents, etc.I bring such up all these years later and we laugh about it and how times have changed....

That was in the 70s! Not 1910. I have a few others but suffice it to say if you were big on the social registry and a NYer to boot yeah it would be a huge deal to the family. And her with a 40 year old, surprised she could go out alone but probably lied, and so on...

I can't recall, was the 40 YO BF married?

This truly could be historical fictional novel material.

A clash with parents would make most men sadly more interesting to most of us. What is it about liking the bad boy or if parents forbid something in our younger years...

And not in the Social Register. SHOCKING! Lol.

Well if he was in Italy and it could actually be confirmed beyond a doubt in that day that excludes him unless of course he had someone do something for him and was gone with an alibit for a reason...

No way to know but if she was out and about and "loose" to a point, not meaning to insult her but saying as any generation does, fighting the strictures of the last one/the parents, etc. I'd think sh could have well met someone else or had met a few.

On the other hand, she was it seems giving the parents some real problems and appearance mattered. My God a pregnancy unmarried in that day and age would have been HUGE. Generally not even acknowledged. Married off or sent off. Or raised as the parent's "child" and covered up. And you did say she had been pregnant right and such aborted? I apologize with the lack of time, I think I read that yesterday and no time to go look.

If it were not for the one shopkeeper who said she was in high spirits and I forget there too what shop, etc., I'd ask what I do in nowadays cases, when was she last seen by anyone but her family? And I'm not sure one shop clerk or keeper would be enough for me with a prominent and influential family to be sure she even went shopping that day, etc. Is there absolute proof of that? of any kind? Or does it just come from family and some "eyewitness' in a shop, etc.?

It was absolutely shameful back then to be pregnant, unmarried, spending a week with a man, etc. and that was true even with people who would never be on a social register in NY.

Again, this is like novel material. I don't read such kinds of things any more but did in younger years.

I still dont' get a few things like about mom, lunch, promising to call.

It sure has caught my interest though and I wish I had more time like I used to to really get into it.

Cases back then have little science or tech evidence of course. So it's all going to be pretty much eyewitness, family, etc. imo. And such is so unreliable or subjective. I mean maybe if ten people saw her and a cop as well driving by, not a lot of cars then either although more probably in NYC than some states and areas.

I looked up 1910 when I first commented on this one to find out a few things or see what came up. And then added NYC to the search.

If I didn't get so long-winded this one should be material for a novel. You write it and we will figure it out lol.

I find it kind of cool too that your grandpa was interested in it. In that day, no interest nor even worldwide quick publications or newspapers I'd think only the biggest news would be eventually heard of. Prominent people, war and so on. Like I said my grandpa was born in 1894 (not great grandpa but grandpa) and hew as one of my two of four longest living grandparents. The other was the other side, one was my dad's side and one my mom's. He pretty much just died of plain old age, no illness and in his last many years he shared a lot with us as to the times and life. On the other hand, we weren't social registry in NYC lol. He was however well thought of and well respected in our own area but came to find out he had a child before marrying my grandma and it was hidden of course until way many later years and times changing. And so on.

My point is as you I am sure know and most do, it was a HUGE deal back then EVEN if not a big prominent NY family with debutantes. Even more so then. Maybe even more so in smaller areas, more noticeable, etc.

This is tragic but also kind of nice distraction. I do feel I am in the midst of reading some novel. I loved your "oh the horror" lol.

 

[Sunburst]

OK, I looked up a few things to refresh my memory.

It was for her sister''s debutante ball that Dorothy needed a new evening gown. Nothing was ever made public that she had ever actually shopped for a dress the day she disappeared.

Reporters questioned whether Dorothy's father allowed her to date men. Daddy had criteria for the men he wanted to date his daughter. He vehemently denied she was not allowed to date. "I would have been glad to see her associate more with young men than she did, especially some young men of brains and position: one whose profession or business would keep him occupied. I don’t approve of young men who have nothing to do."<a href="Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold - Wikipedia">[15]</a>

Dorothy was a college graduate-Bryn Mawr Class of 1905. She was fluent in French. She also apparently took art classes- did she fall in love with a fellow student or art teacher?
One of her uncles was a SCOTUS justice.Really, he was . One of her college classmates was a teacher in Washington D.C.

