0:00

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0:02

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0:04

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for their first career and their next. With

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on a vibrant campus in one of America's

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best college towns. It's also

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why Bowling Green State University is

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the

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number one school in the Midwest that students

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would choose again for the fourth year in a row.

0:33

On the evening

0:35

of September 23, 1992, Dale Dinwiddie, a 23-year-old graduate student,

0:37

attended

0:44

a U2 concert in Columbia, South

0:47

Carolina with friends.

0:49

Following the concert, they went to Five

0:51

Points, a popular bar area

0:53

for college students. At around 1

0:56

a.m., Dale became separated

0:58

from her friends in a big crowd.

1:00

Approximately 30 minutes later,

1:02

she was spotted leaving the bar, heading

1:05

toward the intersection of Hardin and Green. She

1:08

was never seen again, and no trace

1:10

of her has ever been found. It's

1:13

been more than 31 years since Dale vanished,

1:16

and investigators are still searching for the person

1:18

responsible.

1:25

Hey

1:28

everyone, welcome

1:30

back to Detective Perspective.

1:49

My

1:52

name is Derek LaVassar. I'm a licensed private

1:54

investigator and former police detective, and

1:57

each week I'll be covering an unsolved case in story

1:59

format. I'll then give you my perspective

2:01

on the investigation and provide contact

2:04

information for the individuals or organizations

2:06

connected to the case so that if you have any

2:08

leads or tips, you can contact

2:11

them directly and maybe you can help solve

2:13

a case. And if you're someone who's interested

2:15

in true crime, specifically unsolved cases,

2:17

and you would like to hear my opinion on those investigations,

2:20

please consider subscribing whether you're watching on

2:22

YouTube or listening on Apple Podcasts,

2:25

Spotify, or whatever platform you

2:27

use. So Dale Dimwiddie,

2:30

this case, it's an older case, and

2:32

we're not the first to cover it. I believe there's a couple

2:35

podcasts that have highlighted this case,

2:37

but it's still unsolved. It's still unsolved

2:40

and it happened a very long time ago,

2:42

I believe over 30 years ago. And

2:45

this case is one of those situations where

2:48

there is a potential suspect in this case who's

2:50

been arrested on other murder

2:52

cases. But

2:54

for me,

2:55

as a father of two daughters, and

2:58

they're young right now, they're 10 and 7, but at one

3:00

point they're going to be in college. And

3:03

as a parent, I like to remind myself of

3:05

these situations so that I can be reminded

3:09

of the world we live in. And I

3:11

think with true crime, obviously

3:14

some of it is for entertainment, you have to

3:16

acknowledge that. I think there's a

3:18

real opportunity as true crime

3:20

consumers to become

3:22

more educated, more informed

3:25

about these types of crimes, and

3:28

therefore empowered. Empowered

3:30

to understand that this type of situation

3:33

can happen to anyone, and by

3:36

understanding some of the, not

3:38

only the means and not only the MO

3:41

of these individuals when they carry out these crimes,

3:43

but also an understanding of who

3:46

they target. By understanding

3:48

that, you can better protect

3:50

yourself and also the people you care about,

3:53

and therefore you are empowered. So I do

3:55

think that should be the driving force behind

3:58

why you consume this type of crime. of content

4:00

because when you leave it, you're

4:02

better prepared for what's

4:05

out there. Alright, now that we've covered that,

4:07

let's dive into this week's case.

4:10

Dale Boxley Dinwiddie was born

4:12

on April 12, 1969 to parents Dan and Jean. She

4:17

grew up in Columbia, South Carolina alongside

4:20

her brother Drew who was seven years

4:22

younger. Dale's family described

4:24

her as a sweet and quiet girl who

4:26

always stood up for herself and others.

4:30

In 1991, Dale graduated from

4:32

Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia with

4:35

a degree in art history. Her

4:37

classmates thought highly of her, finding her

4:39

to be passionate, kind, and

4:41

destined to do great things. Following

4:44

her graduation, Dale returned to

4:46

her family home in Columbia to attend

4:49

graduate classes at the University of South

4:51

Carolina. Her ultimate goal

4:53

was to study architecture at Clemson

4:55

University. The Dinwiddie

4:57

family lived in the Forest Hills neighborhood, not

5:00

far from the Five Points District, a

5:02

lively area near the University of South Carolina.

