0:14

Who ever took them or whatever happened because

0:16

we don't know what happened. We

0:18

haven't got leads on this in a long time. There

0:20

hasn't been call-ins on this in a

0:22

very, very, very long time. So

0:25

this is one of those cases that kind

0:28

of just nags at you. You know, you wish you

0:31

had something that would surface

0:33

so that you can try and bring

0:35

some closure to this. And

0:38

it's been since day one that I'm the advocate

0:41

for my family. Some of

0:43

my older brothers and sisters, they can't handle it. My

0:46

little brothers and sisters were too little, so it

0:48

just got thrown on my shoulders. It's

0:51

a path that I never

0:53

wanted to take, but it's my

0:55

life. And I want answers for my

0:57

brothers and sisters, and they deserve them as

1:00

well as I do. It's

1:02

hard because, I mean, we're

1:05

going back 20-something years. Some

1:07

people moved. Some might have

1:09

passed already trying to

1:11

find them. Some of them, they

1:13

fell off the grid. They're

1:15

hard to try to track down.

1:18

It's harder to solve. On

1:23

May 23, 1993, 14-year-old Danielle

1:25

Pitcher left the family home

1:27

with her mother, Dorothy. The

1:30

two planned to walk to the local

1:32

convenience store in Sonizona, Arizona to buy

1:35

some cigarettes for her father. On

1:38

their way, they stopped at Danielle's sister

1:40

Dana's house, and then they continued on

1:42

their walk. Although witnesses

1:44

spotted them walking along their route that

1:46

day, Danielle and Dorothy never

1:48

made it home and haven't been seen

1:50

in the 26 years since

1:52

that day. I'm Marissa, and

1:55

from Wondery, this is episode 189 of The Vanished.

2:00

Dorothy Story. Audible.

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or month to keep from their entire catalog.

2:38

I carve out a little bit of time

2:40

to listen each evening on cooking dinner, and

2:42

recently I've been listening to Lay Them To

2:45

Rest by Laura Norton. If you're interested in

2:47

true crime, you won't want to miss it.

2:49

New. Members can try audible free

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for thirty days says audible.com/am.

2:54

I A or text Am I

2:56

A to Five Hundred Five hundred

2:58

that's audible.com/am I A or text Am

3:00

I A to Five hundred Five

3:02

hundred. Son.

3:05

Is illness. Arizona is a very

3:07

small town just north of the

3:09

international border. Between the United States

3:11

and Mexico, The. Large

3:13

pitch your family composed of Dorsey

3:15

and John pitcher. And they're fourteen

3:17

children Had settled there after moving

3:20

from the east coast. Back.

3:22

In Nineteen Ninety Three. Six as

3:24

the fourteen pitcher children were still living

3:26

at home. The pitcher struggled

3:29

to make ends meet, but made sure

3:31

to take time with each child for

3:33

small treats and play dates. On.

3:35

This particular day, Mom Dorothy took

3:37

the. Any all along with her for her

3:39

walk. To purchase cigarettes for her husband

3:42

at the store several miles from their

3:44

residence. For the story

3:46

we interviewed one of Danielle sisters,

3:48

Dawn who shared what life was like

3:50

in the tiny town of Son

3:52

A Zona in what she remembers about

3:55

Danielle. Share selling.

3:57

she was You

4:00

know, she loved to sing and she

4:02

had this pitch in her voice when she sang,

4:04

I can't even do it, but she

4:07

would sing and she's

4:09

just happy and silly

4:13

and she would, great, you know, we all

4:15

had our little nickname. My

4:18

name's Lola and everyone had a

4:20

nickname and we all usually still go

4:22

by them to this day. Hers

4:25

was Mel and Danielle and that's what we would

4:27

call it. And it

4:29

was just because it just rhymes, I don't know.

4:32

But she was just a

4:34

fun, happy-go-lucky, good

4:37

person. The reason why we went there

4:39

is because my little brother Jesse had

4:41

severe arthritis and he would fall

4:43

a lot and so

4:45

they said the warmer weather. And

4:48

also because my nana, my mom's

4:50

mom loved it down there. So

4:53

we went there and then we

4:55

lived in Tucson down the south side.

4:58

We lived there for a few years and

5:00

then my parents just moved to Kansas settlement

5:02

road. Dawn was older

5:05

than Danielle and was no longer living with

5:07

her parents. In fact, she

5:09

hadn't been to Sonizona until after

5:11

Danielle and Dorothy disappeared. But

5:13

this is how she described the town. I

5:17

moved to Boston and then that's when

5:19

my family moved to Sonizona. And

5:21

like I said, I had never been

5:24

there until this all went

5:26

down and I went down. The road

5:28

heading to the store, the

5:30

only traffic that would

5:32

be on that road would be the people

5:34

who lived on it. It's dirt road, it's

5:38

windy, it's only

5:40

people who would be, there's no reason,

5:43

unless you were going to visit somebody,

5:45

there's no reason. Like

5:47

an 18 wheeler truck wouldn't be

5:49

driving down those roads. May

5:52

23rd, 1993 was a warm spring day that started like any

5:54

other Sunday. The

5:59

Pichar Children's Hospital. went to church while parents

6:01

Dorothy and John Pitcher stayed

6:03

home and spent some rare

6:05

time alone together. When

6:07

the children arrived home from church, John

6:10

offered to make lunch while Dorothy went to

6:12

the store to purchase cigarettes for him. The

6:15

family had a car, but Dorothy preferred to

6:18

walk for exercise. Occasionally,

6:20

if it was too hot, Dorothy would

6:22

ask for a ride from some locals

6:24

who passed her while she was walking.

6:27

As Dorothy was getting ready to leave, she

6:29

asked one of the other children if they'd

6:31

like to accompany her on her errand, but

6:34

that child declined. Dorothy

6:36

then asked Danielle, who agreed to go

6:38

along with her. According

6:40

to the family, Danielle and Dorothy left

6:43

at approximately 1pm to go to the

6:45

store. When they left,

6:47

they only had the clothes on their backs

6:49

and $3 to purchase the cigarettes. They

6:52

left behind all of their belongings,

6:54

including Dorothy's purse, which was

6:56

normal for her to do on her walks. Around

6:59

1.30pm, Danielle's older sister Dana said they

7:02

sought by her house but left after

7:04

a short visit. Dorothy

7:06

had asked Dana if she wanted to

7:08

accompany them, but Dana declined because she

7:10

wasn't feeling well. Around

7:13

this same time, Sonizona local, Danny Morris,

7:15

claims to have seen them walking along

7:17

the road leading to the store. Danny

7:21

and Dorothy knew each other, and Danny

7:23

told John Pitcher he would have offered

7:25

Dorothy and Danielle a ride that day,

7:27

but they were going in the opposite

7:29

direction. With this timeline

7:31

in mind, Dawn walked us through what

7:33

happened that day. My

7:36

little brothers and sisters went to church, and

7:39

my mother and father were home, and

7:41

when the kids came home from church, my

7:45

mother asked my youngest

7:47

sister, Chantel, if she wanted to walk

7:49

to the store with her, and

7:51

Chantel said no. So

7:53

Danielle said that she would go.

