Ruth Dorsey, a 69-year-old widow, was a well-known and respected member of the Opelika, Alabama community. A retired schoolteacher and bank employee, she was described as intelligent, active, and independent. She was very involved in her church, where she taught Sunday school and played the organ. Although she had no children of her own, she was close with her many nieces and nephews who, along with other relatives, expressed concern about her living alone on a large 350-acre farm.
Despite their worries, Ruth valued her independence and saw no reason for alarm. The day she was last seen, she had a seemingly ordinary Saturday, which included doing laundry, baking for neighbors, and making a veterinary appointment for one of her dogs.
On the afternoon of August 17, 1974, Ruth Dorsey was seen at the Spring Villa Grocery between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m., where she purchased gasoline for her 1972 Ford Galaxy. She mentioned to the gas station attendant that a relative had called and she was on her way to pick them up. Later, at approximately 6:00 p.m., a neighbor saw her car turning into her long, secluded driveway. This was the last known sighting of Ruth Dorsey. Concern grew the following morning when she failed to arrive for her duties as a Sunday school teacher and pianist at church, which was highly out of character for her. When authorities were alerted and went to her home, they found the front door open and a side door unlocked. Inside, her Bible and Sunday school materials were laid out on a table, and her bed did not appear to have been slept in. Her laundry was still hanging on the clothesline outside, and her three dogs were found inside the bathroom.
The investigation into Ruth Dorsey's disappearance deepened when her car was discovered in downtown Opelika. The vehicle was parked near the First Baptist Church, in front of a duplex where she and her late husband had once lived. The keys were still in the ignition, and her eyeglasses and purse, containing eleven dollars in cash, were on the front seat. There was no sign of a struggle, and no money had been withdrawn from her bank accounts. The perplexing circumstances of her disappearance, with her car and personal belongings left behind, have left her family and community searching for answers for decades. Despite extensive searches, including the use of a helicopter, no trace of her has ever been found, and her case remains one of Alabama's most baffling unsolved mysteries.Last Seen: Aug 17, 1974