5:06

In 1992, it was filled with restaurants,

5:08

bars, and boutiques. Greenville

5:11

News reported that Five Points was within walking

5:13

distance from Dale's home, but the

5:15

neighborhoods along the way were sometimes risky.

5:18

For this reason, if Dale was out in Five

5:21

Points, she always caught rides home

5:23

with friends or called her parents to pick her up instead

5:25

of walking alone. On the evening

5:27

of September 23, 1992, 23-year-old Dale went to a U2 concert at the

5:29

Williams Bryce

5:34

Stadium in Columbia with around a dozen

5:36

friends. A friend picked her up, while

5:38

her other friends took separate cars to the concert.

5:41

Dale, who

5:42

was very petite at five feet tall and less

5:44

than 100 pounds, was dressed casually

5:47

in an olive green long-sleeved shirt, faded

5:49

blue jeans, a bright blue LL

5:52

Bean jacket tied around her waist, and

5:54

new white running shoes. After

5:56

the concert, which ended around 11.15 p.m., the Dale

6:00

and her friends headed to Five Points to continue

6:02

the fun. They ended up at one

6:04

of their favorite bars, Jungle Gems. The

6:07

place was crowded, and multiple patrons

6:09

later recalled seeing Dale talking to various

6:12

people. At around 1 am, Dale

6:14

and her friends got separated in the crowd, and

6:17

she started looking for them. When

6:19

she couldn't find them, she briefly went outside

6:21

Jungle Gems, but her friends weren't there

6:23

either. She spoke to one of the doorman

6:25

for around 15 to 20 minutes. He

6:28

didn't think she was drunk and said she seemed to be

6:30

in good spirits, sipping on a beer, speaking

6:32

coherently. He offered to call her

6:34

a cab, but she declined, believing her

6:36

friends would return soon. Detectives

6:39

later explained to the post and courier that they

6:41

think Dale's friends left one by one in their own

6:43

cars, each assuming someone else

6:45

was giving her a ride home. The doorman

6:48

watched as Dale left the bar, went down

6:50

Hardin Street in search of her friends, then

6:53

returned to Jungle Gems for a brief time.

6:56

At around 1.30 am, she left

6:58

on foot heading north on Hardin Street toward

7:00

Green Street, appearing to be in a hurry.

7:03

No one saw her after that. At

7:05

around 6.15 am, Dale's

7:08

dad Dan woke up. According

7:10

to Greenville News, it was his usual routine

7:12

to go upstairs and fetch their dog

7:14

from 16-year-old Drew's room. That's

7:17

when he noticed that the lights in Dale's room were still

7:19

on, and her radio was playing. He

7:22

peeked inside the room and saw that her bed appeared

7:24

to be untouched. Dan was surprised

7:27

to see this. Dale hadn't mentioned plans

7:29

to stay out all night, and if she needed a ride home,

7:31

she always called. He woke

7:33

up his wife, and they began calling

7:35

Dale's friends to check if she had stayed with any

7:38

of them, but she hadn't. They

7:40

reached out to everyone they could think of, but

7:43

no one had any information about her whereabouts.

7:46

At around 8.30 am, the Dinwiddies

7:49

contacted the Columbia City Police to report

7:51

their daughter missing. The police had several

7:53

questions to address right away. Did

7:55

Dale attempt to walk home after realizing her

7:57

friends weren't around, and did she injure herself?

8:00

along the way? Did she decide

8:02

to leave on her own and start a new life somewhere else?

8:05

Or was something more nefarious at play like an abduction?

8:08

The investigation was tough right from the beginning

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9:18

Police searched all the streets, parking lots,

9:20

and ditches between Jungle Jim's and Dale's

9:23

house, but they found no trace of her.

9:26

When talking to Dale's family and friends, the

9:28

police learned that it was highly unlikely for Dale

9:30

to walk home alone at 1.30am

9:33

or to get into a stranger's car. They

9:35

mentioned that she'd more than likely call for a ride

9:37

or wait for a friend to pick her up because she

9:39

was very cautious around strangers. She

9:42

wouldn't even take a taxi alone. Additionally,

9:45

running away didn't fit her character. It

9:47

was entirely out of the ordinary for her. All

9:50

of this led police to theorize that Dale

9:52

had been kidnapped after leaving Jungle Jim's.