Around Thanksgiving 1910, she went to Washington and was supposed to spend 4 or 5 days visiting her classmate/friend. On a Sunday, she received a thick envelope delivered to her friend's address and Dorothy suddenly returned to NY a day or two later. She didn't tell her friend what was in the envelope, her friend caught a glimpse of a thick wad of papers. Who knew she was there, knew the address,and who delivered mail on Sunday mornings in 1910?? The post office didn't deliver on Sundays. Had she met a law clerk on a previous visit to Washington?

An illegal abortion clinic was operating in PA. Rumors flew that she had died during an abortion at the clinic, which was operating out of a house. Her family denied this. Well, yeah!! Of course they denied it!! Instantaneous Social Ruin!!

I am absolutely convinced she hopped on a train. Where did she go? Canada and Rich Aunt helped her? To Chicago and from there anywhere in the U.S.? Out West to become a screenwriter? She desperately wanted to be a published author. To the illegal PA abortion clinic? To a port city and went to Portugal or France?

 

[Sunburst]

She and 40 year old BF were apparently having problems and BF apparently thought the relationship was going to end. Wanna bet she wanted to get married, he didn't because he still lived with his elderly parents, and she found someone else?

George after her disappearance: Dorothy come back!! I will marry her if she comes back!!

Yes, I have thought about writing a kind of fictionalized Dorothy for several years. I have the format and narrative voices figured out. I know how I would start the story.

I need to find a new place to live first, and somewhere that would foster a cat for about 6 weeks. Maybe I can start writing it this winter. I have always been told by teachers, professors, and friends that I write very well.

 

[GrandmaBear]

OK, I looked up a few things to refresh my memory.

It was for her sister''s debutante ball that Dorothy needed a new evening gown. Nothing was ever made public that she had ever actually shopped for a dress the day she disappeared.

Reporters questioned whether Dorothy's father allowed her to date men. Daddy had criteria for the men he wanted to date his daughter. He vehemently denied she was not allowed to date. "I would have been glad to see her associate more with young men than she did, especially some young men of brains and position: one whose profession or business would keep him occupied. I don’t approve of young men who have nothing to do."<a href="Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold - Wikipedia">[15]</a>

Dorothy was a college graduate-Bryn Mawr Class of 1905. She was fluent in French. She also apparently took art classes- did she fall in love with a fellow student or art teacher?
One of her uncles was a SCOTUS justice.Really, he was . One of her college classmates was a teacher in Washington D.C.

Around Thanksgiving 1910, she went to Washington and was supposed to spend 4 or 5 days visiting her classmate/friend. On a Sunday, she received a thick envelope delivered to her friend's address and Dorothy suddenly returned to NY a day or two later. She didn't tell her friend what was in the envelope, her friend caught a glimpse of a thick wad of papers. Who knew she was there, knew the address,and who delivered mail on Sunday mornings in 1910?? The post office didn't deliver on Sundays. Had she met a law clerk on a previous visit to Washington?

An illegal abortion clinic was operating in PA. Rumors flew that she had died during an abortion at the clinic, which was operating out of a house. Her family denied this. Well, yeah!! Of course they denied it!! Instantaneous Social Ruin!!

I am absolutely convinced she hopped on a train. Where did she go? Canada and Rich Aunt helped her? To Chicago and from there anywhere in the U.S.? Out West to become a screenwriter? She desperately wanted to be a published author. To the illegal PA abortion clinic? To a port city and went to Portugal or France?

You know, if she wanted a mate and to marry, I'd imagine her sister's debutante ball may have upset her. One would think she'd feel like an old maid with a much younger sister now old enough to "court" and date. And would her father truly have let her date with no chaperone in that day and age? They worried so about appearances.

I didn't know she went to college and wanted to be an author.

I guess your more optimistic than I that she left of her own accord. She did have a pocketful of money but I still don't understand that when it also mentions using her father's charge card and I'd think they'd have had accounts at stores and such. She very well likely had no money of her own right? Didn't work I'm guessing? I guess if the equivalent of $1,000 today it would get her a bus, maybe pay a couple of months rent back then but probably not in places like Hollywood or NYC, etc.

