Jule Caylor says he dropped his wife Dorothy, AKA Dottie, at the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Pleasant Hill station, twenty miles northeast of Oakland, on June 12, 1985. Dottie was to purchase a train ticket at the station. It was a mundane act for most people, but for Dottie it was a challenge. The forty-one-year-old Concord, California, woman suffered from agoraphobia, the fear of being in public places. Buying a train ticket on her own would be a small step in confronting her fear. Boarding the train would be a bigger step.

No one knows if Dottie made that step or even if she made it to the train station. She instead seems to have stepped off the face of the Earth as no trace of her has been found in thirty-nine years.

Jule Caylor has not been charged in connection with Dottie’s disappearance, but many believe he is responsible.

Dottie And Jule Caylor

Even though he was married and had a five-year-old daughter, Jule Caylor, an entomologist with the National Forest Service, began dating Dottie Rusnak in 1972. He had previously dated Dottie’s roommate and his wife believed he was having affairs with several other women.

To conceal his adultery from Dottie, Jule used a false name, Jim Rupp. When Dottie learned of the marriage, Jule ended it, but his philandering ways continued after he wed Dottie in 1975 (some sources say 1973.)

The couple fought frequently, particularly after Dottie learned of the affairs. In one instance, on Thanksgiving Day 1981, the police were called to the Caylor home after each accused the other of domestic violence. No charges were filed because it could not be determined who initiated the argument.

Following the incident, the couple attended marriage counseling, but the relationship became more strained as Dottie’s worsening agoraphobia forced her to quit her job as a legal secretary. Soon, her house became her only haven, as she grew increasingly reluctant to leave it.

Frequent Fights

By 1984, however, Dottie was making progress and coming out of her shell. After seeing a counselor, she gradually began venturing outside her home to take a couple of college classes and to attend church. She had also joined a support group called “Women in Transition” and was regularly attending the group’s meetings.

Soon, Dottie was making further strides in small ways, such as wearing different clothes and changing her hair-style, and in larger ways, by opening her own bank account, applying for credit cards in her own name, and renting a post office box to receive her personal statements. She performed all of the latter actions unbeknownst to Jule.

Dottie Shows Improvement

Jule and Dottie’s marriage continued to disintegrate as his philandering ways continued. In December, he proposed to Della Vigil, a fellow entomologist with the National Forest Service.  In May 1985, he accepted a job transfer to Salt Lake City, Utah, to be closer to her. Jule and Dottie mutually agreed that she would not accompany him, though is unclear if Dottie knew of the engagement.

After Dottie refused to sign divorce papers allowing Jule to refinance their home, they agreed to the decision of a mediator; Dottie would pay monthly rent to Jule while continuing to live in the Concord home.

Parting Ways

Jule accompanied Dottie as she had her car serviced on June 11.  A mechanic recalled them getting into a heated argument over money.

At 8:00 the following morning, Jule says Dottie initiated what was, for her, a bold action: embarking on a nearly two-week long visit to a friend’s home in southern California. He said he did not know who she intended to visit and I could not find anything stating if anyone in Dottie’s small circle knew the name of her friend.

A Major Test For Dottie

Jule said he drove Dottie to the Pleasant Hill BART Station in Walnut Creek, six-and-a-half miles south of Concord, and that he saw her walk around the corner of the station carrying her turquoise leather purse and an overnight bag. He did not see her actually board the train; no one could recall seeing Dottie at the BART station.

Pleasant Hill Bart Station

Walnut Creek, California

At approximately noon the following day, Jule says he rode the train to the Concord BART station after having worked in San Francisco. He was surprised to find Dottie’s car, a light-blue 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, parked next to his car in the parking lot. The doors were unlocked, and he was surprised to see Dottie’s purse inside because she always carried it with her as it provided her a sense of security.

Jule says looked through the purse.  Inside were Dottie’s monogrammed off-white leather billfold containing her driver’s license, medical cards, library card, approximately $30 in cash, and a BART ticket. Dottie was allergic to bee stings and Jule said the only item he believed missing from her purse was her bee-sting kit.

Dottie’s overnight bag was not found.

Dottie Disappears . . .

Over the following four days, Jule left three notes on Dottie’s car, writing about problems with the house as well as professing his love for her and pleading with her to come home.