9:55

However, they weren't certain about the exact

9:57

location of the abduction. later

10:00

told the Deck Podcast that they had talked

10:02

to many people who were in Five Points when

10:04

Dale went missing. Despite a lot

10:06

of people being there that night, no

10:08

one reported seeing Dale after 1.30am. This

10:11

made police believe that whatever happened to Dale

10:14

probably didn't occur in the Five Points area

10:16

because if it had, someone would have

10:18

witnessed or heard something. Detectives

10:21

think it's more than likely that she left a crowded bar

10:23

district and was kidnapped someplace away

10:25

from the crowds in an area where there were no witnesses.

10:28

Because of the very few clues they had, detectives

10:31

believe that Dale's kidnapping was a quote carefully

10:34

planned abduction. If someone

10:36

had taken her out of the spur of the moment, they

10:38

probably would have left some clues behind. Once

10:41

it became clear that Dale had likely been kidnapped,

10:44

the Richland County Sheriff's Department, FBI,

10:47

and the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division

10:49

also known as SLED, all got involved

10:52

in the investigation. When Dale's

10:54

friends realized she was missing, they went

10:56

back to Five Points to talk to people and distribute

10:58

pictures. They even reenacted

11:00

her disappearance to try to understand what happened.

11:04

The following day, dozens of high

11:06

school and college students went around the city with

11:08

posters and flyers showing Dale's

11:10

photo.

11:11

Soon, the

11:12

national media started reporting on Dale

11:14

Dinwiddie's kidnapping. On September 26,

11:17

the police announced

11:19

a $2500 reward for any information that

11:22

could help locate Dale. Her father

11:24

Dan shared with the state, she's a very

11:26

responsible person and was just out with friends that

11:28

night. This is very uncharacteristic,

11:31

she's always been on time, she's shy,

11:33

very much a homebody, this is every

11:36

parent's nightmare, you can't imagine

11:38

what we're going through. Four

11:40

days later, the Dinwiddies held a news conference

11:42

where they pleaded for their daughter's safe return. On

11:45

October 2, the police provided an update,

11:48

saying they were actively following up on leads

11:50

which had reached about 300. They

11:53

had interviewed over 100 people, but

11:55

had no new information to share. The

11:58

investigation continued, and with Within

12:00

two months, the police had received more

12:02

than 800 leads and interviewed

12:04

around 250 people. Detectives

12:07

told the state, quote, we don't have any way

12:09

to eliminate anybody. We can't tell you

12:11

she's dead. We can't tell you she's alive.

12:14

She's just missing. Now I want to

12:16

weigh in here really quick because you can

12:18

relate to this, right? This is a situation where

12:21

you don't know if you're dealing with a kidnapping. You

12:23

don't know if you're dealing with a homicide. So

12:26

all possibilities are still on the table. At

12:28

this point, you're just trying to locate her.

12:31

And I know this might sound a little insensitive,

12:33

but as an investigator, you

12:35

just want to find her dead or alive. Because

12:39

if she's alive, you can start to backtrack

12:41

to find out how she got in that position and

12:43

who's responsible for it. Same

12:45

thing if she's dead. If you find her body,

12:48

you can start to use the forensic evidence at

12:51

the crime scene to try and identify

12:53

who killed her. But at this point, it's

12:56

just a matter of what happened to

12:58

her. Did she run away on her own? Is

13:00

she off with someone that she's seeing?

13:02

Or has she been taken against her will

13:04

and she's still somewhere right now hoping

13:07

that we find her? It's a really

13:09

difficult situation to be in because as an investigator,

13:12

how can you investigate a case when

13:15

you don't even know what the crime is or if there's even

13:17

a crime? And regardless of whether there's a crime

13:19

or not, like the detective said, how can

13:21

you eliminate anyone when you don't even know

13:23

what you're dealing with? Now Dale's

13:25

parents were struggling with their daughter's disappearance.

