In 1969, A Long Island Teen Took Her Dog For A Walk In The Woods; The Dog Returned, But She Never Did
During the early 1900s, Oakdale, New York, was a gilded region of Long Island known for its grand estates and famous residents.
But, by 1969, Oakdale– along with other parts of Long Island– was changing rapidly.
The businessmen and railroad pioneers were swapped out for suburban nuclear families. Local newspapers began sharing tales of boating trips, school boards began to quarrel against local town politics, and a sense of community emerged among residents.
On July 17, 1969, though, the Suffolk County News put out a headline strikingly different from the more pedestrian suburban happens.
“OAKDALE GIRL STILL MISSING. No new leads for police department,” the headline read.
This girl was Cynthia Dawn Constantine, a fifteen-year-old who was last seen on the evening of July 11, 1969.
That night, Cynthia put on a white shirt and black shorts before leaving her Montauk Highway home to take her beloved dog for a walk.
She and her pup first headed toward a wooded area near the Oakdale Long Island Railroad station. This was confirmed by three young boys who saw her enter near the train station’s north end.
NCMEC; pictured above is Cynthia
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But, just shortly after Cynthia left, her dog returned home. And Cynthia was not on the other end of its leash.
Her parents immediately began to panic since their daughter was not one to mess around. In fact, Cynthia was known as a quiet and reserved teen who had no known squabbles with her parents or brother that would drive her away from home.
Moreover, her pet rabbit was even expected to give birth to bunnies that week– something that her family knew Cynthia would never miss.
So, everyone in the Oakdale hamlet began looking for the young teen. Police officers from the Third Precinct coordinated search parties that raked the nearby lake and panned the woods. K9s were even employed to identify traces of Cynthia’s scent.
But, all of these efforts came up short. Soon, Cynthia went from being for missing for a few days to having disappeared for weeks. And despite the rumors and gossip that swirled throughout the small Long Island town, Cynthia’s mother still remained hopeful.
“I just want everyone to know I have a strong hope that she is still alive,” Mrs. Constantine said in an article headlined “MOTHER’S HOPE IS STILL STRONG” on July 24, 1969.
A reward for anyone with information regarding Cynthia’s disappearance was eventually offered. Still, though, no tips ever led to the naming of a suspect or person of interest.
Cynthia’s school friends would eventually return to school, summer trees shed their leaves for autumn, and local headlines stopped featuring the missing teen.
Still, the circumstances surrounding Cynthia’s disappearance have remained a puzzling mystery.
Some residents pointed toward another fourteen-year-old girl’s story, who recalled an encounter with a man driving a red car that had asked her to get in.
For others, the Oakdale train station became a player in the enigma. Would Cynthia have been heard hollering out for help over the engine’s roar? Did the vessel shuttle in a supposed Montauk vacationer who hoped to harm a young girl?
Tragically, it has now been fifty-three years since Cynthia went missing, and these questions have all remained unanswered.
At the time of her disappearance, the fifteen-year-old stood at five foot three and was one hundred and seventeen pounds. Cynthia would be sixty-eight years old today.
If you have any information regarding the case, you are urged to contact the Suffolk County Police Department at (631) 852-6040.
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