Yay!! I remember reading through your posts! I am from the Southwest so I didn't hear of Dail's disappearance until I moved here in 2017. I read through all the threads on websleuths because I was surprised at how little I could find elsewhere.
A lingering question that I always come back to. If it was a popular nightclub, wouldn't she have talked to at least a few people? Did she ever separate from the group earlier in the evening or just when they left and she hadn't? So many unanswered questions.
I agree! I will have to see if I can read through the newspaper articles again. I can't remember if I ever saw specific comments. I am not sure we even know how big of a group she went with.
| Last seen 1:30 am leaving Jungle Jim's bar in Five Points |
| Investigators questioned one of two men who spoke briefly….and disqualified him as a major factor in the investigation. ….the second man isn't a suspect either, but investigators wan to question him. |
| Companions left her one by one, thinking she would get a ride home |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/28/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Missing since 2:30 am |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/30/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| The last person to see her was the doorman at a Five Points bar who watched her walk out of the parking lot in search of friends from whom she had been separated that night |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/24/1994. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| A bouncer at Jungle Jim's…noticed her rush out of the club that fall morning. She ran across the club parking lot and up Harden Street toward Greene. Then she vanished. |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/25/1997. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Dail went to the ladies room and when she came out, everyone she knew had left bouncer told police Dail was rushing across a parking lot as if looking for her friends |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 8/14/2012. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| she had become separated from her friends and asked the bouncer if he'd seen them. He remembered watching Dail walk down the sidewalk towards another bar in the next block |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/27/2012. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Statement from parents: "A huge crowd was in Five Points and she lost touch with her friends and began to search for them. She was last seen walking toward Harden and Green intersection" |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/20/2017. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| She left the bar once, but returned a few minutes later. She eventually told the bouncer at the bar goodbye and headed towards Harden and Green Streets |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/24/2017. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| concert ended 11:15 pm; friends left approx 1:00 am; Dail spoke to bouncer for 15 mins before walking out the door between 1:15 and 1:30 am; she was last seen walking north on Harden St.; she left her purse behind |
Yes, they are frequently quoted in the articles I saw. Many expressed dismay. Several noted concern that it was someone they knew. A couple expressed remorse for walking by and leaving her. There is a very lengthy article about DD that goes over her entire life and several of her friends are quoted many times.
Did you find any comments relating to specific conversations they had with her that night? Has anyone been able to put together a more solid timeline of the night once they got to the bar?
No one mentioned a single conversation with her that night. Every published mention of the timeline I found was included above. The were other publications with stories, but they were all repeats of the same information.
The impression I got from the articles I read was that the Five Points area would have been rather crowded throughout the night. It was about a 10 minute walk home, but it was through a bad area. She had called her parents for a ride home before and would have done that instead of walking home according to her father. I will try to find which articles that information came from in the morning and figure out the best way to share the rest.
This is great, thank you! I do remember them mentioning the two men and they had sketches of them in one of the newspaper articles. It is a little frustrating that details surrounding their conversation with Dail were not released. I don't think the second man was the bouncer because they were able to talk to the bouncer.I spent the last few nights going through Newspapers.com and clipping every article related to Dail. I am trying to figure out the best place to post them. I also made notes of facts of the case as I went through. What I noticed, is that facts that seem like they should be important, have changed over time:
09/28/1992 - The State
Last seen 1:30 am leaving Jungle Jim's bar in Five Points Investigators questioned one of two men who spoke briefly….and disqualified him as a major factor in the investigation. ….the second man isn't a suspect either, but investigators wan to question him. Companions left her one by one, thinking she would get a ride home
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/28/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
09/30/1992 - The State
Missing since 2:30 am
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/30/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
09/24/1994 - The State
The last person to see her was the doorman at a Five Points bar who watched her walk out of the parking lot in search of friends from whom she had been separated that night
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/24/1994. Dail Dinwiddie
09/25/1997 - The State
A bouncer at Jungle Jim's…noticed her rush out of the club that fall morning. She ran across the club parking lot and up Harden Street toward Greene. Then she vanished.
