She Was Beaten To Death Outside Of A Local Laundromat 45 Years Ago And The Question Of Who Did This To Her Still Remains
Lewiston, Maine. In the fall of 1976, 27-year-old Dorothy Milliken was living in Lewiston along with her husband and their three young children.
Everyone called her Dottie instead of Dorothy, and she was extremely passionate about her loved ones.
On November 5th, 1976, Dottie made her way down to the nearby laundromat called Beal’s, which sat at 969 Lisbon Street, so she could do laundry for her family.
“Dorothy usually did her laundry in the mornings along with her daughter Tonia but on Friday, November 5, 1976, she decided to do her laundry at night as she was preparing to return to work that Monday from maternity leave,” the Maine State Police explained in a press release.
“Dorothy left her home around 11 p.m. Friday night after her husband went to bed. Dorothy’s body was discovered by a newspaper delivery person the following morning.”
It was 4:40 in the morning when Dottie was found, and an autopsy report later determined her death was due to blunt force trauma to her head.
Maine State Police; pictured above is Dottie
Michael Chavez is currently the lead detective on Dottie’s case, and he took it over back in 2012.
Though Michael still isn’t sure who did this to Dottie or why, he is confident that the answers lay somewhere in the binders that contain all of the files on Dottie’s case.
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“It’s all there in these old reports,” Michael mentioned. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the person who did this was so consumed by anger that they made a conscious effort to brutally strike down an unarmed woman without thinking twice about the consequences.”
“To make things worse, this person had the audacity to just walk away, which left the family consumed by anger, regret, and sorrow.”
45 years later, Dottie’s killer is still out there, though her family is still holding out hope that whoever took her life will be found and held accountable.
Her loved ones have even come up with a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for ending Dottie’s life.
“On this night in 1976, my great aunt by marriage, Dorothy Milliken, was murdered and left outside of a local laundromat on the corner of Dumont and Lisbon street in Lewiston ME,” Brittany Pace, one of Dottie’s family members, wrote in a Facebook post on the anniversary of her death.”
“She was only 27-years-old. She left behind 3 children who grew up in town and I went to school with her grandkids for a while. I had no idea until about a year ago when I started considering making a podcast that this ever happened.”
“With so little evidence and almost no media coverage, it’s very hard to solve a case this old and her family is heartbroken. A witness testimony or additional tip would break this case open.”
“I ask that we all as a tight community of rural Mainers near and far share her face and story in hopes that someone’s grandparent remembers something. It’s the least we can do! #justicefordorothymilliken please share!!!”
Facebook; pictured above is Brittany’s post
Brittany went on to mention in the comments section of her post that the people who were closest to Dottie have a theory about what happened to her back on November 6th, 1976.
If you have any idea what happened to Dottie, or if you have any information related to her case, please reach out to the Maine State Police at 207.228.0857.
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