Dorothy Turley Bolton

• Missing Since 01/01/1983
• Missing From Elk, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 69 years old
• Height and Weight 5'6, 130 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A sweatshirt, Levi's jeans, sneakers and a gold band-type wedding ring.
• Medical Conditions Bolton may have been depressed at the time of her disappearance. She was recovering from a hip injury she'd sustained in a car accident.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. White hair, blue eyes. Bolton wears a full upper dental plate and a partial lower one. She often wears her hair in an upswept style.

Details of Disappearance

Bolton was last seen at her home on Greenwood Ridge Road eight and a half miles east of Elk, California on January 1, 1983. She lived with her husband in a trailer in a rural area surrounded by dense woods and steep terrain. Her husband stated he was watching a football game between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., and mentioned to Bolton that he was going to buy a new license for their trailer. She asked how much it would cost and was shocked at the $33.60 price; Bolton and her husband were retired and living on fixed incomes.

Her husband said she simply walked out the door after he told her how much the license would cost. She didn't take her coat, her purse or any money with her, and she didn't have a car. She has never been heard from again. Her husband reported her missing at 6:00 p.m.

According to Bolton's loved ones, she was despondent about their finances, the lingering effects from two serious car accidents she'd been in during the past two years, and her and her husband's isolation. They had moved to rural California from Los Angeles four years earlier, after her husband retired. Her husband stated she had no history of leaving home without warning, she wasn't taking any medication and rarely drank alcohol, and he didn't think she would have taken her own life or run away.

Prior to her disappearance, Bolton had often walked on the paths near her her home in search of wildflowers and plants. She was interested in nature and pottery, made bowls with weeds imprinted in the sides, and sold ceramic beads at the senior center. An extensive search turned up no indication of Bolton's whereabouts. Her case remains unsolved.