13:28

Many nights they couldn't even sleep, worrying that they might

13:31

miss a crucial phone call. Sometimes

13:33

Gene visited the police station in the middle of the night

13:35

just to talk to the officers. During

13:38

the daytime hours, they did whatever they

13:40

could to help the case. Dan

13:42

took it upon himself to drive to the state line

13:45

and put up posters at rest stops and gas stations

13:47

along the way. He also sought

13:49

out witnesses who were in five points on the night

13:51

of Dale's disappearance and convinced them

13:53

to speak with the police. Drew,

13:55

Dale's younger brother, later shared with the state

13:58

that his parents were so anxious leaving him

14:00

too that they made him carry a pager

14:02

and a cell phone for several months. Eventually

14:05

they eased off and allowed Drew to live his own life,

14:08

but it was really hard for them. In the following

14:10

years, various agencies worked tirelessly

14:13

to investigate Dale's disappearance. They

14:15

pursued numerous leads, although many turned

14:17

out to be false. One such

14:19

lead came from a convicted drug dealer who claimed

14:22

to be present when three men kidnapped

14:24

Dale. The man hoped to strike a deal with

14:26

the police, offering information

14:28

in exchange for assistance with his 20-year

14:30

prison sentence. The police were open

14:33

to this offer because the tipster named three individuals

14:36

who had long been considered prime suspects.

14:39

According to the tipster, these three people had

14:41

taken Dale, killed her, and

14:43

then placed her body in the trunk of a car, which

14:45

was then submerged in a private property

14:47

lake in Lower Richland. Divers

14:50

did search that lake and retrieved a car with

14:52

a crane, but there was no body found

14:54

inside. The tipster had been lying

14:56

the whole time. With these setbacks,

14:59

detectives remained determined. They

15:01

conducted extensive searches, including digging,

15:04

draining lakes, deploying cadaver dogs

15:06

in various locations, tearing

15:08

out a section of a home floor after new tenants

15:10

reported a foul smell, and even

15:13

consulted with psychics. They explored

15:15

every avenue to locate Dale, but

15:18

unfortunately, no new evidence

15:20

emerged. In 1997,

15:23

on the fifth anniversary of Dale's disappearance,

15:25

the Dinwiddie spoke with the police and expressed

15:28

their enduring hope that Dale might still be out there

15:30

somewhere. Jean said, quote,

15:33

I run to the mailbox every day to see if there's

15:35

a letter, or if there's a phone call I

15:37

think it's maybe Dale calling to hear my voice

15:40

or see if I'm alright. Both

15:42

Jean and Dan discussed how difficult it was

15:44

not knowing what happened to Dale. Jean

15:46

said, quote, it's like a circle.

15:49

You just go over and over and over.

15:52

You never get out of the maze.

15:54

The investigation continued without any major

15:56

updates until October of 2000, when Columbia learned

16:00

about Reynaldo Rivera, a serial

16:02

killer who had been arrested in Georgia for

16:04

a rape and attempted murder of an 18-year-old

16:07

woman named Chrisa Lee. Now

16:09

real quick, I normally wouldn't use a survivor's

16:12

real name, but in this particular

16:14

case, Chrisa Lee has openly discussed

16:16

her experience with the media, so I think

16:18

she would be okay with it.

16:20

Now, according to court records, after

16:22

his arrest,

16:23

Reynaldo admitted to attacking Chrisa Lee

16:26

and also confessed to raping, sodomizing,

16:29

and murdering Tabitha Basdell in June

16:31

of 2000 and 21-year-old Army

16:33

Sergeant Marnie Glista in September of 2000,

16:35

both who were from Georgia.

16:38

He also confessed to killing two women in South

16:41

Carolina in 1999, 18-year-old Tiffany Wilson and

16:43

17-year-old Melissa

16:46

Dingus. Once news of Reynaldo's

16:49

arrest became public, approximately 30

16:51

women came forward to report that Reynaldo

16:54

had approached them in the past. Detectives

16:56

told the state that they found a pattern in these encounters.

16:59

Reynaldo would approach the women in parking lots,

17:02

often from inside a car or a van, asking

17:05

for directions.

17:06

He would then steer the conversation toward his work

17:09

as a photographer or his interest

17:11

in starting a business. Eventually,

17:13

he would ask them if they've ever considered modeling

17:15

and offer to take photos on the spot or

17:17

suggest something to go somewhere else to try on different

17:20

outfits.

17:21

Detectives noticed that the victims, including

17:23

the 30 women who managed to escape encounters

17:25

with Reynaldo, all shared similar

17:27

traits. They were all petite, slender

17:30

females with shoulder-length blondish hair.

17:33

Police departments across the country began

17:35

to investigate whether Reynaldo could

17:37

be connected to cases in their areas.

