Name: Dorothy May Rusnak Caylor
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: June 12, 1985
Location Last Seen: Concord, Contra Costa County, California
Date of Birth: January 9, 1944
Age: 41 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'9
Weight: 190 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Dorothy wore plastic-framed eyeglasses at the time of her 1985 disappearance. Her nickname is "Dottie." Dottie suffered from agoraphobia, a fear of public places.
Dentals: Available. Tooth 3, 14, 15 have gold onlays, 19 has crown.
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Plastic eye glasses
The last reported sighting of Caylor was from her husband who told police he dropped Dottie off at the Pleasant Hill BART station on the morning of June 12, 1985. He said she was planning to visit a friend, but he didn't know who.
She carried with her an overnight bag and her turquoise leather purse, which contained everything she considered important, from her Kaiser medical card to a bee-sting kit.
Her husband found her 1963 light-blue Volkswagen Bug parked next to his car at the Concord BART station. Her purse was inside. In a statement to police, the husband said he unlocked the car and rummaged through the bag. Her bee-sting kit was missing, but everything else, including about $30 in cash, was as he remembered it. Her driver's license, a Diablo Valley College "Spring 1985" student ID and her library card were still inside her monogrammed, off-white leather billfold.
The husband put the purse in a bag, he told police, and pushed it under the seat. He then wrote a note asking Dottie to call him. Before he left, he locked the car. The next day, he says, he moved Dottie's car to a different parking spot to keep her from getting a ticket. He also drove to his parents' Central Valley home in Lindsay to leave the couple's dog with them. The husband later said he never drove her to the Pleasant Hill station and that she must have driven herself there.
She left behind her clothes and all of her belongings.
Dorothy's sister stated that there were numerous problems in the Caylors' marriage, an allegation that the husband denies. He said that the only difficulties in the relationship revolved around his wife's mental health issues.
Dorothy joined a support group for battered women in early 1985. She was attempting to regain her self-confidence and reportedly planned to divorce her husband. Dorothy opened her own bank account and rented a post office box. She also asked a friend to keep a locked file cabinet with her important documents. She had inherited $5,000 and had put aside a small amount of money in her own account.
The husband reported Dorothy as a missing person to authorities on June 17, five days after her disappearance.
Agency Name: Concord Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Sgt. Brandon Richey
Agency Phone Number: 925-603- 5836
Agency E-Mail: coldcases@cpd.ci.concord.ca.us
Agency Case Number: 85-12575
NCIC Case Number: M-160864339
NamUs
CA OAG
The Contra Costa Times
Unsolved Mysteries
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 11/5/23 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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