Select It Sunday: Dorothy Scofield

Selected by lbcgriffin, twelve-year-old Dorothy Delilah Scofield disappeared from Ocala, Florida on July 22, 1976. She went to the mall that afternoon to return a pair of shoes and do some shopping. Witnesses saw Dorothy (who was nicknamed “Dee”) at the mall at 2:00 p.m., after she returned the shoes. Then she vanished.

Interestingly, there was a possible sighting of Dee with one or possibly two men at a local convenience store. The little girl’s clothing was the same as Dee’s. She bought some soda and left the store, and was never seen again. Authorities don’t know whether the sighting was genuine or not.

Dee’s casefile mentions a speculative connection between her case and the Lyon sisters’ 1975 disappearance. What it most reminds me of, though, is Sherry Lynn Marler, who vanished in the eighties. Sherry, who disappeared from Alabama, was the same age the Dee was at the time of her disappearance, and there were reported sightings of her throughout the South, always accompanied by a man.

I’m not suggesting the same man took both girls, I just think the circumstances are similar. It’s entirely possible that Dee Scofield and Sherry Marler both remained alive for an extended time period after they disappeared. But where are they now?

Reading the Susan Powell book

I’m about halfway through If I Can’t Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance and the Murder of Her Children by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris. And holy wow, Josh was an absolute louse. I don’t understand why Susan stayed with him as long as she did. For that matter I don’t understand why she married him.

I don’t really get why people — mostly women but men also — attach themselves to dirt bags. I’m not talking about in the sense that the person doesn’t make a lot of money, or isn’t very educated, or isn’t good looking or smart. Most people like that are perfectly decent human beings. I mean “dirt bag” in the sense that the person treats their partner badly. (They are often in trouble with the law and/or involved in drugs also.) Why would anyone want to be romantically involved with such a person? Especially Susan, who seems to have had it straight regarding so many other aspects of her life.

I don’t get it.

Josh strikes me as an “eraser.” I read a book about eraser killers, basically men who not only murder their wives but try to wipe out every memory of them. Josh didn’t act concerned after Susan’s disappearance, he published a website telling lies about her, he moved away shortly after she vanished, etc. And ultimately, he erased the biggest imprint she made: their children.