7:56

They left the store, and my father stayed home

7:58

with the other... kids, they

8:01

walked to the store. It

8:03

was like a two-mile walk. But

8:05

that's how my mother got exercise. My

8:08

mother and sister. Yes, this appeared. They

8:11

did send out the police

8:13

officers K-9 and

8:15

pick up the scent of my mother

8:18

and sister leaving the

8:21

house, walking to my other sister's

8:23

house, Dana, where I forgot to add

8:25

that they did ask

8:27

Dana if Dana wanted to go. Dana

8:29

had recently just had a

8:32

child. And so she

8:34

said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to

8:36

stay home, but come back

8:38

and get us so we can go

8:40

have dinner with you guys. It was

8:43

about a two-mile walk each way. So

8:45

I would say probably, I mean,

8:48

depends on how fast they

8:50

walked or how low they walked. So

8:53

maybe two hours. And they

8:56

would also frequently take

8:58

rides from people who offered them one. If

9:01

they knew the person who pulled over, I mean,

9:04

it was a rural town. It's very, very

9:06

small. There's only a population of like 200

9:09

in the area. So ultimately, if

9:11

someone pulled over, I

9:14

would assume you knew them to

9:16

see if you wanted to arrive. Dana, they

9:18

never came back to get her. So she

9:20

ended up going to my father because they

9:22

didn't have a house phone at the time

9:25

and saying, what happened? Why

9:27

didn't mom and Danielle come back and get

9:30

me? And my

9:32

father told her that they hadn't even gotten

9:34

home yet. So they

9:37

went looking through pretty

9:39

much the desert, they're all dirt roads

9:41

or the highway to walk. And

9:44

they went to the store. They said, yes, they

9:46

were there. They left hours ago. And then

9:49

so my father, she did to call

9:51

the police. The Cochise

9:53

County said, Vince, Danielle

9:55

is with a parental person.

9:58

You can't do it for 48 hours. So

10:00

48 hours later, they came

10:02

and that's when the K-9 picked

10:05

up their fence leaving the house

10:08

taking their all back

10:10

dirt roads that they walked to

10:12

get to the store and then they

10:15

walked the main road and

10:17

then they just bent

10:20

disappears at the S-curve. When

10:23

Dorothy and Danielle failed to return home

10:25

that day or by the next morning,

10:27

the family immediately started looking for the

10:29

pair. Here's Dawn. Then

10:32

you wonder where we are, are you calling all

10:34

their friends? I mean, my mom

10:36

didn't call my her mom, my

10:39

nana, who she spoke to at

10:41

least twice a week. None

10:43

of Danielle's friends have seen her and my

10:46

mom's best friend, I mean her sisters,

10:48

her brothers, we were looking everywhere. And

10:51

when my dad said her

10:54

purse is still here, she only took enough

10:57

money to buy what she

11:00

was supposed to buy and it was my father's cigarette.

11:03

We were lucky enough to be granted

11:06

access to Dorothy and Danielle's missing persons

11:08

file. Inside, we found

11:10

a lot of information that hadn't previously

11:12

been released to the public. In

11:15

early searches for Dorothy and Danielle, a dog

11:17

picked up their scent and followed it to

11:20

the RV park store. Police

11:22

spoke to the owner who said that Dorothy

11:24

had been in with one of the children

11:26

the day prior, but not on Sunday. A

11:29

woman who was working as a cook at the

11:31

RV store had a different story. She

11:34

said that she saw Dorothy and Danielle

11:36

come into the RV store, buy ice

11:38

cream and then go around the building

11:40

and continued walking. A local

11:42

pastor contacted the police and stated that

11:44

someone had told him that they had

11:47

seen the pair at the RV store

11:49

and walked around the building and used the

11:51

payphone. With this tip

11:53

about the payphone, investigators contacted the

11:55

telephone company to see if they

11:58

could get a list of phone calls made from

12:00

the public. that payphone on the day of their

12:02

disappearance. If they did call someone,

12:04

that could be an important lead. This

12:07

ended up being a dead end. They

12:09

were told that due to the mechanics of the

12:11

telephone system, it was impossible for

12:13

them to give a list of phone numbers called

12:15

from the phone booth at the RV park. Another

12:18

employee at the RV park had yet

12:20

another story. She said that

12:23

two days prior to their disappearance, she

12:25

had picked Dorothy up when she saw her walking

12:27

to the store. Dorothy was buying

12:29

cigarettes for her husband that day too,

12:32

but she was 30 cents short. This

12:35

woman loaned her the 30 cents. Dorothy

12:37

promised her that she would repay her

12:39

on Saturday, but the woman said that

12:42

she was off on Saturday, so they

12:44

agreed to Sunday instead. This

12:47

woman was certain that she would remember if

12:49

Dorothy came in that day because they were

12:51

supposed to meet. With all this

12:53

confusion over whether or not they made it to

12:55

the RV park store, John Pitcher

12:57

spent a lot of time thinking about this. He

13:00

told investigators that he believed that he figured

13:02

out why there was so much confusion over

13:04

whether or not they stopped at the RV

13:06

store. He believed that they never

13:08

made it to the store and that

13:11

those who thought they saw them were remembering

13:13

when she came in the previous day. John

13:16

said that Dorothy was very conscientious

13:18

about ensuring that he had an

13:20

adequate supply of cigarettes on hand.

13:22

When they left on Sunday, they were only going

13:24

to purchase cigarettes and left with exactly $3 of

13:26

the $7 in cash they had at home. The

13:31

day before, she had gone to the store

13:33

with another one of her daughters and

13:36

they did buy ice cream as the

13:38

store personnel had described. Later

13:40

in the evening on Saturday, Dorothy had

13:42

purchased a container of ice cream from

13:44

the Schwann's trick, so he thought

13:46

there was no need for her to buy ice cream

13:48

at the RV store since they

13:51

had some at home. Whether or

13:53

not they made it to the RV store that

13:55

day or if some witnesses were remembering when Dorothy

13:57

was there the day prior remains a

13:59

mystery. to this day. Shortly

14:02

after their disappearance, police began

14:04

to focus their investigation on

14:06

Danielle's father and Dorothy's husband,

14:08

John Pitcher. The police

14:10

interviewed all of the Pitcher children, including

14:13

a child they had been babysitting the

14:15

entire weekend. All of the

14:17

children gave consistent accounts about the events that

14:19

took place the weekend that Dorothy and

14:22

Danielle disappeared. And they didn't

14:24

appear to be coached. Some of

14:26

the interviews yielded important information. One

14:29

child said that Dorothy had been planning a trip

14:31

back east and wanted to take Danielle with

14:33

her. And others said that

14:35

their father, John Pitcher, tended to drink too

14:37

much, but so did Dorothy on occasion. Overall,

14:41

though, the accounts of the children were

14:43

consistent and did not indicate

14:45

any kind of abuse within the home

14:47

or perception that there was family involvement

14:49

in the pair's disappearance. John

14:52

had not reported Dorothy and Danielle

14:54

missing until the following day. When

14:56

asked about this by the police, he said that

14:58

he was at his job as a night watchman

15:00

at the local school and he couldn't

15:03

leave his post. However, when

15:05

police called the school, they were

15:07

informed that Mr. Pitcher didn't work at the

15:09

school but volunteered to stand watch at

15:11

night and that he could come and go

15:13

as he pleased. This seemed like

15:15

an odd inconsistency, but

15:18

this wasn't the only instance in which Mr.