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The Columbia Police Department also looked into

18:42

Reynaldo as a possible suspect in

18:44

Dale's disappearance. She did

18:46

fit the profile of his preferred victims. Petite,

18:50

slender females with shoulder length, blondish

18:52

hair. Things looked even more

18:54

promising when they discovered that Reynaldo

18:57

attended the University of South Carolina at

18:59

the time of Dinwiddie's disappearance. Reynaldo

19:02

was questioned multiple times, and during

19:04

these interviews, he admitted to raping many

19:07

women in the DC area and in

19:09

South Carolina. However, he

19:11

consistently denied committing any murders

19:13

before 1999, which included

19:15

denying involvement in Dale's case. Alright,

19:18

so let me weigh in on this. Reynaldo Rivera.

19:21

I've heard the name before. He's obviously been connected to

19:23

a lot of cases. And you'll

19:26

find in these situations with serial

19:28

killers that either they'll admit

19:30

to way more cases than

19:32

they actually committed because they want

19:34

to build up their, I guess, their, their

19:37

legacy in their eyes, right? Or

19:39

you'll have them downplay a lot

19:42

of what they've done for whatever reason. They're

19:44

trying to minimize how dangerous

19:47

or how psychotic they really

19:49

were, right? They try to justify it by saying,

19:52

oh, it was only a couple people. So you

19:54

usually have one end of the spectrum or the

19:56

other. With Reynaldo's willingness

19:58

to admit to so many cases, many different cases

20:01

to so many different investigations as

20:03

much as I don't like this guy and

20:05

you shouldn't believe anything he says it

20:08

may be true that he didn't commit

20:11

any murders or take Dale if

20:14

it occurred before 1999. Now

20:16

I guess I could do more research into Reynaldo

20:18

to try to figure out what the significance is

20:21

of 1999 but

20:23

maybe that's when he flipped the switch maybe he

20:25

had been building up towards this and he distinctly

20:28

remembers that after 1999 he

20:30

started to go on this this killing spree

20:33

and that's why that year is so significant

20:35

for him so he could be telling

20:37

the truth if I if you made me guess

20:40

at this point I would say

20:42

that more than likely there's probably some

20:45

validity to what he's saying as far

20:48

as when he started conducting these

20:50

types of crimes. Now even though I might be

20:52

right it's important to note that to this day there

20:54

is still a strong suspicion that Reynaldo may have

20:57

other unidentified victims but

20:59

he has never officially been linked to any other disappearances

21:01

or murders which obviously includes

21:04

Dale's. Now years went by and

21:06

there were no significant breakthroughs in Dale's case.

21:09

In August of 2012 the police offered a $20,000 reward and shared

21:11

an age-progressed photo

21:16

of how Dale might look at 43 years

21:18

old hoping it might generate some

21:20

new leads. Detectives explained

21:23

that they lacked enough evidence to determine if Dale

21:25

was alive or not but they remain determined

21:27

to solve the case. Dale's parents

21:30

also addressed the public passionately

21:33

asking anyone with information to come forward.

21:36

Jean said quote I don't know that

21:38

Dale is safe or where she is I don't

21:41

really think that someone from Mars came here and

21:43

took her but someone did. 20 years

21:46

after the abduction of my child I

21:48

still cannot rest easy because I don't

21:51

know where she is. Jean added

21:53

quote we asked that even if you will

21:55

not help us solve this crime would

21:57

you please let us know how to find Dale?

22:00

At the end of their plea, the Dinwiddie

22:02

shared their personal phone numbers in case someone

22:05

was hesitant to contact the police. While

22:07

some people did call, none of the information

22:10

led to a breakthrough in the case. In 2018,

22:14

the Richland County Sheriff talked to the state

22:16

as it marked the 25th anniversary of Dale's

22:18

disappearance.

22:19

He mentioned that Dale's parents continued to contact

22:22

authorities regularly, even in the middle

22:24

of the night. He expressed that he could see the

22:26

pain in their eyes and hear it in their voices,

22:28

but said the Dinwiddies were still focused,

22:31

which motivated the investigators. Dale's

22:34

brother Drew also spoke to the state, emphasizing

22:37

their family's strong desire to find Dale

22:39

and get answers. He assured that they

22:41

had not forgotten about her and would continue

22:43

their search. Detectives had reviewed

22:46

over a thousand tips. In addition

22:48

to the Columbia police investigating the case,

22:50

the FBI, along with state investigators,

22:53

continued to check new leads every month. They

22:56

also looked into captured serial killers or

22:58

kidnappers with ties to Columbia and

23:00

compared the DNA from unidentified bodies

23:03

to Dale's DNA. In the fall of 2021, a

23:06

potential lead emerged when rumors circulated

23:09

in Columbia about the police having a

23:11

person of interest in Dale's disappearance.

