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in: California, 1985, Disappearances,
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Dottie Caylor

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Dottie and Jule Caylor

Real Name: Dorothy May Rusnak Caylor
Nicknames: Dottie
Location: Pleasant Hill, California
Date: June 12, 1985

Bio[]

Occupation: Unrevealed
Date of Birth: January 9, 1944
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 190 lbs
Marital Status: Married
Characteristics: Caucasian female with brown hair and blue eyes; suffers from agoraphobia (fear of public places)

Case[]

Details: On June 12, 1985, Dottie Caylor was dropped off by her husband, Jule, at the BART station in Pleasant Hill, California, eighteen miles from Oakland. She entered and purchased a ticket, a simple task performed each day by millions. However, this was a test of courage for her. She suffers from agoraphobia, which is an irrational, overwhelming fear of being in public places. No one knows if she overcame it that day and actually boarded the train. What is for certain is that there has been no trace of her since.
Jule claimed that after the first few days, he figured that she had temporarily left to make things inconvenient for him. Her sister, Diane, thought that it was possible that she could disappear to "get even" with him since he had disappeared on her for half of their married life. However, she does not believe that she could do that for a long period of time and not contact any of her loved ones.
Immediately after Dottie disappeared, her friends wondered why a woman so afraid of the unknown would leave everything she had and everyone she knew. At first, they thought she may have left to escape an unhappy marriage and start a new life in another city. However, as the months and years elapsed, there was no word from her. Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries went by. Now, her friends and family are wondering if she may have actually met with foul play. They also wonder if Jule may have had something to do with her disappearance. He, however, maintains his innocence.
Dottie and Jule married in 1973. He was an entomologist with the National Forest Service. They settled in the Oakland suburb of Concord. Over the years, however, Dottie's home became a self-imposed prison. According to Jule, her agoraphobia caused her to stay inside most of the time. He recalled that she couldn't even apply for a job, much less hold one down. Their marriage deteriorated. She was often home alone because he was working out of town over 50% of the time.
In November 1981, Dottie and Jule's relationship erupted in violence. Dottie told her friend, Paula, that they had gotten into an argument. According to her, it escalated to the point where he finally hit her with a board or a similar object and she received a wound to her head. She then grabbed a pair of scissors to protect herself and told him to get away from her. He, however, claimed that she started the fight. He claimed that she stood over of him with the scissors, swearing at him and saying that she would kill him. He claimed that he hit her with her typing stand in self-defense.
In 1984, Dottie joined a support group called "Women in Transition". Without ever telling Jule, she attended meetings for over a year. Her friends in it felt that she made a tremendous amount of progress during the time that she was with them. They also noticed that she began to make changes to her appearance: she added more color to her outfits, took better care of her hair, and even cut it in a new style, which was particularly challenging for her. Jule claimed that he knew nothing about her "secret" life until after she disappeared. However, he did say that he was "suspicious" of her.
Dottie secretly rented a post office box so she could receive mail without Jule's knowledge. She opened a personal bank account and transferred $5,000 into a cashier's check. Then, one month before she disappeared, Jule told her he had to accept a job transfer to Salt Lake City. According to him, she said that in the event that he got transferred she was not interested in going with him. As a result, he did not expect her to do so.
According to Jule, on Wednesday, June 12, 1985, Dottie set off on an overnight trip. He drove her to the Pleasant Hill BART Station and dropped her off at the entrance. He claimed that she had her purse and a small overnight bag with her. However, he did not know if she ever boarded the train.
At around noon the next day, Jule returned home early from work and got off at the Concord BART Station. In the parking lot, he was surprised to find Dottie's Volkswagen next to his car. When he looked inside, he noticed that her purse was in the passenger seat. She had previously told her friend, Shelly, that it was very important for her to have it with her at all times. When Shelly learned that it had been left behind, she became very concerned because she knew how important it was for Dottie to have it with her.
Jule left a note on Dottie's car, asking her to contact him. Over the next four days, he left two more notes, talking about problems he was having with the house. He also expressed his love and pleaded with her to come home. After she had been missing for four days, Shelly talked to Jule and asked if he had gone to the police. He told her that he had not. She urged him to do so and report her missing.
Five days after Dottie vanished, Jule filed a missing persons report with the BART police. The following day, the Concord Police Department was finally notified of her disappearance. However, it was the BART police, not Jule, that contacted them. Two weeks after Dottie vanished, Jule moved to Salt Lake City.
Back in Concord, Diane hired a private investigator, Francie Koehler. Based on her investigation, she is almost certain that foul play was involved in Dottie's disappearance. As their attempts to locate her turned up no new leads, Diane and Francie started to worry that she might be dead. They began to consider Jule a suspect. They have noted that they can not even be certain that Dottie ever made it to the BART station, since Jule is the only person that claims to have seen her there.
He has stated that he is not bothered by the fact that he is considered a possible suspect in her disappearance. He suspects that she either willfully disappeared and was then helped to permanently disappear, or met with foul play at the hands of an unknown individual.
Dottie's loved ones still hope to find out what happened to her.
Suspects: Jule is considered a possible suspect in Dottie's disappearance. He was the last person to see her alive and nobody else can verify if she ever made it there. He was also physically abusive toward her in the past.
When Jule and Dottie had first met, Jule used a false name because he was already married and had a five-year-old daughter. Prior to Dottie's disappearance, they had discussed divorce. Dottie planned on staying in their house when Jule moved to Colorado. She opened a bank account, applied for credit cards in her own name, and had her own post office box. At the time of her disappearance, he was engaged to another woman and was frustrated that she would be living in their old house and he would have to pay alimony.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the November 29, 1987 episode.
Results: Unsolved. Authorities now believe that Dottie met with foul play and is deceased. Jule later remarried. In 2004, he was officially named by police as a person of interest in this case. After he ran as a candidate for the Utah House of Representatives as a Libertarian Party candidate, interest in this case was sparked through several news articles causing him to withdraw from the race in June. A 140-page search warrant affidavit filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court included twenty-nine reasons why police suspect Dottie was killed by Jule.
Some of the reasons that police noted include:

  • Allegations by Dottie that Jule was violent and abusive toward her
  • Dottie telling friends and family that she was afraid of him
  • Jule's secret engagement to another woman six months prior to Dottie's disappearance
  • Jule reported Dottie missing on June 19, even though he told the police that he had not expected her to return until June 24
  • Jule signing a contract on June 7 to put their Concord house up for rent, even though he told the police and others that he had been forced to rent it after she disappeared because her signature was required to sell or mortgage it
  • The implausibility of Jule's story about finding Dottie's car parked next to his in the BART parking lot
  • Statements Jule made to his fiancee, claiming that he had to make a "Heruclean effort" to be with her, an effort she might not know or understand, and that he would do anything for her, even kill
    • The statements made by Jule to his fiancee frightened her so much that she broke off contact with him
  • A strange letter written by an unknown individual (possibly Jule) that describes how Jule killed Dottie and buried her body in a remote area

In 2005, police searched Jule and Dottie's old home for evidence. However, nothing was found and no charges have ever been filed. If she is alive, she would now be in her mid-seventies.
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