15:20

Pitcher's story didn't make sense. I mentioned

15:22

earlier that Dorothy liked to walk to the

15:25

store and that's why she chose

15:27

to do so on May 23rd. John

15:29

Pitcher told the police that she had walked to

15:31

the store that day because the car was

15:34

broken down. But later that

15:36

night when Dorothy and Danielle had not

15:38

returned, he drove to his daughter

15:40

Dana's house to see if she had seen the

15:42

pair. John told investigators that

15:44

something inside him told him that something

15:47

bad had happened to his wife. He

15:49

said he was sleeping on the couch when the door

15:51

blew open and he had a

15:54

premonition of his wife standing there bleeding. He

15:56

stated that he got up but no one was

15:59

there. The police eventually cleared

16:01

John Pitcher of any involvement in

16:03

the case and he

16:05

passed a polygraph exam, but these

16:07

discrepancies are odd nonetheless. It's

16:10

also important to note that there are

16:12

other factors that reduce the likelihood that

16:14

Mr. Pitcher was involved in the disappearance

16:17

of Dorothy and Danielle. For

16:19

example, the Pitchers had been babysitting a

16:21

friend's child over the weekend. He

16:24

was a young boy that they often looked after.

16:27

He gave a statement to police that

16:29

was consistent with the Pitcher children's police

16:31

interviews. None of the

16:34

children, nor the visiting child, saw or

16:36

heard anything that pointed to Mr.

16:38

Pitcher's involvement. When Dorothy

16:40

and Danielle disappeared, John Pitcher struggled

16:42

to care for so many children

16:44

without his wife. Don told

16:47

us that not only was she looking for her sister

16:49

and mother, but she was also

16:51

learning to grow up and raise kids

16:53

fast. It pretty

16:55

much killed my father. Within five

16:58

years, my dad died. And

17:01

me and a couple of my other sisters had

17:03

to take the little kids and raise them as

17:05

a child. You know, the detectives

17:08

that were on the case

17:10

at the beginning would call the family, do

17:12

all of that, but then they were just

17:14

dealing with my father. Then

17:17

there were a couple of sisters that would

17:19

call down and then I would call down

17:21

and, you know, we'd all try to keep

17:23

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19:48

With John Pitcher cleared the

19:50

investigation went cold for many years.

19:53

With few clues to go on police

19:55

chase down many false leads that came

19:57

from various psychics all over the country.

20:00

A tip came in saying

20:02

that Dorothy had allegedly had an affair

20:04

with a man who moved to another state

20:06

prior to their disappearance but

20:09

he too was quickly ruled out. Eventually

20:12

they began to focus on several others who

20:14

lived in the area. One

20:17

thing that several people stated during interviews

20:19

was that Dorothy always told her children

20:21

to never take a ride from a

20:23

stranger. Dorothy was never known

20:25

to get rides from strangers herself but

20:28

she did sometimes get rides from locals that

20:30

she knew. What if they

20:32

got into a vehicle with a local who harmed them?

20:35

I mentioned earlier that a neighbor,

20:37

Danny Morris, had seen Danielle

20:40

and Dorothy walking along the S-shaped curve

20:42

of the highway. He said

20:44

that they had waved at him. Danny

20:46

was with his wife and two neighbors at the

20:48

time. They were driving together

20:50

but in two separate vehicles. They

20:53

had never been formally interviewed or cleared

20:55

by police. Over the

20:57

years, investigators began to hear rumors about

21:00

his possible involvement in the case. In

21:03

2002, they were told that years ago,

21:06

Danny had a young blonde girl at his home

21:08

that he was holding against her will. They

21:11

were able to track down one person who seemed

21:13

to know more about this. This

21:15

man told them that years ago, he and

21:18

a friend came upon Danny Morris and another

21:20

man burning something in a barrel. Danny

21:23

told them to leave the area and they did.

21:26

Years later, they returned to the area, found

21:28

the barrel and saw bones but didn't

21:30

move them or report it to the

21:32

police. Investigators

21:34

located the barrel and the bones but

21:36

they were determined to be animal bones.

21:40

Investigators interviewed Danny in 2003 to

21:42

find out what his involvement may

21:44

have been. Danny

21:46

told the police that he knew John and

21:48

Dorothy pitcher and that he and

21:50

his wife sometimes enjoyed drinks with the couple.

21:53

He also recalled seeing Danielle and Dorothy

21:55

walking to the store on May 23rd, telling police.