23:14

Fitz News reported that a woman had reported

23:16

a sexual assault to Sled, again

23:18

that's the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

23:21

She mentioned that the man who allegedly assaulted her

23:24

said that she reminded him of Dale Dinwiddie. Now

23:27

I'm not going to mention this man's name here because

23:29

charges against him were later dropped, but

23:32

his name is known to the public so if you're

23:34

starting to research Dale's case after this,

23:37

it may pop up. Now even with that being

23:39

the case, it's important to note that police investigating

23:42

the sexual assault in the fall of 2021

23:44

explored the possibility of this man's involvement

23:47

in Dale's disappearance. Initially

23:49

it did appear to be promising because this man lived

23:51

in Columbia when Dale went missing and

23:53

his home was close to the Dinwiddie's residence as

23:55

well. More than that during the time

23:57

of Dale's disappearance, he was known to

23:59

see the company of younger women and

24:02

would frequently visit the Five Points area.

24:04

He also loved Jungle Jims and was good friends

24:06

with one of the bartenders who was working the night

24:09

Dale vanished. But ultimately, the

24:11

police were unable to establish a connection between

24:13

Dale and this person, and it turned

24:15

out to be another rumor that raised the hopes of solving

24:18

Dale's case, but did not lead

24:20

to anything that broke it open. In

24:22

May of 2022, the lead detective working on Dale's

24:25

case talked to the Deck Podcast. He

24:27

expressed his strong belief that Dale was taken by

24:30

a person she didn't know and that that person

24:32

likely killed her. He also thinks that

24:34

the plan the kidnapper or kidnappers had

24:36

that night was well thought out. Only

24:39

a few months later, on September 24, the

24:42

Columbia Police Department released a statement regarding

24:44

the 30th anniversary of Dale's disappearance.

24:47

The statement included a quote from Dale's parents

24:49

who said, our family and friends

24:51

still hope and pray each day that someone will

24:53

come forward with information that will lead

24:56

us to Dale. Unfortunately,

24:58

this is the most recent update we have in Dale's

25:00

case. Her disappearance remains

25:03

unsolved, making it the oldest missing

25:05

persons case in Columbia, South Carolina.

25:11

Okay, I'm gonna get into my perspective

25:13

here and it's not going to be a long one because

25:16

a many years have gone by and

25:18

I think at this point there's a couple things

25:21

we can take away from this first and foremost.

25:24

I don't know what investigators

25:26

have in this case, but this

25:29

is one of those investigations where it's been 30

25:31

years. You haven't

25:33

been able to solve it and at

25:35

this point more than likely,

25:38

as Dale's parents said, this

25:40

would just be to find her body

25:43

and

25:44

if there's any information that you have in those

25:47

case files that could be useful to the public,

25:50

now would be the time to release it. Now

25:52

would be the time to put that information

25:54

out there. Yes, you can redact

25:57

the names of individuals who haven't been charged

25:59

with any of these. or and you want to obviously

26:01

keep their privacy but if there's

26:04

any piece of information in that file that could

26:06

help jog someone's memory now

26:09

is the time to do it. Not only

26:11

for the case itself but most importantly

26:14

for Dale's family. They need

26:17

those answers before it's too late before

26:19

one of her parents pass away. They

26:22

have gone through hell and back and

26:25

they deserve to know what happened

26:27

to their daughter. Even if that means

26:29

ruining the overall case

26:32

if it potentially went to trial which let's

26:34

be honest at this point highly unlikely.

26:37

Now as far as what happened that night your

26:39

guess is as good as mine. I'm on the

26:41

outside looking in just like you guys.