It was not until June 17, five days after he said he dropped Dottie at the Walnut Creek station, that Jule, only after persisted urging by Dottie’s friends, reported her as missing to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police. He said he had not done so sooner because Dottie was not scheduled to return home until June 24, one week later.

BART authorities determined the ticket found in Dottie’s purse had been used at the Concord station, most likely on the evening of June 12. No one, however, could recall having seen Dottie at the station or aboard a train.

After an unsuccessful day of searching for Dottie, the BART Police notified the Concord Police of her disappearance. Their efforts to locate her also met with failure.

. . . Without A Trace

Police say one of the notes Jule had left on Dottie’s car begins in an affectionate manner, with Jule writing he is worried about her, but later expresses anger toward her by her refusing to sign the loan papers. He refused to take a polygraph test.

Two weeks later, after having packed Dottie’s belongings in their Concord home, Jule repainted the inside of the home, put it up for rent, and moved to Salt Lake City. He again expressed anger to friends about not being able to sell or mortgage the home without Dottie’s signature, but he showed no remorse over her disappearance.

Jule Moves

Dottie’s not telling Jule of any of her recent actions in reestablishing her independence suggested she may have intended to disappear. In addition, she had told her parents, several friends, and even Jule’s work supervisor, that she was afraid of Jule and that he was physically abusing her, allegations he denies, instead saying it was he who feared Dottie because of her anger issues.

Did Dottie Willingly Vanish?

Another undertaking by Dottie shortly before her disappearance, however, seems to argue against her vanishing voluntarily. She had asked Shelley Wilson, a friend from the Women In Transition support group, to keep many of her important documents at her home because she did not want Jule to find them.  Among the items was a $5,000 cashier check from her recent sale of a truck and trailer. The check expired in October, four months after Dottie was last seen. If she had intended to disappear, she likely would have cashed the check.

Shelley Wilson

Dottie’s Friend

In addition, although Dottie was making progress in overcoming her agoraphobia, she was still apprehensive about leaving her home for a long period of time. No one believed she would willingly stay away from her comfort zone for any extended period . . . such as the nearly two weeks Jule claimed she planned to be away with her supposed friend in southern California.

As her marriage to Jule was ending, Dottie had gone out with several men, but told them she was not going to think about a serious relationship until after her divorce was finalized.  One of these men continued pestering her after she told him she no longer wished to see him, but he, along with the other men Dottie had dated, were cleared of involvement in her disappearance.

Acquaintances Cleared

Dottie’s sister, Diane Rusnak, hired Private Investigator Francie Koehler, but her attempts to locate Dottie also turned up few leads, and she also failed to find anyone who could corroborate Jule’s claim that he drove Dottie to the BART Station.

Koehler says Jule initially told her he had not taken Dottie to the BART station until 3:00 p.m. on June 12. When reminded of his earlier statement that he had taken her at 8:00 a.m., Jule said that was correct, and that he then realized he had taken Dottie to wash her car at 3:00 the day before.

Francie Koehler believes Jule Caylor is responsible for Dottie’s disappearance, as does Jule’s former fiancé.

Francie Koehler

Private Investigator

Jule had provided a phony name when he was cheating on his first wife with Dottie. For Della Vigil, the next woman he hoped to marry, he told a phony story: that his divorce was finalized and that he had no children.

After Della learned her fiancé was not officially divorced and that he was the prime suspect in Dottie’s disappearance, she says Jule professed his love for her. Della, however, soon ended the relationship and broke off contact with Jule after she says he made cryptic statements to her that he had killed Dottie.

Jule soon moved in with another woman, who also worked for the Forest Service.

Jule Moves From One Woman To The Next

Jule Caylor has never given the impression of being a grieving husband. In a 1987 interview on Unsolved Mysteries, he denied having done anything sinister to Dottie, but he expressed no remorse over her disappearance.  Jule candidly said, “It was hell living with Dottie. It was hell having her disappear the way that she did. And yet, since I’ve gotten here [Salt Lake City], and gotten settled, and into a new job and that whole problem is behind me, things are really pretty good.”

Following the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast, investigators were contacted by two women who said Jule had sought romantic relationships with them, one before Dottie disappeared, and one afterwards. Both women’s stories cast further suspicion on Jule.

Jule traveled a lot in his work.  A desk clerk at a motel where he stayed several times in 1984 and ’85, several months before Dottie disappeared, says he became obsessed with her, writing her multiple love letters even though she told him she was living with another man. The clerk became so unnerved by him that she had to quit her job and move.

