The Strange Disappearance Of Dorothy Francis, The New York City Heiress Who Vanished While Shopping On Fifth Avenue

On July 1, 1886, Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold was born in New York City to her prominent parents, Mary Parks Arnold and Francis Rose.
Dorothy’s father was a distinguished Harvard graduate who eventually rose to senior partner at F.R. Arnold and Co, a perfume and cologne import business. And the Arnold family were actually descendants of William Brewster, a Mayflower passenger.
So, the Arnolds lived an exorbitantly wealthy life– gaining a spot on the New York City Social Register and enjoying a first-class Big Apple experience.
Dorothy was the eldest daughter of her parents and attended Veltin School for Girls for her primary education. Then, she went on to attend Bryn Mawr College– earning a literature and language degree.
The young woman’s largest goal was to become a prolific writer. But, after she graduated in 1905 and moved back into her parent’s home on East 79th Street to pursue this dream, her parents were far from supportive.
During the spring of 1910, Dorothy stuck her neck out and submitted a short story to a popular publication known as McClure’s Magazine.
Her work was rejected, though, and her family and friends were quick to ridicule her aspirations.
Still, Dorothy refused to give up and even got a P.O. box in order to correspond with publishers in secret and evade her family’s opinions.
Then, later that fall, she again tried to get published in McClure’s by submitting a second short story. To Dorothy’s sheer sadness, though, she was rejected again. And despite opting to share this upsetting news with her family again in hopes of feeling some support, they reportedly just kept teasing her.

Library of Congress – pictured above is Dorothy
But, by December 12, 1910, young Dorothy’s life would forever be changed– and it all started with an afternoon trip through New York City.
That day, the 25-year-old wore a tailored blue serge coat paired with a skirt and black velvet ornate hat. The socialite also carried a sizeable fox muff during her walk in the city in hopes of keeping her hands warm during the freezing New York winter.
Before leaving home, Dorothy reportedly told her mother that she planned to pick out a gown for her sister’s coming-out gala. And even though her mother, Mary, offered to join Dorothy, she declined.
So, Dorothy proceeded to walk from her home on East 79th Street to the Park and Tilford store, which was at 5th Avenue and 27th Street, to begin her shopping. The young woman did have a bank account of her own and several accounts at various stores.
Thus, beginning at the Park and Tilford store, Dorothy charged a box of chocolates to her account. Then, after traveling to Brentano’s Book Store, she purchased a novel by Emily Calvin Blake entitled “Engaged Girl Sketches.”
Finally, Dorothy left the bookstore at about 2:00 p.m. and happened to run into a friend, Gladys King. According to Gladys, as well as other acquaintances whom Dorothy had passed by that day, the young woman appeared cheerful and carefree. Plus, after speaking to Gladys, Dorothy revealed that she would be taking a walk through Central Park.
So, the two women eventually said their goodbyes and parted ways. But Dorothy Arnold was never seen again.
That night, the Arnold family had planned a dinner– but Dorothy, who was usually punctual, never showed up. This alarmed Francis and Mary, who began phoning their daughter’s friends in hopes of learning her whereabouts.
None of Dorothy’s friends had any information, though, so the Arnold family began to wait. Then, after two days passed and their daughter never returned, Francis and Mary knew something had gone wrong.
Now, the Arnold family did not want to make Dorothy’s disappearance a public spectacle. So, in the beginning, they were quite secretive about their missing daughter– enlisting a friend of the family, as well as the Pinkerton Detective Agency, to conduct discreet investigations.
The family friend and attorney, John S. Keith, found nothing to be out of the ordinary inside Dorothy’s bedroom. In fact, all of her belongings had been left behind.
In turn, John moved on to searching morgues, hospitals, and jails in the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston areas for six weeks. The Arnold family spent thousands of dollars on John’s efforts, as well as the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s assistance.
Despite that, their searches came up dry. And after six weeks of secret investigations, the Arnold family finally decided to involve the police and the press.
At the time of Dorothy’s disappearance, she did have a boyfriend named George Griscom Jr., whom her parents strongly disapproved of.
The couple had met while Dorothy attended Bryn Mawr, but George was 42 years old. So, in spite of George’s affluent family roots and established career as an engineer, Dorothy’s parents did not want her to date a man nearly 20 years older than her.
This led the Arnold family to suspect that George had been involved in Dorothy’s disappearance. But, at the time she went missing, he was in Italy. Moreover, George claimed to have no clue about what had happened to her.
What George did suspect, though, was that Dorothy had been depressed. He reportedly had a letter penned by the young woman detailing her sadness regarding a recent magazine rejection.
“All that I can see ahead is a long road with no turning,” the letter read.
This caused some people to speculate that perhaps Dorothy had taken her own life. By late January 1911, though, the speculation no longer mattered.
On January 25, a host of reporters showed up at Francis Arnold’s office to hear a press conference. That day, the Arnold family also offered a $1,000 reward for the safe return of their daughter.
Then, as if in the blink of an eye, Dorothy’s case was featured in virtually every newspaper throughout the country.
Police began fielding thousands of tips and reported sightings– most of which were eventually proven false.
The publicity also brought Francis’ worst fears to life, with his family receiving two ransom notes– each asking for $5,000 in exchange for Dorothy’s return. He also received threats directed toward his other daughter, Marjorie.
Thankfully, these incidents did turn out to be hoaxes. But, the nationwide search for Dorothy was seemingly not enough to close her case– because she remains missing to this day.
There have since been numerous theories regarding Dorothy’s disappearance. Some suspect that she ran away in hopes of living out her life anonymously– although there is a lack of evidence about this possible scenario.
Still, in February 1911, the Arnold family did receive a postcard that simply said, “I am safe.” It was also signed with Dorothy’s signature and appeared to have been written in her penmanship.
Her father, Francis, though, was certain that the author of the letter had just copied Dorothy’s handwriting.
Another theory also surfaced six years after her disappearance when a Rhode Island convict alleged that he had been paid $150 to dig Dorothy’s grave.
Now, the convict could not provide the name of the person who had paid him. However, he claimed that it was a man who resembled Dorothy’s boyfriend, George Griscom Jr. As for Dorothy’s cause of death, the convict also claimed that she had passed away following a “botched abortion” and was later buried in the basement of a home near West Point.
Investigators did follow up on this tip and search numerous basements in the West Point area, though. And unfortunately, Dorothy’s body was never located.
The Arnold family, too, had their own specific theory– that Dorothy had been kidnapped and murdered.
Francis was particularly sure of this and believed that his daughter had been attacked while walking through Central Park and dumped in a nearby reservoir.
In spite of all these theories, though, Dorothy’s case was never resolved. And her parents, Francis and Mary, had lost hope that their daughter was still alive.
By the time Francis passed away in July of 1922 and Mary died in September of 1928, Francis had left behind a will for his estate. In it, he explained his decision to exclude Dorothy from the document.
“I have made no provision for my beloved daughter, Dorothy H.C. Arnold, as I am satisfied that she is not alive,” Francis wrote.
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