In a case that continues to baffle investigators and capture public imagination, 40-year-old Dorothy Forstein, a wife and mother, vanished from her Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home on October 18, 1949. Her disappearance was not the first time a shadow of violence had fallen over the Forstein family; a brutal attack years earlier left Dorothy physically and emotionally scarred. In 1945, upon returning from a shopping trip, she was assaulted by an unknown man who had followed her into her home. The attacker beat her into unconsciousness, leaving her with a broken jaw and nose, a fractured shoulder, and a concussion. In the chaos, the telephone receiver was knocked off the hook, and a live operator who heard the struggle alerted the police, causing the assailant to flee. Robbery was not the motive, as nothing was taken. Although she recovered from her physical injuries, the experience left Dorothy in a constant state of fear.
The night of her disappearance began as a routine evening for the Forstein family. Her husband, Magistrate Jules Forstein, left their home at 1835 North Franklin Street around 6:00 PM to attend a banquet. Dorothy remained at home with their two youngest children, nine-year-old Marcy and five-year-old Edward. Later that evening, Jules called his wife to let her know he would be home late. When he returned around 11:30 PM, he found the front door locked and his two children huddled together in a bedroom, frightened. They told him, 'Mommy's gone!'. The only witness to what had happened was young Marcy, who told a chilling story. Awakened by a noise, she went to her mother's room and saw a man in a brown cap carrying her unconscious mother, who was clad in a red nightgown and slippers, over his shoulder. When Marcy asked what he was doing, the man gently patted her head and told her to go back to sleep, assuring her that her mother was okay before carrying Dorothy out of the house.
The investigation into Dorothy's disappearance was met with a perplexing lack of evidence. There were no signs of a struggle or forced entry, and the front door had been locked. None of Dorothy's personal belongings, including her purse and keys, were missing from the home, and the intruder left no fingerprints. Police were initially hesitant to believe the young girl's account, but a psychiatric evaluation confirmed she appeared to be telling the truth. The primary theory pursued by law enforcement was that the abduction was connected to the violent assault she had suffered years earlier, or that it was an act of revenge against her husband for his work as a magistrate. An extensive, multi-state search was launched for Dorothy, with authorities checking hospitals, hotels, and morgues, but no trace of her was ever found. The case grew cold, and despite the disturbing eyewitness account from her own child, what happened to Dorothy Forstein after she was carried out of her home remains one of Philadelphia's most enduring and heartbreaking mysteries.Last Seen: Oct 14, 1949