And another thing, was she just allowed to walk the streets of NYC alone? I mean 5th Avenue I GUESS may not be so dangerous but a woman alone back then walking anywhere else would be? Was she dropped off, did she walk from home did they live nearby, what was her transportation mode to shop that day and go to Central Park? And again was she going to the park alone it sounds like? I mean that park is bad news these days isn't it, been a lot of crime and I wouldn't doubt bad types hung out there back in her day as well. Parks let anyone in or sure would have used to.

I'm thinking the dress and cash financed an abortion but the dress gave the reason for getting the cash. Like I said if she spent a week with a 40 year old man, alone, there was a good chance she was pregnant and also a good chance they had other trysts besides that. HOWEVER they'd have to get rid of her body too and she's never been found. I also think if pregnant the man could have done something to her, not wanting it found out. Finally she'd be an easy target for robbery, probably clearly looked like society and was carrying money and was ALONE. Or she never really was out and about and never left home.

One last thing is did the family pay her or HELP her to leave? Perhaps because she was pregnant and this was the cover story to not lose social standing? Or just because she wanted to with some man even and they just gave in and gave up and said as long as it's not here.

Has every body ever found or every bone been checked against her through the years. She could well be buried with no name. How could they even do that way back when for instance if not enough was left to identify years later? I'd doubt her prints were on file.

You don't think if she left for some dream of a life, like screenwriting or some such, she'd have been in dire straits quickly and/or never have missed her family or contacted them? If she left of her own accord, I'd almost think a man had to be involved.

It is like a bit of a novel just due to the balls and the society thing and all, and 5th Avenue shopping and lunching at the Waldorf. And believing she left I guess is a bit "romantic" but not sure how likely it is. Maybe if I knew the case better. I don't think her landing a job would have been very easy at that time and to do so, she'd definitely need her IDs and credentials and so forth of completing college. Were any such things missing and/or did anyone ever write Bryn Mawr is it (I know of the place, but not thinking of the name precisely right now) to affirm she had a degree from there? Had she ever written for the NY paper or anything? Or been published? I also don't see her waitressing or likely being hired for such. It also begs another question of she didn't pack clothing nor have a thing she might need to take with right? That is known of anyhow? I don't know, you know even taking a train they'd have likely found someone who knew or sold her a ticket and so on. How could she rent a place, change clothing or anything with no rental history and more. That "$1,000" would go fairly fast I'd think and it brings me back to thinking IF she left, there had to be man involved. I'd hate to think she ended up working the streets in some city.

Not trying to be a downer at the possibility. I don't really get why she was alone that day either. Was mom and sister also out shopping at different shops and plan was to meet for lunch? I mean I guess I'd think the three would go shopping together and make a day of it or some such.

We KNOW by now she is long dead. Did she never tell anyone who she was and who buried her and where is her grave? For me, for her to leave, she had to truly have had a falling out with her family and a desire to never see them again as she never did. Did they not have a good relationship? Yet there was a lunch plan. I don't get it and just come back to she died in the city at someone's hand. If she went away to meet someone and the entire shopping trip was a lie then she she likely never intended to meet her mom for lunch or to shop at all. She met a man who killed her, she was killed by someone like a thief, rapist or an abortionist or she did not want to see her family again imo. I'd never leave mine and never contact them again and the only way I can see someone doing that is if they have a really bad relationship and aren't good people. If she left of her own accord, explain why you think she never contacted them? To at least let them know she was alive? They wouldn't have had to have shame or tell anyone... A letter with something in it to show it's her, something only she and her family would know would be all it would take.

But then I'm pretty cynical. I didn't used to be.

My summary for the moment is that in that day and age women did not disappear unless the victim of a crime, pregnant out of wedlock, running off with a man perhaps but even that one, if not married, she'd be taking a risk and if not knowing the man long, an even bigger risk that he himself was not a danger to her. Were any men reported missing around the same time? It would seem not...

What about this one, she was pregnant and her family sent her away? Maybe to Canada with the aunt or some such? She had the child (or didn't) and aunt or someone claimed it. She didn't want to come back and they always knew where she was but had to have a cover story? Maybe the "$1,000" was never for a dress but what she was sent off for or even driven somewhere else to board a train or who knows and there was a plan from the start?

I guess then they'd have had to have lied to cops though... Would cops cover for someone important and high society which probably meant some power as well the family may have yielded... One would think they would have tried hard to find her for an important family and did a major investigation. Did they? Different times of course but still this was NYC and a prominent family...

