MT MT - Dorothy Freeman, 26, Missoula, 7 Sept 1970

[Robert Hungerschafer]

My wife Kari's father is Lloyd Grasdock, he is Dorothy's brother. In April 2018 he participated in DNA testing with FamilyTreeDNA and then we uploaded his DNA profile to GEDmatch kit T341507 with public opt-in for Law Enforcement Agencies.

 

[Alleykins]

My wife Kari's father is Lloyd Grasdock, he is Dorothy's brother. In April 2018 he participated in DNA testing with FamilyTreeDNA and then we uploaded his DNA profile to GEDmatch kit T341507 with public opt-in for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Welcome & please thank him for doing that.

 

[renaebri]

This is almost 100 miles away but I found a car, mostly white, that appears like it could be that style, ~340 ft off the road downhill near a creek.
I would think it's been discovered before but how many people check or report old cars in the woods like these for missing people? Would law enforcement check it out if given the details?

 

[renaebri]

Decided to email about it anyway, just in case.

 

[Betty P]

Well-meaning people often submit inaccurate witness sightings of missing people. It happens.

Unless there's other information about Dorothy that could explain why she would go so far beyond her original destination of Hamilton, it might help to consider that something might have happened to her on her drive between Missoula and Hamilton, or after she arrived in Hamilton.

Since she was going to be at her student teaching job the next day, she would have planned to stay the night somewhere in Hamilton. Back then, student (and non-student) teachers would often board with someone in the district. These were usually people who worked as teachers or were well-known acquaintances of people who worked at the schools. Was there any information about where she planned to stay in Hamilton? What was the road like back then between Missoula and Hamilton? Just some alternate suggestions.

 

[blooboyy77]

Decided to email about it anyway, just in case.

Interesting observation! That would be really far out if it were her car...

 

[cenazoic]

Since she was going to be at her student teaching job the next day, she would have planned to stay the night somewhere in Hamilton

But why? The article mentions she had an apartment in Missoula. Hamilton (today, at least) is an hour drive.

Okay, maybe she wanted to spend the night in Hamilton and be fresh for the first day, fair enough. But:

She left her apartment in Missoula at 9:30 p.m

For me, those two things don’t go together easily. If you’re gonna leave that late, why bother?

Then I come across a newspaper article which mentions she had a “residence in Hamilton.”

Date discrepancies:

NamUs, papers: 7 September 1970
Brother was reported as saying 7th, 8th, and 9th.
Montana Missing Persons reports 6 September!

Here’s a 1970 Montana highway map:

Montana, the big sky country : 1970 highway map : Montana. State Highway Commission : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Title taken from folded cover

archive.org

 

[Betty P]

But why? The article mentions she had an apartment in Missoula. Hamilton (today, at least) is an hour drive.

Okay, maybe she wanted to spend the night in Hamilton and be fresh for the first day, fair enough. But:



For me, those two things don’t go together easily. If you’re gonna leave that late, why bother?

Then I come across a newspaper article which mentions she had a “residence in Hamilton.”

Date discrepancies:

NamUs, papers: 7 September 1970
Brother was reported as saying 7th, 8th, and 9th.
Montana Missing Persons reports 6 September!

Here’s a 1970 Montana highway map:

Montana, the big sky country : 1970 highway map : Montana. State Highway Commission : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Title taken from folded cover

archive.org

She probably thought she would drive to Hamilton in time to go to bed and get a good night's sleep to be ready the next morning. She may have been busy preparing her lesson plan the night before. She may have even been tired and fell asleep on the way.

She may not have wanted to try to drive in time to get to Hamilton in time for class the next morning. Class starts early and she would need to be there an hour before students arrive. Student teaching is very important, its graded. She didn't want to risk being late due to car trouble, oversleeping, etc.



Here's a link to a calendar for September 1970. Chances are, Dorothy would have been expected to be at school on Monday. That would make it September 6. I'm also seeing the same variation in dates in the news reports back then.

Free 1970 Calendars in PDF, Word, Excel

Free 1970 yearly printable calendars in Word, Excel and PDF format. The blank and generic calendars have Sunday start and are easy to edit, customize, or print.

www.generalblue.com

Here's an article that says she left on "Monday evening" and was expected in Hamilton for student teaching on "Tuesday morning". That would make her leaving on the evening of Sept 7 and reporting to school on Sept 8. The witness sightings of her allegedly in other areas were on the 9th. I just don't see it. Why would she drive down there, then not show up for work, then be seen wandering around an hour away a day or two later?

The Missoulian 11 Sep 1970, page 2 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Missoulian dated 11 Sep 1970, page 2.

www.newspapers.com

 

[renaebri]

Interesting observation! That would be really far out if it were her car...

Yeah it would be odd, I was looking into a different case in that area anyway. I focus on ones of people missing with vehicles & have a map of them here. But hers was the next closest one and happened to have a vehicle that looks like a similar style.

Not convinced, it's so visible on google earth I would think someone would know about it, sitting there since at least 1997. Would it even still have color from the 70's?..

 

[renaebri]

post lag- ignore

 

[DS2021]

bumping.... misadventure seems most likely to me.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Dorothy Geneva Grasdock Freeman (1944-1970) -...

Details of death as per retired Ravalli County Sheriff Perry Johnson See: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GZJB-8JT

www.findagrave.com

 

[smeijles]

I just bumped into her case and what stood out to me is that her mother mentioned in the news article “with all these kidnappings going on, you kind of wonder if that’s what happened”.
I wonder which ones she is referring to and if it was in that specific area. I did find a similar case from 1966 where Susan Pearson disappeared also from Missoula. What stood out to me is that she was also attending the University of Montana (graduate school). Are there also any unsolved murder cases around that area that also have a link with the uni?

 

[mamabear43]

I stumbled upon this case and thought I would check google earth as well, between the location she lived and where she was to be student teaching. It does appear to be a vehicle in Blodgett Creek, which is right next to the road. I am not a local so I can't go check it out myself, but I hope somewhere here can! Hope the family is able to get some answers.