22:00

they were already around that curve there

22:02

headed towards Sonizona. They were probably

22:04

oh a good quarter of a mile

22:06

around that curve. At the

22:08

time of this interview, Danny was facing federal

22:11

firearms charges and

22:13

significant prison time. The

22:15

police were hoping to exchange valuable

22:17

information about what happened to Dorothy

22:19

and Danielle in exchange for leniency

22:21

on the federal charges. Danny

22:24

insisted that he did not know what

22:26

happened to the pair and even offered

22:28

to take a polygraphic. In 2009, they

22:32

went back to the man who would given them the tip

22:34

about the barrel and asked for more

22:36

information. And he certainly had a

22:38

lot more to offer this time around. He

22:41

said that two men had picked the pictures up

22:43

at the S curve on the highway and took

22:46

them to a property that belonged to the

22:48

Morris family. This man claims

22:50

that he was at the Morris residence that

22:52

day and asked who the women were. One

22:55

of the men said that Danielle was his girlfriend,

22:57

and he just didn't give it much thought. He

23:00

was later told that Danielle was kept for

23:02

a period of time before being murdered and

23:04

buried in the basement of a house on

23:06

the property. And a concrete

23:09

slab was poured over the area. He

23:11

didn't know what happened to Dorothy. Shockingly,

23:14

this informant said that not only was

23:16

Danielle killed and buried there, but

23:19

that Danielle and Dorothy weren't the only

23:21

victims of the Morris family. He

23:23

stated that a couple of years prior to the

23:26

disappearance of the pictures, Danny

23:28

went to Texas and picked up a teen girl

23:30

who was a runaway. He allegedly

23:32

brought her back to his property and kept her

23:35

there for a period of time, but

23:37

that she was eventually murdered and that she

23:39

was also buried on the property under

23:42

another concrete slab. He

23:44

had seen this girl at the Morris property and thought

23:46

she may have been 15 to

23:49

16 years old with shoulder length blonde

23:51

hair. He said that she was

23:53

kept there for the Morris men to rape. That

23:56

included Danny, his brother, John, and

23:58

their father, Richard, who was. a

24:00

sex offender. He remembered a time

24:02

when he had seen Danny drive up to

24:04

a little league game that he was attending,

24:06

and he had the blonde girl with him. She

24:09

looked scared. He watched as

24:11

Danny got out of his truck and went

24:13

to speak with his father. Another man

24:15

came up to the truck and the girl exited

24:17

and got into that man's truck. Danny

24:20

saw this and ran to the other truck,

24:22

grabbed the girl, punched her in the face,

24:24

and then dragged her back to his truck

24:26

and sped away. He claims

24:28

that he went to the Morris property to see what

24:30

happened to the girl. When

24:32

he arrived, she was being pushed into the

24:35

house, and he asked who she

24:37

was. Danny's father said that

24:39

she was his girlfriend. He was

24:41

later told by Danny's brother John that

24:43

while he was raping the girl, he

24:45

accidentally strangled her. John allegedly

24:47

told him that his mother had tried to

24:50

help the girl escape and was beaten

24:52

by Danny when he found out. Their

24:54

mother moved out of state shortly after

24:57

this incident. While I was

24:59

reading the picture file, I was shocked.

25:01

I kept thinking that we have a whole other mystery on

25:03

our hands. As I continued

25:06

to read further, I learned that

25:08

investigators identified a possible match for

25:10

this girl from Texas. Her

25:12

name is Deanna Michelle Maryfield. She

25:15

disappeared back in 1990, which

25:18

fits with the informant's story

25:20

about this happening prior to

25:22

Dorothy and Danielle disappearing. Deanna

25:24

was 13 when she went missing and

25:26

was reported as a runaway. Deanna's

25:28

sister says that she left in a vehicle with

25:31

two men. She said she

25:33

was going to Arizona with these two guys and

25:35

was going to make lots of money. Could

25:38

Deanna be the person that the informant claims

25:40

was being held captive at the Morris

25:42

property? I found something else that

25:44

seems to back up this claim. A Texas

25:47

Department of Safety analyst mentioned that

25:49

she had an aunt who lived

25:51

in Arizona near the Morris family

25:53

and remembers that around 1990, when

25:56

Deanna disappeared from Texas, that

25:58

a slim blonde girl named Dina was

26:01

living on the Morris property. Her

26:03

aunt remembers Danny Morris' mother being beaten

26:05

and abused for trying to help this

26:08

girl leave, which is also

26:10

what the informant claimed. In

26:12

later interviews conducted with Danny's sister-in-law,

26:15

she related to police that

26:17

her ex-husband, John Morris, and his

26:19

brother Danny had killed Dorothy and

26:21

Danielle and concealed their remains on

26:24

the property. She stated that

26:26

John Morris had told her this story many

26:28

times. She spoke of a

26:30

time when Danny Morris, his brother John, and

26:33

another man got together and were

26:35

drinking and using methamphetamine. They

26:37

all discussed the kidnapping of Dorothy

26:39

and Danielle, their murders, and

26:41

the disposal of their remains on the

26:44

property owned by the Morris family. One

26:47

of the other picture children began receiving

26:49

phone calls and emails from a woman

26:51

in the area telling her that Dorothy and

26:53

Danielle had been killed and disposed of

26:55

in blue barrels. This woman

26:58

did not reveal her identity because she

27:00

was in fear of retaliation. In

27:02

late 2009, after several witnesses

27:05

gave consistent accounts that Dorothy

27:07

and Danielle were raped and murdered on

27:09

the Morris property, police obtained a search

27:12

warrant for the property for the purpose

27:14

of searching for human remains. The

27:17

University of Arizona brought out

27:19

resources including ground-penetrating radar devices,

27:22

as well as their forensic anthropologists.

27:25

The search did yield some bone

27:27

fragments. However, most were determined to

27:30

have belonged to animals and

27:32

nothing related to Danielle or Dorothy was

27:34

located during the search. It

27:36

seems as though this lead was taken as far

27:39

as they could but there just isn't

27:41

enough to go on. Today,

27:43

Danny is incarcerated on

27:45

unrelated charges. His brother

27:47

John is paralyzed after being shot by

27:49

police during a domestic dispute and

27:52

his father Richard is deceased. All

27:55

three men have extensive criminal backgrounds

27:57

and as I mentioned, Richard

27:59

was a registered sex offender. The

28:02

police also had some other people they

28:04

wanted to talk to about suspected involvement.

28:07

One of these individuals was Robert Charles

28:09

Brown, a notorious serial

28:11

killer who admitted to committing at least

28:13

48 murders. However,

28:16

the police research showed that Brown was

28:18

not in Arizona at the time that

28:20

Danielle and Dorothy disappeared and

28:23

this lead quickly fizzled. Dawn

28:25

told us that there was another lead in the

28:27

case. Something did

28:30

happen to her before the situation

28:33

of her being missing. And

28:36

what it was was my father had a

28:39

friend of his would

28:41

come to the house and hang out with my dad.

28:44

And apparently he

28:47

was molesting and Danielle.

28:50

And when my father found out he tried to hurt

28:53

the guy. The guy got arrested and went to

28:55

jail because my mother and father took my sisters

28:57

to the police

28:59

department so they can be interviewed.

29:02

I seen pictures of

29:05

Danielle and I have

29:07

pictures of Danielle before that incident ever

29:09

happened. And then I have

29:11

pictures of her after that incident happened. And

29:13

it was, I want to say, a

29:16

year before and my mother

29:18

and father pressed charges. Because

29:21

I guess he tried to do

29:23

it to another sister and she went

29:27

crazy and then confronted

29:30

Danielle and that's when

29:32

it went to my daughter's father. The

29:35

gentleman who did it, his name was Sherman

29:37

Harper, they researched

29:39

him to see if that had

29:41

happened. If it was him, he

29:43

was still in jail. The pictures that

29:46

I saw of Danielle

29:49

after, you know, like when you could see

29:51

it in our face, I have

29:53

some pictures of her just like being

29:56

at school doing something. And

29:58

she didn't have that. look

30:01

to her like she did in

30:03

the past. He was in

30:05

prison and he was investigated to make

30:08

sure that he was like researched and everything to

30:10

make sure that he was in prison that he

30:12

had no connection to it. Danielle's

30:15

sister Dawn isn't sure what happened to her

30:17

mother and sister but she does have some

30:19

thoughts about what may have happened to them.