Have they ever released the investigative file. Unsolved or not, no one is ever going to be charged, they'd be dead. So is she. Somewhere. Someone needs to FOIA the file for a 1910 disappearance lol. Or is that where the info comes from and it was released?

I've went on too long and need to shower and get what will be little sleep here at some point. Not ready for either.

Sorry for the length but it's also new to me (or I forgot, I still think I'd heard of this one before though) and so thoughts are still forming and coming with more info like you provided.

 

[GrandmaBear]

She and 40 year old BF were apparently having problems and BF apparently thought the relationship was going to end. Wanna bet she wanted to get married, he didn't because he still lived with his elderly parents, and she found someone else?

George after her disappearance: Dorothy come back!! I will marry her if she comes back!!

Yes, I have thought about writing a kind of fictionalized Dorothy for several years. I have the format and narrative voices figured out. I know how I would start the story.

I need to find a new place to live first, and somewhere that would foster a cat for about 6 weeks. Maybe I can start writing it this winter. I have always been told by teachers, professors, and friends that I write very well.

Maybe. I took the phrase of I'll marry her also to possibly mean say he killed her, makes him sound very caring about her. I also considered she was pregnant and he knew. She COULD have been tired of he wouldn't marry her and found someone else but most people don't easily leave relationships they've been in quickly, it's hard to do, but if she found someone else, he swept her off he feet, was willing to marry her or whatever and George was starting to not appeal so much, it is certainly possible. She's young and who knows how much time they even spent together? So he wasn't a married man? 40 and never married or what?

IF he was worried the relationship was going to end, it very well could have been because he wouldn't marry her OR she'd found a new man as you say. But then what... And what IF he wasn't a good man...

you SHOULD write a fictional one. has anyone ever done that with this story? I'm guessing not?

I can see why you identify her, both have that writing dream. Well had, in her case.

You are moving? Another state, same one, just a new house or something or sold one you are in or some such? Renting or buying? There are plenty of cat friendly places at least here, almost all apartment complexes allow them. Of course for a deposit and in some for pet rent per month too.

So I'm a bit confused on George. Did her folks not know about him? Because I thought I read that she kind of lied to be able to spend a week with him. Or did they know but wouldn't have allowed that? Could he leave his elderly parents for that long? And where'd they go, a hotel? She didn't go stay with him at his parents did she?

So much I don't know but you likely do from having followed, OR maybe much is unknown. Clearly he talked to the cops and was found out about or maybe he was never a secret, just that week together was?

I'll buy your book! I'd hope we here could all get an autographed copy You should do it!

I recall some of the things you wrote in the Basement and thought your writing was very good and I'm pretty sure I said as much. I think I remember you writing of gowns and of historical or even current royalty or past and some such things. Memory not perfect but I remember being floored by how you wrote such.

Thanks for filling in some of this.

 

[Sunburst]

Part of me thinks that the family DID find out years later what had happened because of her father's comment about not leaving her anything in his wiill because he knew she was dead. He died in 1922. Her mother died in December 1928. But for whatever reason, they wouldn't discuss it because it was too socially embarrassing. That would include Dorothy cutting off all contact with them , telling them she would never speak to them again, etc. Sometimes I lean towards she was pregnant, had the baby, gave it up for adoption, and her Canadian aunt helped her until she could get a job under a totally different name and in a new location far from NY.

New Orleans at the time was predominantly French speaking. "Camille Boudreaux," newly arrived from French-speaking Canada, would blend in easily and could have gotten a job as an art or French teacher anywhere along the Gulf Coast in a private girl's school or something similar. Mobile, Alabama, where she was seen in the store by a long-time family friend of her parents who had known her since childhood, would be a great place to live and blend in. Her social circle probably believed everything revolved around NY as the center of the universe and why on earth would someone want to live in an uncivilized place elsewhere, because everything outside of NY was uncivilized. So she would be very safe from discovery. And of course, if she had gotten married she would take her husband's last name and be untraceable. The detectives checked marriage records and didn't find her. It is unclear if they checked marriage records just for NY and the surrounding states or if they checked nationwide. If she had gotten married in Europe, she would be unfindable as far as U.S. marriage records were concerned-I don't think they checked Europe. Still trying to figure out if they did.

