NY NY - Dorothy Arnold, 25, New York, 1910

[Same Old Stella]

That's not it but thank you dotr, what a fascinating read!

 

[cenazoic]

Possibly referenced on page #36.
https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/ser.../6273fb93-bb9e-4571-8f4d-9440ccf6af47/content

Agreed, fascinating! (As an aside, Glenmoris appears to have later been ruled out, having been in prison at the time Dorothy went missing.)

Note to future readers: the above link is to a thesis about missing women in the early 20th-century, but it’s written from the perspective of how newspapers covered these cases, language used, underlying subtexts, etc, rather than from a true crime/‘solving the mystery’ angle.

The chapter on Dorothy Arnold is the most well-developed - it compares how the New York Times (readership: people like the Arnolds) and the (NY) Evening World (everyone else) reported on her case.

So it’s interesting from that perspective (and sadly, it seems not much has changed), and also because there are a number of women mentioned who likely could use more research!

Thanks for posting this, @dotr - lots of food for thought. (And if you know of any other academic papers like this, I’d love to see them!)

 

[StarrChance]

I can't find the newspaper article to save my life; it may be behind a paywall now. Didn't Dr. Meredith and his nurse admit to having killed Dorothy during an abortion gone wrong and disposing of her in the clinic incinerator at his house? I know I read this; does anyone know the article I'm talking about? If so, could you please link it?

This may be the article you’re looking for. It was a Dr Lutz that implicated them.
I believe this is the most likely outcome especially considering her boyfriend lived in Pittsburgh. The Arnold family most likely would not want to acknowledge it.

PITTSBURGH'S KEW SCANDAL (Continued From Page One.) plained, together with the dropping from sight of other women. Aceoiding to the alleged Lutz confession, several Pittsburgh physicians acted as "feeders" for the hospital, sending to Meredith for illegal operations women who came to them. In a number of cases when complications resulted and were followed bv death, the remains of the victims were heartlessly consigned to the monster furnace in the basement, according to Lutz. Meredith was held today in $12,000 bail on charges of performing an illegal operation and larcenv Miss Lucy Orr, alias Lucy Damms, head nurse and his alleged chief assistant, and Miss Mary Snyder, a nurse, were also in custody. The specific charge against Meredith is that he performed an illegal operation upon Mrs.

Myrtle Allison, of VVilkinsburg, near here, a year ag«. Lutz declared that he sent Mrs. Allison to Meredith. Lutz, declaring thai he was almost a wreck as a result ol his part -in the support of the hospital, described Meredith as a fiend apparently obsessed by love of brutality. gome time after sending Mrs.

Allison to Dr. Meredith, Lutz asked Meredith where she was, he said. Meredith, he declared, said she was dead. "Well, doctor, don't you think this is 'dangerous work?" Lutz claims to have asked Meredith. "Well," Lutz says he was told, "there was a certain party that came to me from New York and was traced aa far as my office.

It WAS Dorothy Arnold." When asked what had become of her Meredith was said to have motioned skyward with both hands, indicating, Lute said, that she had been cremated. Pressed for in answer as to the fate of Mrs. Allison, Meredith made similar gestures. Lutz said he had witnessed, cruel treatment of Mrs. Allison by Meredith ^when the woman was removed from Lutz'a office to Meredith's ambulance.

He literally threw her into the ambulance and called her a vile name. Lutz said, and when she moaned that she would like her mother sent for, Meredith assured her with a brutal laugh "Oh, you'll B«e ''our mother soon enough, all right." Strange things were found by detectives searching the "house of mystery." Among the belongings of Miss Orr, head nurse and alleged participant -to the extent of one-fourth in the profits of the sanitarium, WAS found a red wig e and a complete set%of face colorings. furniture; highest cash price. Call 7413 S. Rothberg, 1734 Lafayette street.

Wanted--To Rent WANTED--To rent flat, four or five unfurnished rooms, modern, close in. Phone 1084 green. In the closet was found a complete of instruments. They were covered with a pile of- old clothes, as though hurrienly placed there in an effort to hide them. Ashes in the basement the earth in a stone-walled pit will examined for traces of bone dust and quicklime, it was said.

 

[Same Old Stella]

That wasn't it either but this is the first I've heard of Dr. Lutz! That a great clue. I'm going to search around and see if or why not Meredith didn't stand trial for murder. Seems like testimony from Lutz and the 2 nurses would've put him behind bars. Thank you, StarrChance!

 

[theshadow45]

Dorothy has been missing for 114 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Dorothy’s birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Dorothy has been missing for 115 years today.

 

[Same Old Stella]

I found it, however I can't link it but I can point you in the right direction. "Dark Matters and Mysteries in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia". On that site, type in search box, "House of Mystery". That should bring it up.

 

[Gators North]

I found it, however I can't link it but I can point you in the right direction. "Dark Matters and Mysteries in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia". On that site, type in search box, "House of Mystery". That should bring it up.

Thanks! Found it!

 

[branwell]

Article from People looking back on the case:

What Happened to Dorothy Arnold? N.Y. Socialite's 1910 Disappearance Is Oldest Missing Persons Case in U.S.

The heiress’s disappearance captured imaginations and highlighted societal woes in one of America’s earliest true crime stories.

people.com

The picture used by People magazine is the wrong Dorothy Arnold. Their photo of a stylish toung woman in 1920 is a showgirl appearing in the Greenwich Village Folloies of 1920 named Dorothy Arnold. By 1920 Dorothy would have been 35 years old. In any case. she never had a svelte dancer's body. Category:Dorothy Arnold (showgirl) - Wikimedia Commons
commons.wikimedia Dorothy Arnold showgirl
The picture of her in the lacy headdress is accurate, and the rest of their story is true--as far as it goes.
I've just finished a book on Dorothy Arnold--part fiction, part facts. Now I have to find a publisher.