30:23

Somebody pulled over and said because now this

30:25

is on a highway the S-curve where the

30:28

scent just disappeared where

30:30

somebody could have offered them a

30:32

ride and if my

30:34

mother said no or if my mother said sure

30:37

and then took them or if my

30:40

mother said no when they grabbed my

30:42

sister and said get in the car. But

30:45

according to the story that this gentleman

30:47

said to me before

30:49

he died they grabbed him they

30:53

kept Danielle alive for a couple weeks my mother

30:55

was dead within 24 hours. Despite

30:58

initial frustrations with the lack of

31:00

progress on the case Dawn

31:03

has renewed hope in the current law

31:05

enforcement investigation. In

31:07

late 2009 the Albuquerque Police

31:09

Department called Cochise County Arizona

31:11

about some human remains located

31:14

in their jurisdiction back in

31:16

1994. The Albuquerque Police

31:18

stated that a reconstruction of the

31:21

remains bore a striking resemblance to

31:23

Dorothy Pitcher. Unfortunately the

31:25

DNA results demonstrated that

31:27

the remains were not Dorothy and

31:30

yet another lead was exhausted. Still

31:33

Dawn remains positive with the

31:36

continued investigation. She

31:38

shared one experience in which she was able

31:40

to visit one of the people considered to

31:42

be a person of interest. The

31:45

newest detectives they're even doing a

31:47

better job. Like I said I

31:49

was out there like a year and a

31:51

half ago and the detective of

31:54

her and I went out we hung posters

31:56

we talked to people we did a

31:58

few things and then Two years

32:00

before that, I went out

32:02

and I met a gentleman who,

32:05

the two detectives that were on the case

32:07

at the time, one is still on

32:10

the case, the other one's retired. We're still

32:12

following up on the lead from that, from

32:15

what he said, because we cannot prove it.

32:18

It's finding where this all went

32:20

from and if there's

32:22

any type of remains or

32:25

anything like that. Because right now all

32:27

we have is this gentleman saying, who

32:29

did it, what they did, he

32:32

witnessed something. But he

32:34

didn't stop it is what

32:36

his words were. I should

32:38

have stopped it, but drugs were more

32:40

important than doing the

32:42

right thing. And that's why

32:44

he was apologized, apologetic,

32:47

flying down there, anyone can realize

32:49

what was going on, not what I

32:52

was feeling. Am I gonna just

32:54

attack this man? Because I didn't know what

32:56

he wanted to tell me. He

32:58

passed like five days, five to seven

33:00

days after I left. He

33:03

was so close to death, that's why they wanted

33:05

me down there because whatever he had to say,

33:08

they wanted to be heard. They

33:11

called me and they said, we'd like to know

33:13

if you wanna come out. There's a gentleman that

33:15

was in jail that he has

33:17

information, he's dying, and he wants it to

33:20

get off his chest. And I

33:22

said, when do you need me? I'll be on the next plane.

33:24

And I went down there, it took

33:27

a toll on me. I won't lie, it was

33:30

tough. And the

33:33

detectives were very, very caring,

33:35

very wonderful. They want answers

33:37

just as much as we want answers.

33:40

And so with that all said, I

33:43

believe that what this gentleman, and

33:46

I told the detectives, I believe everywhere he sat,

33:49

so much that he sat

33:51

there and cried. He was a mess.

33:55

And I mean, I guess he tried

33:57

to commit suicide because he was in jail and I

33:59

released. due to his sickness and

34:02

he had tried to commit suicide.

34:04

He put a rifle in his mouth and he

34:06

blew off half his face. So they had

34:08

shown me these pictures of him if

34:11

I was willing to sit with him the

34:13

way he looked. And

34:16

it wasn't nice, but I

34:18

did it anyway. Everything he said,

34:21

I believe he was genuine and one of

34:23

his words he did say, he

34:25

sat there, half his

34:27

face blown off in his

34:29

hospital ground crying. And he said

34:31

to me, I'm so

34:34

sorry. And I asked

34:36

the gentleman, do you know who

34:38

I am? And he said, yeah.

34:40

And he started crying and told

34:42

me I didn't do anything about it. I

34:45

didn't do anything. I should have done something,

34:48

but drugs and everything meant more

34:50

to me. Nearly

34:52

three decades later, I asked Dawn what

34:54

she thinks happened to her mother and sister.

34:57

Does she think her father was involved?

35:00

What about one of the sketchy locals

35:02

that was involved in other criminal activity?

35:04

There are so many possibilities, but

35:07

just no evidence. No

35:09

one had seen them, don't have heard them from

35:12

them. Nothing had been

35:14

different. And the people of interest

35:18

were walking around town. I

35:21

know that one of the people that are of

35:23

interest threatened somebody

35:25

else and said, you

35:27

better watch your step or you're going to end up like the

35:29

picture girl. There's a

35:31

couple of scenarios that believe you me,

35:33

I think of. One

35:36

of them is we lived very close

35:38

to the Mexican border. And

35:40

my sister Danielle had beautiful,

35:42

beautiful white, white blonde hair,

35:45

big blue eyes, and trafficking.

35:48

That was one of my

35:51

scenarios. Another one was a

35:53

couple of the people of

35:55

interest that we believe that

35:57

we are considering and almost

36:00

in our heart of hearts believe, my

36:03

father ended up putting one

36:05

of them in jail. And then

36:07

another one was married

36:09

to my sister, that

36:12

my mother and sister walked to their house. And

36:15

he used to beat the

36:17

crap out of my sister. And

36:21

my father put him in jail, according

36:25

to what was

36:28

said, again hearsay,

36:30

but a lead to follow

36:33

was when he

36:35

got out of jail, he got out

36:38

only like maybe, I want

36:40

to say 10 days before

36:43

they became missing. And he said, Jack

36:46

is going to feel the

36:48

pain from him putting me in there. Ryan

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car from your comfy place. The

38:13

Cochise County Sheriff's Office is the

38:16

department handling Danielle and Dorothy's case.

38:19

For this story, we spoke with

38:21

Detective J.C. Hoke, who shared

38:23

more about his background in law enforcement.

38:26

My name is Juan Carlos Hoke.

38:29

Everybody refers to me as J.C. I'm

38:31

a detective assigned to the Major Crimes

38:34

Unit. I've been in law enforcement now for 34 years.

38:37

I've worked for the Somerton

38:39

Police Department in Yuma County.

38:41

I've worked for the Sheriff's

38:43

Department. This is my second venture back

38:45

because I left them for a

38:48

period and went to U.S. Customs and

38:50

then later into Homeland Security where I

38:52

was assigned working in

38:54

the anti-terrorism program. Then

38:57

in 2005, I came back to

38:59

the Sheriff's Department. Detective

39:02

Hoke is an experienced law enforcement

39:04

officer. He told us how

39:06

he became involved in the Pitcher case. The

39:09

unit that I belong to, Major Crimes

39:11

Unit, it's called that for a reason.

39:14

Generally us five guys are

39:17

generally only assigned the

39:19

major, major crap. We

39:22

get some of the missing person cases and

39:24

what have you too but

39:27

generally we're not in the

39:29

realm of the other detectives who are doing all the

39:31

other kind of stuff. It's all

39:33

significant but I

39:35

guess the more dastardly things if you want

39:37

to say it. And you

39:39

know that's the majority of my cases are

39:42

sexual assaults, sex crimes cases and

39:44

sex crimes cases involving children. We

39:47

don't know what happened to Danielle and

39:49

Dorothy. If there was a plan

39:51

to take them or if they were abducted at

39:54

all. But Detective Hoke told

39:56

us about some of the possible suspects

39:58

they've considered over the years. Two

40:01

people in particular, Danny

40:03

Ray Morse, in fact, he's in state prison now.