I think she headed West. Way west, to CA.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Part of me thinks that the family DID find out years later what had happened because of her father's comment about not leaving her anything in his wiill because he knew she was dead. He died in 1922. Her mother died in December 1928. But for whatever reason, they wouldn't discuss it because it was too socially embarrassing. That would include Dorothy cutting off all contact with them , telling them she would never speak to them again, etc. Sometimes I lean towards she was pregnant, had the baby, gave it up for adoption, and her Canadian aunt helped her until she could get a job under a totally different name and in a new location far from NY.

New Orleans at the time was predominantly French speaking. "Camille Boudreaux," newly arrived from French-speaking Canada, would blend in easily and could have gotten a job as an art or French teacher anywhere along the Gulf Coast in a private girl's school or something similar. Mobile, Alabama, where she was seen in the store by a long-time family friend of her parents who had known her since childhood, would be a great place to live and blend in. Her social circle probably believed everything revolved around NY as the center of the universe and why on earth would someone want to live in an uncivilized place elsewhere, because everything outside of NY was uncivilized. So she would be very safe from discovery. And of course, if she had gotten married she would take her husband's last name and be untraceable. The detectives checked marriage records and didn't find her. It is unclear if they checked marriage records just for NY and the surrounding states or if they checked nationwide. If she had gotten married in Europe, she would be unfindable as far as U.S. marriage records were concerned-I don't think they checked Europe. Still trying to figure out if they did.

I think she headed West. Way west, to CA.

So this sounds like she was on the outs with family and left not in love with family if dad knew she was dead or what she had done was socially embarrassing. Or knew it later at least...

The aunt is mom or dad's sister? Not that it necessarily matters. I think an an abortion is still on the table as if that's how she died, that would be socially awful. Pregnancy is too. I still find it a bid odd she had all that cash. I mean I know times were different but this was a prominent famly and surely they would have arranged accounts with the local dress shops and grocer and such. Was there ever any hint they were having financial trouble? I mean if they were, they'd hide it as this family from all you've said would never want ANYTHING bad known.

Where did their money come from and how much did they have? I know such wasn't "talked of" necessarily but I mean years of old money behind them or what? Living such a lifestyle wasn't cheap even then, how did dad add to the coffers or was there just so much never had to?

Was his will just like "she was dead to him" or more like he knew she was deceased?

Yeah checking every state and even county, etc. back then for marriage records would be unlikely in my opinion. Even now it wouldn't be easy imo. All states differ and probably few have put records online from way back and many you can't even access still online but would have to snail mail, do a request, etc. Maybe sometihing like vital records hols all? Back in the day even, some births and marriages were recorded in bibles and such, not even legally like you'd have to nowadays. Couldn't tell you what years but was often the case. My sister in doing genealogy going way back found out more from contacting churches where our great grandparents had lived and went before coming to our area and having the Priest go back in their church records and flat out physical storage. Truly. We aren't Catholic but my dad's side almost all was and back up through the generations. My dad let my mom choose the religion. I won't sidetrack into that am saying their churches kept quite the written records.

You seem to always come back to her going west to CA. Although you do dance with other things but that seems to be where you come back to, main belief? You mentioned New Orleans but ended back at California...

You know if I am learning and following it right, if she was pregnant and it was even arranged for her to go to the aunt's, that would have been (the true story) not one they wanted. You don't think by any means she'd have kept a child? Marrying, having a cover story, etc. or the aunt may have?

You know she could have also met a total loser in NY or even after leaving, one that maybe seemed charming and quite a con but fell to a not good fate by him or with him...I hate to say that but it is as possible as anything.

She seemed to be maybe, am I wrong, a bit of a rebel? I mean even at the most basic level she lied to spend a week with George and as many of us do, i don't care the generation, want to get outside parents' strict rules.

For me, I keep coming back to the cash. I don't see how it can be known how much she had except as info provided by her parents and of course if true. Unless she flashed it or told someone at a shop or some such and if she did, then that alone would give me the idea someone wanted that money.

I had read early in this thread that I thought one shopkeeper saw her and was thinking it was NY. you are saying it was Atlanta or somewhere and was someone that had known her since young? Again that would have to be IF true and the person was telling the truth.