The second woman, a Salt Lake City insurance agent who had helped Jule transfer his car insurance when he moved from California to Utah two weeks after Dottie disappeared, told police he soon began wooing her by frequently visiting her office for no reason other than to bring her a rose. At the time, Jule was still engaged to Della Vigil.

In January 1988, two-and-a-half years after Dottie Caylor’s disappearance, Concord Police received an unsigned letter postmarked from Gary, Indiana. The writer accused Jule of murdering Dottie, claiming he had beaten her with a tire iron and buried her under a birch tree in a remote area of Concord where new homes were being built at the time. The letter included a map of the supposed burial location. The area was searched, but no trace of Dottie’s remains were detected.

DNA tests determined the saliva on the stamp and envelope flap were from a male, but a match could not be made. A document examiner believed the letter’s handwriting was similar to Jule’s but could not definitively say it was his. The author of the letter has not been identified.

Jule Is Accused

The Caylor’s Concord neighbors, John and Peggy Nesbit, had helped Jule pack his belongings in preparation for his move to Salt Lake City in 1985. John detected an odor smelling akin to “burning flesh” inside the house, and another neighbor recalled seeing Jule pouring a concrete patio in his backyard around the time Dottie vanished. The neighbor found that odd because she had never seen him doing any home improvement projects.

In 1997, twelve years after Dottie’s disappearance, the Nesbits removed the ivy along the fence dividing their property from the former Caylor home. In so doing, they found a rusted meat cleaver with its handle wrapped in duct tape. They recalled Jule had specifically told them not to cut the ivy along the fence, saying it would collapse.

In April 2004, Concord police were granted a warrant to search Jule’s former home, backyard, and patio. Ground-penetrating radar detected some anomalies underneath the patio but nothing concretely indicating a body had been there. Forensic tests revealed nothing notable in the house.

Four months later, police re-opened their investigation into Dottie’s disappearance. That same year, Jule, still living in Salt Lake City, retired from the Forest Service and ran as the Libertarian candidate for the Utah State Legislature.

In an interview with Contra Costa Times reporter Joan Morris, Jule changed his version of events, saying he had not driven Dottie to the BART station and that he believed she had driven there herself.

In December 2005, police were granted another warrant to search Jule and Dottie’s former home, but they again found nothing noteworthy.

Jule remains the prime suspect in Dottie’s disappearance, but authorities do not have sufficient evidence to charge him.

Further Suspicion Is Cast On Jule

Jule was forced to withdraw his candidacy for state legislator after suspicions of his involvement in Dottie’s disappearance were renewed. He claimed the local newspapers were harassing his family.

Jule’s Political Endeavour Is Squashed

Jule Caylor filed for divorce from Dottie on grounds of desertion. A judge awarded him all of their marital property, but the ruling was set aside after Dottie’s sister, Diane Rusnak, filed a counter lawsuit in which another judge later ruled Dottie was dead at the time Jule sought the divorce and, therefore, there was no marriage to dissolve.

Diane filed another lawsuit against Jule in 2006 requesting that Dottie be declared legally dead and that she be appointed executor of her estate. A judge found the evidence suggested Dottie was deceased, but the lawsuit has been stalled pending the outcome of the still ongoing police investigation into her disappearance.

Diane Rusnak

Dottie’ Sister

The now eighty-six-year-old Jule still lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Barbara. He still maintains he had no involvement in Dottie’s disappearance.

Jule With His Latest Wife, Barbara

Dorothy “Dottie” May Caylor has been missing since June 12, 1985. At the time of her disappearance, she was forty-one-years-old, five-feet-nine-inches tall, and weighed one-hundred-ninety pounds. She had brown hair, blue eyes, and often wore plastic-framed eyeglasses. Dottie had a scar above her left eye and three of her teeth had gold onlays (partial crowns) and another had a full crown. She also suffered from severe agoraphobia.

The Missing Dottie

Investigators continue to try to connect the dots in the disappearance of Dottie Caylor. She would today be eighty-years-old.

If you have any information on her disappearance, please contact the Concord, California, Police Department at 925-671-3240 or 925-671-3040.

Aged-Progression

Of Dottie Caylor

SOURCES:

• Charley Project
• Contra-Costa Times
• Doe Network
• Foothills Sun-Gazette
• Salt Lake Tribune
• The Sun-Gazette