40:07

And the other, again,

40:09

I don't have a case file in front of me, but I

40:11

believe he was a de la Cruz, were

40:13

persons of interest. And when,

40:16

let me focus on

40:18

de la Cruz first, when we

40:20

came to focus on him, we had

40:22

already learned that he had passed away

40:25

in a prison in Mexico, that he

40:27

had acquired AIDS,

40:30

and he did something in

40:32

Mexico, and they imprisoned him. And apparently,

40:34

they didn't have the medical staff to care

40:37

for him because of what he was suffering

40:39

from. And I guess eventually,

40:41

from what I understand, is he died from

40:43

AIDS while in custody in a Mexican prison.

40:46

So obviously, that was a

40:48

lead that we were always hoping to go with.

40:50

And then Danny Ray Morse's name came up

40:53

that, yeah, he was seen in the area

40:55

driving around. He is one

40:57

of the local

41:00

problems, if you will. I

41:02

even at one point, and I

41:05

think it's on one of those

41:07

supplements, I believe, that

41:09

at one point, I had a person

41:11

come forward and tell me

41:13

that he thought that

41:17

one evening Danny Ray and a group

41:19

of other guys were disposing of the

41:21

pictures bodies by way of burning them

41:23

in a backyard. And

41:26

he told us of an area

41:28

that this was done at, and

41:30

that, you know, it probably need to be

41:32

watched to see if people are still going in and out of

41:35

there and what have you. And what I had

41:37

done is I contacted ATF. I had a lot of

41:39

contacts and still do with ATF. And

41:42

they generally in our state, and I

41:44

think this is pretty much for all

41:47

states. They assist local

41:49

law enforcement with

41:52

pole cams. So I had them

41:54

set me up a pole cam, and

41:56

I monitored it for a few...

42:01

They made it look like they were electrical

42:04

linemen working on the power line and they

42:06

set the camera up on this house. And

42:09

anyhow, long story short, I was able to

42:11

remotely monitor it from my phone and from

42:13

a computer. All I had to do was

42:15

type in a code that I was given

42:18

and then I could see and I could move the

42:20

camera and what have you with my phone or off

42:22

my computer. And I never came

42:25

up with anything significant. There

42:27

was also rumor of the bodies of

42:30

them being possibly burnt

42:32

and the remains buried in a couple

42:34

areas in particular. Those

42:37

areas were completely looked

42:40

at, inspected, and

42:42

I was never able to come up with anything that

42:44

would suggest there's an old burn site or anything. We

42:47

did a search warrant a few years ago because

42:49

we had also received info that Danny Ray

42:52

had possibly

42:54

with the help of his father, who's

42:56

deceased now, had possibly buried

42:58

the bodies on one of their properties.

43:01

Search warrant was drafted for that area and

43:04

a big team from

43:07

the University of Arizona came out

43:09

with ground penetrating radar. I'm

43:12

not sure what we paid to have that done.

43:14

I know it was a lot. Even

43:16

though it was the University of Arizona's

43:19

equipment, it still costs to

43:22

run that equipment and hire the

43:24

people from the University to operate

43:27

that equipment. And then

43:29

we had the county in there with bulldozers, all

43:31

kinds of things. We literally, I think, moved a

43:35

building because they were told that, yeah, they

43:37

may have built over that site, poured

43:39

a slab and did a building. And, well,

43:41

we bulldozed it out and did

43:44

the radar. And

43:46

if I'm not mistaken, that parcel was

43:49

about a 20-acre parcel. And

43:52

that operation took, I think it

43:54

was about a week of, we

43:56

secured that area. We had teams

43:58

on it. For the entire

44:00

time that the search warrant was being executed,

44:03

it was always

44:05

secured. People were not

44:07

allowed to come and go, other than us,

44:09

of course, that were doing the investigation. And

44:12

everything that we've done has led

44:14

to nothing. Despite

44:17

extensive searches using all the

44:19

resources at their disposal, Detective

44:22

Hoke says that the case is now cold

44:24

as no new reads have come in. Actually

44:28

that's what we work with is evidence.

44:30

I don't have none of that. I

44:32

don't have nothing that I can scientifically

44:34

examine or touch DNA

44:36

and, hey, I think this was her and I saw

44:38

her. She was smoking a cigarette and

44:40

I grabbed it and here, I'm going to send it

44:43

to you. Can you have a police

44:45

department come and pick it up and process it,

44:48

check for her DNA and things of that

44:50

nature? And what we

44:52

have is simply that.

44:54

Last time they were seen, they

44:57

were seen at the

44:59

curve on 181 walking

45:01

towards the store. Last time.

45:04

That's it. And never to be seen

45:06

again, either of them. The lack

45:09

of progress in finding Danielle and

45:11

Dorothy is frustrating for law enforcement

45:13

and the Pitcher family. Detective

45:15

Hoke wonders if Danielle and Dorothy

45:18

did really just walk away, or if

45:20

there's more that that local figure Danny

45:22

knows. We hear

45:24

something every once in a while and

45:27

look into it and we find

45:29

that, nah, that's another dead end.

45:33

One thing that caught my attention,

45:35

when I went into the case file, I too

45:37

had thought, well, we need to look at the

45:40

dad. We really need to look at the dad

45:42

because one of my thoughts were I wonder if

45:44

he was abusing or

45:46

sexually abusing the girls,

45:48

the children, and mom can't win

45:50

to it or something and was going to

45:53

come forward with it or

45:55

maybe just abusing Danielle and Dorothy

45:57

was going to come forward with

45:59

it. it, and maybe

46:01

he did that. And we

46:04

were never able to get

46:06

anything that would substantiate that.