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/25/1997. Dail Dinwiddie
08/14/2012 - The State
Dail went to the ladies room and when she came out, everyone she knew had left bouncer told police Dail was rushing across a parking lot as if looking for her friends
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 8/14/2012. Dail Dinwiddie
09/12/2012 - The State
she had become separated from her friends and asked the bouncer if he'd seen them. He remembered watching Dail walk down the sidewalk towards another bar in the next block
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/27/2012. Dail Dinwiddie09/20/2017 - The State
Statement from parents: "A huge crowd was in Five Points and she lost touch with her friends and began to search for them. She was last seen walking toward Harden and Green intersection"
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/20/2017. Dail Dinwiddie
09/24/2017 - The State
She left the bar once, but returned a few minutes later. She eventually told the bouncer at the bar goodbye and headed towards Harden and Green Streets
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/24/2017. Dail Dinwiddie
The Charley Project
concert ended 11:15 pm; friends left approx 1:00 am; Dail spoke to bouncer for 15 mins before walking out the door between 1:15 and 1:30 am; she was last seen walking north on Harden St.; she left her purse behind
With that, I would ask, is there an official source for the purse being left? I could only find it on TCP.
Was it 1:30am or 2:30m?
Did she disappear in the bar for a long time or just run to the restroom?
Did she talk to the bouncer for 15 minutes or rush out? Did she come back in?
Was she going towards another bar on the next block? Was this the same direction as Harden & Green?
Did investigators ever question the second man? Was the first man the bouncer?
@phcrider please keep us updated on the FOIA request. Have you filed already? I am very interested to see if they will release anything since this is still open and active from all indications.
These are the notes I made regarding the investigation. The 1995 article made it sound like the FBI was investigating. There was a later article that talked about the SLED team that was working on the case. They brought in a team of like 5 detectives who were not familiar with the case and had them go through everything. From what I could tell, there were multiple agencies involved.
| Officially a kidnapping |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 10/1/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Columbia Police say they have received more than 800 leads and have interviewed 250 people |
| Investigators believe someone planned the crime-that it was not an impulsive move. "People that tend to commit crimes on a whim tend not to cover their tracks well." |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 11/22/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| No longer considered a kidnapping |
| The investigation…now turns on the theory that she left…with an acquaintance. ..investigators soon would be giving lie detector tests to some people who know Dinwiddie to determine what they know… |
| No one has been ruled out as a suspect |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Austin speculates that Dail took a ride that night with someone who was, or who seemed, familiar. "It could be somebody who maybe met Dail in recent months and who she knew by site or first name, but who she knew well enough that if she needed a ride, she felt she could accept one." |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Many friends were interviewed 3-4 times. They became concerned it was someone they knew. |
| Friend asked in interrogation if he had any remote mountain or lake property anywhere |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/15/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Everyone who has taken a polygraph has passed |
| Police had dug for a gravesite more than two dozen times, including places where killers have buried their victims |
| Leaving on her own has not been ruled out |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 4/12/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| FBI's Rapid Start team digitize case and conduct new polygraph |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1995. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Cadaver dogs were used in the area she was last seen. The only found deet remiains A farm was dug up bc fresh mounds of dirt were seen Floor was torn out of home bc of odd odor A Marsh was searched 5 new detectives reviewed case and reinterviewed 32 people Richland Sheriff used 60 deputies to search a field based on psychic tips A drug dealer said she was in the trunk of a car in a lake, lake drained, car recovered. The informant named three people who had long been prime suspects. No body had ever been in the trunk |
www.newspapers.com
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 6/10/2006. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| "They always called me 'the nervous mother,'" Jean Dinwiddie said. "When Dail was learning to walk, the joke was that she never fell; I was always there to catch her." …also enjoyed horseback riding. Her mother took up the sport so they could compete together. "She was probably just my very best friend." |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/30/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Solid B student; has to study really, really hard to do well, but she would do that; |
| While a lot of her teachers described her as sweet,….English teacher and college adviser, hates that word. "I see her differently. She appeared vulnerable and sweet, and unless you really scratched the surface, she appeared malleable to what other people wanted, rather than she wanted herself. But she found ways of setting her own agenda and keeping her mother happy...I saw a lot of true grit in her." |
| Dail remained close to her mom. "If a guy called, her mom would drive to get her while we were out walking and say 'Guess who called?'" |
| "She always had some dilemma with guys. They said something insignificant, and she'd blow it out of proportion." |
| Her family was having some recession-related financial problems |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 10/15/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| Jean Dinwiddie, her husband said, "is particularly adept at tracking down people who were in the popular restaurant village the night of Dail's disappearance and convincing them they must talk to the police." |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 11/22/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
| The family has hired 23 psychics, a PI and become investigators themselves |
Dail DinwiddieClipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 4/12/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
www.newspapers.com
|
Do we know what friend was asked about remote mountain or lake property?These are the notes I made regarding the investigation. The 1995 article made it sound like the FBI was investigating. There was a later article that talked about the SLED team that was working on the case. They brought in a team of like 5 detectives who were not familiar with the case and had them go through everything. From what I could tell, there were multiple agencies involved.