26:44

I don't have access to the case files. I wasn't

26:46

working on the ground when this happened but

26:48

one statement that the detective made throughout

26:51

this story that I found interesting was the fact that

26:53

he believes this was well thought

26:55

out. Yeah that's possible it could

26:57

have been this thought-out plan but to be

26:59

honest with you I don't know if that's the case. There's

27:03

no way that this individual

27:05

could have known Dale would be

27:07

alone that night. This was a series of unfortunate

27:10

circumstances that led to this opportunity

27:13

for someone to grab her and there's there's

27:16

no one in the world that could have known this

27:18

was going to happen. Dale didn't even know

27:20

it was going to happen. Now

27:22

I will say based on what the bouncer

27:25

said that she left kind of in a hurry it does

27:27

make me wonder if she could have been going around

27:30

the corner to meet someone that

27:33

was gonna potentially pick her up. Could this be a

27:35

situation where her her attacker

27:38

was someone she knew? That's possible

27:40

and if that's the case this person

27:42

this offender may have

27:45

picked her up with this malicious intent

27:47

or could have picked her up under a you know

27:50

I guess a good intention but then things went

27:52

bad throughout the night that's also possible but

27:54

if you made me choose I think it's

27:56

likely that she was walking

27:59

home. She was trying to get back to her

28:01

place. She couldn't find a ride and

28:03

whoever this person was saw

28:05

a victim of opportunity They were prowling

28:08

the area of the five points knowing that

28:10

there were going to be young females out there potentially

28:13

drinking and there was

28:15

a hope that he would see one of them

28:17

alone and When they saw Dale

28:20

they approached her maybe trying to be

28:22

someone that she would be okay with taking

28:24

a ride from She might have quickly

28:27

told that person she wanted nothing to do with

28:29

them But because of her stature and

28:31

her weight this individual got out of the car

28:33

was able to overpower her and took

28:35

her anyways But I don't think necessarily

28:38

that because they haven't solved this case

28:40

it automatically indicates that this was well

28:42

thought out or planned It just

28:44

means that the guy got lucky and I do

28:47

understand where the investigators coming from all

28:49

these years No witnesses no

28:51

forensic evidence to tie back to the offender.

28:53

I get it But again, this could

28:55

be a situation where the offender

28:58

decided to attack Dale Because

29:01

those obstacles weren't present.

29:03

She was far enough away from any other

29:05

public establishments where she would be seen

29:07

or heard by anyone and If

29:09

the person got out quick out of their car

29:12

and we're just assuming they had a car.

29:14

They could have grabbed her

29:15

Rendered her unconscious and drove

29:17

off and unless you knew exactly where the struggle

29:20

occurred It wouldn't leave much evidence

29:22

for investigators. So here we are 30

29:25

years later and we still don't know what happened

29:27

to Dale Does that mean we just stopped

29:29

talking about her case? Of course not we're

29:31

gonna continue fighting for her and her family and

29:34

you never know who's gonna hear or

29:36

see one of these episodes and

29:40

Maybe they've known something all along and

29:42

just something that was said during this episode

29:44

triggers

29:45

something inside of them

29:47

to come forward I don't know or

29:49

maybe something is seen or

29:52

heard by someone who was there that night

29:54

that triggers a memory of theirs I know

29:56

that the deck covered this as well. And I hope

29:59

that many more podcasts cover it

30:01

going forward. But I know there's a lot of people

30:03

listening and watching right now, so maybe

30:06

someone out there can help. And in order

30:08

to do that, I'm going to recap this episode really

30:10

quickly. So again, Dale's disappearance

30:12

occurred on September 24th, 1992. She was only five feet tall and

30:14

weighed 98 pounds. She had light brown

30:20

hair with blonde highlights, brown

30:22

eyes, and dimples. She was last

30:24

seen wearing an olive green long sleeve shirt,

30:27

faded blue jeans, a bright blue

30:29

LL Bean jacket tied around her waist, and

30:32

new white running shoes. So

30:34

after hearing all this, if you have any information,

30:37

please call the Midlands Crime Stoppers at 888-274-6372.

30:39

And remember, all callers can remain

30:46

anonymous. And lastly, I want

30:48

to send my thoughts out to Dale's parents, Dan

30:50

and Jean, and also her brother

30:52

Drew. I'm inspired by

30:54

your fight and determination for your daughter

30:57

and your sister after all these years.

30:59

And I just want you to know that we're here to

31:01

support you. You're not alone. And

31:04

we are in this fight with you. Everyone

31:07

stay safe out there. I'll see you next

31:09

week.

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