46:09

We were also told by

46:11

a person that he

46:15

said that he thought that

46:17

they had been picked up about halfway from where

46:20

they lived to a store that they were supposedly

46:23

going to. According

46:25

to the family, when they were interviewed, they said,

46:27

no, the last time we saw them is when

46:29

they left the home to walk to the store,

46:32

which is a pretty good little walk from where the house

46:34

is. But they say that they

46:36

actually did that quite often, and that was

46:38

looked into and found that,

46:41

yeah, they actually made that walk quite

46:43

often. One of the leads

46:45

was that Danny Ray and maybe Dela Cruz

46:47

had picked them up and

46:49

that they had

46:52

some type of relationship started

46:54

or something to that degree, if I

46:57

recall right, to the

46:59

point that Danny was possibly

47:01

having sex with Danielle

47:03

at the time, who would have been

47:05

a little girl. The story, if

47:07

you will, that goes around,

47:10

picked up in the bars and people

47:12

talking was that Dorothy somehow

47:15

or another found out that

47:17

Danny was having a sexual

47:20

intercourse with her daughter and

47:23

that she had confronted them, him

47:26

at the house, excuse me, not them, him at

47:28

the house and that he killed

47:30

both of them and then buried

47:33

them, burned them, or what have you. And

47:35

again, we were never able to substantiate

47:38

any of that stuff. Danny, in the meantime,

47:40

through the years, has been in and out

47:42

of prison. God, I

47:44

can't count the times. He's in again right now in

47:46

prison. It's just one of those cases

47:49

that just baffles

47:51

us. I don't know. I

47:54

even got to the point they're thinking, I wonder

47:57

if she wanted... You

48:00

know, you made a suggestion earlier that a

48:02

lot of the people on these missing person

48:04

cases want to be missing, don't

48:07

want to be discovered, are leaving

48:09

a life that is

48:12

either very disturbing

48:14

or abusive relationships or

48:16

what have you. And

48:20

the impression that I got

48:22

is that the dad was

48:24

an alcoholic. And I

48:26

thought for a while, I thought, I wonder if she

48:29

just left it all. She got Danielle and

48:32

said, and left. Now

48:34

again, if that did happen,

48:37

she's still in hiding then. And

48:40

I think it's odd that if anyone,

48:42

if Danielle would have, I

48:45

would think eventually say, hey, mom, why are

48:48

we running? There are

48:50

several shady characters in this story. But

48:53

with Sonizona being less than 30 miles

48:55

away from the international border, we

48:58

wanted to ask Detective Hope if

49:00

trafficking or simply going into Mexico

49:03

were possibilities. Generally

49:05

in the southbound, unless they're

49:07

doing a southbound operation that day, they

49:10

may look into the trunk. But generally

49:12

if a southbound operation ain't going

49:14

on, it's not that they don't

49:16

always have outbound working. It's

49:19

just not every trunk is popped

49:21

going southbound or every

49:23

person secondary for inspection.

49:27

Human trafficking at that time when they came

49:30

up missing really was

49:32

not something that

49:35

was going on like it

49:37

is in today's day and time.

49:40

Today's day and time, that's huge. Human

49:43

trafficking is huge and trafficking

49:46

to exploit women

49:48

and children, female children for

49:51

sex is huge

49:53

nowadays. But that really wasn't

49:55

something that you heard of back then. I'm

49:57

not saying it didn't happen back then. What

50:00

I'm saying is that it darn sure didn't

50:02

happen to the degree that it has now

50:04

and in the recent past years. With

50:07

so few leads and evidence leading to

50:10

any one conclusion, we asked

50:12

Detective Hoke about other possible outcomes.

50:15

Even if they may be unlikely,

50:17

here's Detective Hoke. I

50:19

mean, there are significant drug cases on the border,

50:22

okay, and there have been even back then drug

50:24

cases. Because this is a corridor.

50:26

This area is large amounts

50:28

of drugs and humans come through here that have

50:31

been smuggled. Back in those

50:33

days, there's really a lot of drugs being

50:35

smuggled and what have you. So were they

50:37

involved to the point that they

50:39

may have testified somewhere and they had to put

50:41

them in witness protection? I

50:43

seriously doubt that. And another thing,

50:46

I may be

50:48

wrong on this, but I'm almost

50:51

certain that if

50:53

a state and local agency is

50:55

working a case such as

50:57

this and we've actually had

51:00

them even entered into the

51:02

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, I

51:05

think that we would have been contacted in some

51:08

way, shape, or form. I

51:10

just don't think that we would continue

51:12

to be led by

51:15

the Marshal's office into thinking

51:17

that they have

51:19

somebody that we're looking for and

51:22

not say something. There

51:24

was one lead that Detective Hoke believed

51:26

had some potential. He believes

51:29

that there are some local people who know

51:31

more than they've shared. Unfortunately,

51:33

some have died or moved away.

51:36

This is what he told us about that one

51:38

possible lead. One

51:40

of the things that came up. I

51:43

was working another homicide

51:46

and I was told that a

51:48

person who had witnessed

51:50

this homicide had

51:53

actually been on the

51:55

side of a mountain looking

51:57

down at the residence when the homicide

52:00

occurred because he ran

52:02

with that group of methamphetamine smugglers

52:04

and what have you. And

52:07

I tracked him down to a prison and

52:10

when I did, I was told that, I said, well, I'm

52:12

going to have to interview this guy and what have you.

52:14

They said, we're going to have to make special arrangements for

52:16

that because he's dying of cancer. And

52:19

I said, how long has he got? And they said, he's

52:21

terminal, our understanding, he's only got weeks to live and in

52:23

fact, I think they're going to be letting him out soon.

52:26

Because of that, the Department of Corrections doesn't want

52:28

to continue to pay for whatever.

52:31

So I went to the prison. This

52:34

particular one was in Tucson. It was the

52:36

state prison and I talked with him

52:39

and I asked him, I said, hey, I

52:42

said, I'm told that you may have information

52:45

on two things. One, this

52:48

homicide that I'm working and

52:50

another thing, I was told that

52:52

you might have information on Dorothy and

52:55

Danielle Pichar. And he

52:57

gave me some info on the homicide and

53:00

then when it came to the pictures, he

53:03

had nothing to say on that.

53:05

And I told him, I said, you know what? I said, you

53:08

ran with at that

53:10

time, Danny Ray and Dela Cruz and

53:12

all these other guys, gals that were

53:14

into the methamphetamine world and all this

53:16

crap. And I

53:19

would think that he

53:22

would have known. I really do. I think

53:24

that if the ones

53:26

that initially were thought to have been suspect,

53:28

Danny Ray and all that, because he ran

53:30

with them, I know in

53:33

my experience, what I've seen in the

53:35

past is these people eventually tell each

53:37

other. They'll get high. They'll sit

53:39

around. Hell, they all help each other with

53:41

it and say, hey, you know what? You

53:43

know what I did? You know, kind of like to

53:45

them, it's a badge of, I

53:48

don't know, makes them look good

53:50

in the eyes of a criminal, I guess.

53:52

Hey, you know what I did? I raped

53:54

and killed 20 people. I

53:57

think they would have told him that. had

54:00

nothing to say about it. And then

54:03

I left that prison and about two

54:05

months later, I heard that they had released him.

54:09

I talked to his brother and I told his

54:11

brother, I said, how's he doing? He said, he's

54:13

dying right now. He's at his house dying. I

54:15

think I just got lucky

54:17

on the timing. He

54:19

said, he's going to die any day now.

54:22

Would you and your family mind if

54:24

I go visit him? And he

54:26

arranged to have that done. So I

54:29

went into the house. Where they had him, they had him in

54:31

a living room. And the last

54:33

time I seen him was just a few

54:35

months before that prison. And he

54:37

had deteriorated quite a bit. And

54:39

I told him, I said, you know, I said, you

54:42

know why I'm here? We've talked about it before. And

54:44

he was in really bad shape. And

54:46

I said, you know, I, I'm

54:49

pleading with you that if there's anything else

54:51

you can tell me on that homicide and

54:53

anything on the pictures, please,

54:55

now's the time to do it. And he

54:58

didn't have nothing to say. And when

55:00

I was done with that interview, me and my

55:02

partner, I really walked

55:04

away from that one thinking, you know,

55:06

anything that everybody might have thought before

55:08

with Danny Ray, maybe being the suspect

55:10

or Delafuz, this guy ran with him.

