The Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott: The Stalker Who Wouldn’t Stop Calling

In 1980, a quiet young mother living in Orange County, California began receiving disturbing phone calls from a man who claimed he was watching her.

At first the calls seemed harmless — awkward flirtation from someone who refused to give his name. But over time the tone of the calls changed. The man began making threats. He described what Dorothy Jane Scott was wearing, what time she left work, and what she had done that day.

It quickly became clear that whoever was calling her wasn’t just harassing her over the phone.

He was stalking her.

Then one night in May of 1980, Dorothy vanished from a hospital parking lot in Orange County. Her car was later found burned in an alley miles away.

And the mysterious caller didn’t stop.

For the next four years, he continued calling Dorothy’s parents, asking the same chilling question:

“Is Dorothy home?”

More than forty years later, the murder of Dorothy Jane Scott remains one of Orange County’s most disturbing unsolved cases.

Who Was Dorothy Jane Scott?

Dorothy Jane Scott was 32 years old in the spring of 1980. She lived in Stanton, California, just outside Anaheim.

She was a single mother raising her four-year-old son, Shawn. Dorothy lived with her aunt while her parents, Jacob and Vera Scott, lived nearby and helped care for her son while she worked.

Her coworkers described Dorothy as quiet, reliable, and deeply devoted to her family. She didn’t drink or use drugs and spent most of her free time at home with her son or attending church.

Dorothy worked as a secretary for two jointly owned stores in Anaheim:

• Swinger’s Psych Shop
• Custom John’s Head Shop

The stores sold novelty and counterculture items popular in the late 1970s — posters, lava lamps, and other psychedelic décor.

Dorothy’s job mostly involved administrative work in the back office. She wasn’t someone who sought attention or drama.

By all accounts, she lived a quiet, ordinary life.

Which makes what happened to her even more disturbing.

The Stalker Phone Calls

Several months before Dorothy disappeared, she began receiving anonymous phone calls at work.

At first, the caller sounded infatuated with her.

He told her things like:

• “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
• “I want to take you out on a date.”

But Dorothy had no idea who the man was. He refused to give his name and always hung up quickly.

Soon the tone of the calls began to change.

The caller started making threats.

He told Dorothy he knew where she lived. He said he would come over and kill her.

Even more disturbing — he sometimes described exactly what she was wearing or what she had done earlier that day.

Dorothy quickly realized that the man wasn’t just calling her.

He was watching her.

The Dead Rose

One day the caller told Dorothy to go outside because he had left something for her.

When she checked her car, she found a single red rose sitting on the windshield.

But the rose was dead.

That moment terrified Dorothy because it confirmed what she already suspected: the man stalking her was physically nearby.

Even more unsettling, Dorothy later told her mother that the voice on the phone sounded familiar, although she could never figure out who it was.

May 28, 1980: The Night Dorothy Disappeared

On the evening of May 28, 1980, Dorothy was attending a staff meeting at the shop where she worked.

During the meeting, one of her coworkers, Conrad Bostron, began feeling extremely ill. Dorothy noticed a red mark on his arm and suspected it might be a spider bite.

Concerned for his health, she offered to drive him to the emergency room.

Dorothy, Conrad, and another coworker named Pam Head drove to UC Irvine Medical Center.

Doctors soon confirmed that Conrad had been bitten by a black widow spider.

Around 11:00 p.m., the group prepared to leave the hospital.

Dorothy offered to bring the car around to the entrance so Conrad wouldn’t have to walk to the parking structure.

She stepped outside to retrieve her vehicle.

She never returned.

The Strange Scene in the Parking Lot

Pam and Conrad waited outside the hospital for Dorothy to pull up with the car.

Instead, they suddenly saw her white Toyota station wagon speeding toward them.

The car accelerated quickly, its headlights shining directly toward them.

Because of the glare, they couldn’t see who was behind the wheel.

Then the car sped past them and turned out of the parking lot.

At the time, they assumed Dorothy had received an emergency call about her son.

But hours later, Dorothy still hadn’t contacted anyone.

Something was clearly wrong.

The Burned Car

At approximately 4:30 a.m., Dorothy’s car was discovered burning in an alley in Santa Ana — about ten miles from the hospital.

The fire had been intentionally set and appeared to have started in the passenger seat.

Dorothy was nowhere to be found.

Her purse and other belongings were missing.

The burned vehicle destroyed much of the potential forensic evidence that investigators might have used to determine what happened inside the car.

The Phone Calls to Her Parents

After Dorothy disappeared, her parents began receiving phone calls from an unidentified man.

The caller asked the same question every time:

“Is Dorothy home?”

These calls continued for years.

Sometimes the man claimed Dorothy was alive and safe with him. Other times he said he had killed her.

Despite attempts by police and telephone companies, the calls were never successfully traced.

In 1984, four years after Dorothy disappeared, the calls suddenly stopped.

The Discovery of Dorothy’s Remains

On August 6, 1984, construction workers near Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills discovered partially buried human remains.

The bones were located about 30 feet off the road in a remote area that had previously been damaged by a brush fire.

Using dental records, investigators confirmed the remains belonged to Dorothy Jane Scott.

Due to the condition of the remains, authorities were unable to determine her exact cause of death.

The fire that had damaged her car — combined with the years that passed before her body was discovered — meant investigators had very little forensic evidence to work with.

Who Killed Dorothy Jane Scott?

Investigators interviewed numerous individuals connected to Dorothy, including:

• coworkers
• customers at the shops where she worked
• acquaintances
• former partners

One acquaintance who reportedly expressed a desire to marry Dorothy was questioned but never charged.

Police have long suspected the killer was someone who knew Dorothy personally.

The stalker clearly knew her daily routine and had followed her movements for months.

Yet despite decades of investigation, no one has ever been arrested for her murder.

Could the Case Be Solved Today?

If Dorothy Jane Scott’s disappearance happened today, investigators would have access to forensic tools that didn’t exist in 1980.

These include:

• cell phone tower data
• surveillance cameras
• digital call tracing
• GPS vehicle tracking
• advanced DNA testing

While much of the evidence was destroyed or degraded, investigators believe the case could still be solved if new information comes forward.

Remembering Dorothy Jane Scott

More than four decades have passed since Dorothy disappeared from that hospital parking lot.

Her murder remains unsolved.

Dorothy was more than just a victim in a cold case. She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, and someone deeply loved by the people around her.

And somewhere out there, someone still knows what happened to her.

Listen to the full episode of Forensic Tales to hear the complete story of Dorothy Jane Scott and the chilling phone calls that continued long after she vanished.