10/1/1992 - The State
Officially a kidnapping
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 10/1/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
11/22/1992 - The State
Columbia Police say they have received more than 800 leads and have interviewed 250 people Investigators believe someone planned the crime-that it was not an impulsive move. "People that tend to commit crimes on a whim tend not to cover their tracks well."
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 11/22/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
01/13/1993 - The State
No longer considered a kidnapping The investigation…now turns on the theory that she left…with an acquaintance. ..investigators soon would be giving lie detector tests to some people who know Dinwiddie to determine what they know… No one has been ruled out as a suspect
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
1/13/1993 - The State
Austin speculates that Dail took a ride that night with someone who was, or who seemed, familiar. "It could be somebody who maybe met Dail in recent months and who she knew by site or first name, but who she knew well enough that if she needed a ride, she felt she could accept one."
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
1/15/1993 - The State
Many friends were interviewed 3-4 times. They became concerned it was someone they knew. Friend asked in interrogation if he had any remote mountain or lake property anywhere
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/15/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
4/12/1993 - The State
Everyone who has taken a polygraph has passed Police had dug for a gravesite more than two dozen times, including places where killers have buried their victims Leaving on her own has not been ruled out
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 4/12/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
1/13/1995 - The State
FBI's Rapid Start team digitize case and conduct new polygraph
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 1/13/1995. Dail Dinwiddie
9/25/1997 - The State
Cadaver dogs were used in the area she was last seen. The only found deet remiains
A farm was dug up bc fresh mounds of dirt were seen
Floor was torn out of home bc of odd odor
A Marsh was searched
5 new detectives reviewed case and reinterviewed 32 people
Richland Sheriff used 60 deputies to search a field based on psychic tips
A drug dealer said she was in the trunk of a car in a lake, lake drained, car recovered. The informant named three people who had long been prime suspects. No body had ever been in the trunk
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/25/1997. Dail Dinwiddie
6/10/2006 - The State
DNA obtained from Dail's hairbrush
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 6/10/2006. Dail Dinwiddie
What do you mean by “odd feeling?”Something that struck me as off when I first started going through the articles was the descriptions of Dail and her mother's relationship. There were several different mentions that gave me an odd feeling and made me want to know more about Dail's stress levels at the time.
9/30/1992
"They always called me 'the nervous mother,'" Jean Dinwiddie said. "When Dail was learning to walk, the joke was that she never fell; I was always there to catch her."
…also enjoyed horseback riding. Her mother took up the sport so they could compete together.
"She was probably just my very best friend."
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 9/30/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
10/15/1992
Solid B student; has to study really, really hard to do well, but she would do that; While a lot of her teachers described her as sweet,….English teacher and college adviser, hates that word. "I see her differently. She appeared vulnerable and sweet, and unless you really scratched the surface, she appeared malleable to what other people wanted, rather than she wanted herself. But she found ways of setting her own agenda and keeping her mother happy...I saw a lot of true grit in her."
Dail remained close to her mom. "If a guy called, her mom would drive to get her while we were out walking and say 'Guess who called?'" "She always had some dilemma with guys. They said something insignificant, and she'd blow it out of proportion."
Her family was having some recession-related financial problems
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 10/15/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
11/22/1992
Jean Dinwiddie, her husband said, "is particularly adept at tracking down people who were in the popular restaurant village the night of Dail's disappearance and convincing them they must talk to the police."
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 11/22/1992. Dail Dinwiddie
4/12/1993
The family has hired 23 psychics, a PI and become investigators themselves
Dail Dinwiddie
Clipping found in The State published in Columbia, South Carolina on 4/12/1993. Dail Dinwiddie
Hmmm yeah I guess so…I just think a new set of eyes or a larger unit would have (and would still be) very helpful. Someone knows something. People do not vanish into thin air. If the case is that cold, or if they are truly stuck, ask for help. But I guess maybe that’s just my type A personality talking!
Her mother seemed very involved in her life. Perhaps, overly so at times? Could this have put extra pressure on her? Influenced her decisions to the point she may not have been happy? The way some of the quotes were written, it was almost like they had a negative vibe to them.
Tim Hagood was the friend