55:13

They were in a tight circle together.

55:15

I think he would have known and what

55:17

would he have to lose at that time.

55:19

A lot of people, when

55:21

they're dying, want to

55:24

clear their conscience, even, even

55:26

some bad guys in hopes of

55:28

maybe making it to the pretty gates. And

55:31

I just think I would have got something from him

55:33

on that. Finally, we

55:35

asked Detective Hoke what anyone

55:37

with information about the disappearance

55:39

of Danielle and Dorothy should

55:41

do. Yeah, if you have any information,

55:44

please call the Sheriff's Department. Another good

55:46

number to call would be area code

55:48

520-803-3555. That would put you directly in

55:51

contact with our

55:58

dispatchers under our seat. And

56:02

you could tell them that, hey, I need to

56:04

report something in regards to the picture case. And

56:07

I'd like to speak with Detective Hope. They

56:10

would put the caller through to me. Don

56:13

told us about the toll this all took

56:15

on her father. No,

56:17

my dad died five years after my mother and sister.

56:19

He died in 1998. I

56:22

believe that's what killed him. He

56:25

couldn't stay down there anymore because it was making him

56:27

crazy. And

56:30

he also had five kids

56:32

to take care of. So

56:34

he moved to Maine closer

56:36

to a few of us so

56:39

we could be there to help him

56:41

and do everything. And then

56:43

he got extremely

56:45

sick and they didn't

56:48

know what his problem was. It

56:50

was around 97. He

56:53

got extremely sick. They got

56:56

maybe tuberculosis. They got everything

56:58

test after test after test.

57:01

Then they finally put him in the hospital. My

57:04

five brothers and sisters moved into

57:06

my house with me. Well, my

57:08

dad was in the hospital for like Christmas.

57:11

I had them Thanksgiving. I had them Christmas.

57:14

They'd go back to my other sister's house to go to

57:16

school. And then January

57:19

5th of 1998, my father

57:22

called me and said, Lola, I need you to

57:24

come up here and see me. And

57:26

I said, why? And he said,

57:28

I'm not going to tell you to get here. And I

57:31

want you to get your couple

57:33

of your sisters to come along with you. And

57:36

I said, dad, I'm not driving until you

57:38

speak to me. And that's when he told me that three

57:42

to six months live. So

57:45

I couldn't tell my brothers and sisters. I

57:47

drove up there, picked up my sisters. We

57:50

went to the hospital. My dad told

57:52

us they were crying.

57:55

And the doctors told us that he

57:57

was in the hospital. He

58:00

could live for a year if he

58:02

did chemo and radiation. And

58:05

my dad died on January 28, 23 days later. So

58:10

what happened to Dorothy and Danielle Pitcher on May

58:13

23, 1993, after they set out to run a

58:17

short errand? Dorothy had

58:19

mentioned to several people that she wanted to go

58:22

back home to visit her family. But

58:24

why would she take just one of her

58:26

children? It sounded like she

58:28

was talking about a vacation, not

58:30

disappearing. Why would she

58:33

leave without all of her belongings? Were

58:36

Dorothy and Danielle abducted? We

58:39

know that Dorothy had a strict rule about

58:41

getting into cars with strangers. But

58:44

what if it was someone they knew? What

58:47

about all the local characters who seem to know

58:49

more than they've shared over the years? What

58:52

about Danny Morris and his family? Was

58:55

there any truth to those stories? Could

58:58

Deanna Maryfield be another victim? What's

59:01

striking is that when you look at photos of

59:03

Deanna and Danielle, there's a resemblance.

59:05

We were close in age with

59:07

Deanna being 13 and Danielle being

59:10

14. And

59:12

both had shoulder length blonde hair. 26

59:16

years after the Pitchers disappeared, there

59:18

are still so many questions and so

59:20

few answers. It seems

59:22

as though there are people out there who have pieces

59:25

to this puzzle. They just need

59:27

to come forward. At

59:29

the time of their disappearance, Danielle Pitcher was

59:31

14 years old, 5 foot

59:33

1 inches tall and approximately 110 pounds.

59:37

She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Dorothy

59:41

Pitcher was 47 years old and approximately

59:43

5 foot 2 inches tall and weighing

59:45

around 145 pounds.

59:49

She had brown hair and brown eyes. If

59:52

you have any information about the

59:54

disappearance of Danielle and Dorothy Pitcher,

59:56

please call the Cochise County Sheriff's

59:58

Office outside of TZ1. 0-432-9500 or

1:00:00

1-800-THE-LOST. It's

1:00:12

been a long road for 26 years with

1:00:14

the Sheriff's Department. We

1:00:16

are a very poor family. 26

1:00:19

years ago, there was a

1:00:21

lot of issues with the Sheriff's Department

1:00:24

and just the fact that they questioned

1:00:27

my father more than they booked

1:00:29

for answers. And so

1:00:33

I have to say that over the years,

1:00:36

hands change, new detectives take over

1:00:38

the case because it did swap

1:00:40

hands a lot and

1:00:43

it became a very, very cold case.

1:00:46

And then there were a

1:00:48

couple of detectives 10 years ago

1:00:51

that brought it back to their

1:00:54

attention and actually cared about it. Maybe

1:00:57

even a little bit longer than that, maybe we'll

1:00:59

say 10 to 15 years. And

1:01:01

they started bringing it back to life

1:01:04

in a positive way. Like, this is

1:01:06

serious. There's somebody missing or

1:01:08

presumed dead instead of,

1:01:11

oh, probably the dad did it.

1:01:14

Who cares? Or which

1:01:16

was how we felt that

1:01:19

how the original Cochise

1:01:21

County had felt about it. I

1:01:24

told them that's how they made us feel. I

1:01:26

mean, even in the police report, because

1:01:28

I have the whole police report from

1:01:30

day one. They're very,

1:01:33

very rude. But

1:01:35

by going to be right on, the new

1:01:37

detectives over the life, like I said, the last 10, 15

1:01:41

years, they have been trying

1:01:43

to be positive. And looking at this as

1:01:45

they should have from the beginning. That

1:02:11

brings us to the end of episode 189. I'd

1:02:16

like to thank everyone who spoke with us for this

1:02:18

story. If you have a

1:02:20

missing loved one that you'd like to have

1:02:22

featured on the show, there's a case submission

1:02:24

form at thevanishpodcast.com. If you'd

1:02:26

like to contact me, there's a page and

1:02:28

a discussion group on Facebook. I'm

1:02:31

on Twitter, at TheVanishPod, and also on

1:02:33

Instagram. If you enjoy

1:02:35

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