One thought I haven't really voiced is would she have ever either by choice and naivete or through a man or leaving home not knowing how the world really was, perhaps ended up a prostitute or in a "bordello" to use an old term. If she's into writing and was into historical or of the times fiction and so on, well they make it all sound so romantic and then they meet their rich prince... I mean that would certainly as much as abortion be very embarrassing to her parents...More modern times would be Julia Roberts and Gere and boy the movie did very very well didn't it. Novels are much the same, romance novels, period ones, etc. but such does not happen in real life but many a young teen or woman have believed such sh*t. Pretty Woman. I was drawing a blank on the name.

Also, with the wrong man OR if she actually thought she could take off and make it on her own, she could have ended up in something like that. Possible I'm just thinking.

Again I don't know it all as well as you though.

I know I ask more questions than you can answer. So if her father died in '22 and felt she was dead (or KNEW it), she'd have died less than 12 years after she disappeared and whenever he wrote that will. Perhaps far less years, or immediately almost. That isn't a very long life even in that day and age. At most she'd have been 37 and possibly far less again depending on when the will was drafted.

In LISK there was one victim's father who wrote her off because she never cared enough to even call after she disappeared, probably thinking she took off (she didn't) and she used to call on his birthday at least or something and so on. He was wrong. I get them mixed up and not sure which one off the top of my head. Or when she needed something. Used to though at least try on occasion to care. Maybe Vergata, unsure, doesn't matter. He wrote her out of his will too.

And I think that plays into my wondering here, DID her dad know her to be deceased or was he just saying she was dead to him and disinherited because if she was alive, she never bothered to contact them? That's what I'm wondering. Probably the most of all of the questions in this one. And of course these girls were mostly prostitutes and the life itself, some also drugs, probably wasn't what the parents loved but they still heard from them or in this case had until a point.

And the cynic I've become from all the years I guess of life and following cases, ,is most don't have happy endings and no one just goes off without help (like the aunt or parents) and can make it generally for long (or a man) and especially in those years and it's usually a worse ending/story. The few we see are usually a young girl trying to get away from total hellicopter parens and they are usually found out before too long. And if they're of age they don't have to give their whereabouts but would be good to let it be know through LE at least you are alive and safe. Nothing illlegal about running away if an adult. Carlee Russel although a spoiled brat and put the nation and LE through sh*t and worried all about a child in a diaper on a hallway, there was the real runaway bride some years ago, I've seen several actually. I have my own opinion of what Carlee was really finding time for and I think similar may be the case here and we are back to the pregnancy and doing something about it. And that also brings me back to the money.

I realize I've kind of given a round about of thoughts but find your theories kind of do the same too as no one KNOWS what happened to her. So I'm back to abortion and then it is did dad know and/or mom and gave her the money OR did Dorothy kind of con him. Like dad, I know you have accounts but there is this new dressmaker and you're out of touch with the times and her dresses I promise you are GORGEOUS and since no charge account there, I need cash... This also comes back to she could have wanted to the cash to leave and start a life...

I don't KNOW lol clearly.

What age was the sister with this deb ball planned? There's a fair gap between her and 25 year old Dorothy I'm guessing. Because sisters can be real confidantes if closer in age. Were they the only two children or were there several?

Yeah too long and too many questions but clearly I am thinking on it when I do post and all sorts of thoughts and want to know more.

You know enough plus know the times about all the French in New Orleans (knew that one myself again from novels lol) and write so well, you NEED to do that book.

 

[Sunburst]

I keep coming back to CA because of someone I found in a CA cemetery. IF it is her. Still trying to research it a little bit more.
Remember the Spanish flu pandemic that started in 1917 and was full blown worldwide in 1918. Deaths continued for another year or two beyond that. Certain parts of the U.S. were hit harder than others and northern CA was extremely hard hit with deaths from Spanish flu.

If she did walk away, I don't think she stayed on the East Coast. Too much chance of being recognized.

Her father was in the import/export business and did quite well, he became very successful. He was one of the senior partners, in other words a top upper echelon executive.One of the products his company handled was perfumes from around the world, although there were other products. That is why the press at the time seized on "Perfume heiress" to describe her disappearance.

 

[Sunburst]

Dorothy had an older brother, who was 27 when she disappeared. She had 2 younger siblings, a sister and a brother. Her sister was born in August,1891. Sister would have been 19 at the time of the Deb ball.