Ruby Estelle Dorman

Dorman, circa 2003

  • Missing Since 04/20/2003
  • Missing From Laughlin, Nevada
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 07/07/1924 (99)
  • Age 78 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'5, 152 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A black sweater, slacks and shoes.
  • Medical Conditions Dorman has diabetes and is required to take medication daily.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) White Honda Accord (accounted for)
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Red hair, blue eyes. Dorman wears eyeglasses.

Details of Disappearance

Dorman finished her shift at the Flamingo Laughlin, in Laughlin, Nevada, where she was a buffet hostess, at 2:26 p.m. on April 20, 2003. She clocked out, changed out of her uniform and went to the parking garage where her white Honda Accord was on the fifth floor.

She should have arrived home at approximately 2:45 p.m., but Dorman's roommate was asleep at the time and did not know when she got in. Her car was later found parked outside her mobile home with her purse and keys inside it.

Dorman's daughter, Juliann White, whose birth name was Juanita White, called Dorman's roommate on the morning of April 20 and asked directions to the residence. Investigators believe they left together after Dorman returned home from work.

At 4:50 p.m. that day, White returned to Dorman's house alone, driving Dorman's Honda. She dropped it off and drove away in her own Jeep Cherokee. Dorman has never been heard from again. No evidence was found in her car when police searched it.

Foul play is suspected in Dorman's disappearance and investigators are treating it as a homicide. White is a suspect in her case; she has a history of mental illness and a long-standing enmity towards her mother and had threatened her in the past.

Among other things, White believes that Dorman ordered the homicidal cult leader Charles Manson and his followers to murder Rosemary LaBianca, White's aunt on her father's side, in 1969. (There is no evidence that Manson or any of his followers had any connection to Dorman.)

White was interviewed twice by authorities after her mother's disappearance and reportedly gave inconsistent statements. She denied driving Dorman's car or seeing her at all the day she vanished, although Dorman's roommate witnessed her doing both.

White moved away a short time after her mother disappeared and investigators have not been able to locate her for a third interview. There is insufficient evidence to charge her in her mother's case.

Dorman is described as a very reliable person who had not missed a single day of work for 20 years prior to April 2003. Her credit cards have not been used since her disappearance. No has been charged in connection with her case; it remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 702-298-2223

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 22, 2005.