AZ AZ - Dorothy, 47, & Danielle Pitcher, 14, Sunizona, 23 May 1993

KT Can

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http://www.missingpitchers.com/mp/

Anyone know anything about this case and/or have any thoughts on it? I couldn't find a thread on it & I just thought about them out of the blue for some strange reason. I remember hearing about this case several years ago, I always felt so bad because of all of her small children that were left motherless.
 
My goodness, that area is so desolate. It doesn't seem there would be anywhere to hide if someone pointed a gun at them and told them to get in their car/truck. They could have been followed from the store.

It's also so sad that their father died so shortly after! Why does this have to happen?

I'll pray somehow answers are found. Thanks for the link, KT Can.
 
Hard to say if this matches with the mom:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/372ufaz.html
The Doe Network:
Case File 372UFAZ

372UFAZ.jpg
372UFAZ1.jpg

Reconstruction of Victim
Unidentified Victim

  • The victim was discovered on February 9, 1994 near Aguila, Maricopa County, Arizona
  • Skull Only
  • The skull was analyzed and it was unable to scientifically determine the gender. Based on the skull, a drawing was done to try to determine what the person may have looked like.
Vital Statistics

  • Estimated age: 35-40+ years old
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Victim may be a male.
  • Dentals: Dental charting is available.
Case History
The skeletal cranium was located near Aguila, Arizona on February 9, 1994.

Poster
http://www.missingpitchers.com/mp/poster.html
image002.jpg
image004.jpg
 
Taximom, I don't think that's a match, simply because it says "dental charting is available." Didn't Dorothy Pitcher have false teeth, and didn't she leave them behind when she and her daughter went out? I'm thinking there wouldn't be information about dental charting; wouldn't the information about her mention that she had no teeth?
 
Mr E, it's those little things that trip me up all the time. Thanks!
 
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/03/09/news/doc47d39ddcbf22e400232176.txt

9 March 08

When a missing person’s location is unknown, the search team has nothing to go on until a general area can be estimated, she said.

“That’s exactly what happened in the Pitcher case — Dorothy and Danielle,” she said.

In 1990, the woman and her 12-year-old daughter who lived in the unincorporated Cochise settlement area disappeared after going to the store and have not been heard from since, Capas said. They were on foot, left the rest of the family and all belongings behind, and people actually saw them at the store.

In cases such as the Pitchers, Search and Rescue Team members could have searched the area of travel from the store back to the home, “but that wouldn’t necessarily be an issue as far as a timeliness factor,” Capas said.

more at link
 
Bumping for Danielle & Dorothy....
 
That area is so desolate it doesn't look like it would be very hard to dump the bodies never to be found.

I wonder what the area looks like now. If it has been built up by urban sprawl. It is always amazing to me to think about ALL those missing people out there whom we are certain are deceased yet they have never been found. With as much urban sprawl and development there is in this country you would think more missing people's bodies would be found but I suppose if one is not looking for skeletal remains it would be very easy for a bulldozer or work crew to just go right over them without noticing.

Someone had to have snatched them. I would suspect it was a local who they knew and they stopped to offer them a ride and they accepted. 6 miles is a long way to walk especially for a little girl.
 
The area is still pretty much the same. Very rural. Very much what you would expect in a desert. When I first moved to Arizona, I lived in this area for a couple months with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. I worked in the same building that Dorothy and Danielle visited to get ice cream and cigarettes. When I worked there, about 3 years after they disappeared, it was turned into a restaurant called The Roadrunner. The area where they served ice cream was still there and we did serve ice cream there when I worked there.

Anyway, more about the area. Like I said, it is very rural and is mostly home to ranch folk. There are areas where there are nut orchards (pecans, pistachios...can't remember). I don't get down there very often, since my mother-in-law passed away. There are several little towns in the area--like Sunizona, if you blink you will miss them. My in-laws mostly did their shopping in Benson, Douglas, or Sierra Vista. Occasionally they would come up to Tucson to shop in bulk. There are no grocery stores in Sunizona, per se. There's one little country store in Sunizona, but it's very small and the variety is sparse. It's more like a large conveinience store, if you will.

There have been a couple updates in the case of Dorothy and Danielle, and it gives those of us who follow the case some hope.

http://www.kvoa.com/news/new-clues-re-open-1993-missing-persons-case

http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2009/08/22/news/breaking_news/doc4a8dd6041107a365046561.txt

My continued prayers for the Pitcher family. I hope there is a resolution soon, so they can finally give Dorothy and Danielle a proper burial.
 
On the 13th anniversary of the day teenage lifeguard Molly Anne Bish disappeared, 100 people gathered at the town common on Thursday night to honor her memory and to remember that her killer has never been found.

[snip]

A photograph of a smiling Molly was set on a table by a bouquet of yellow roses. A moment of silence was held for all the missing children, and one by one, candles were lit to represent the missing and murdered children: Molly Bish, Holly Piirainen, Lisa Ziegert, Sarah Pryor, Jeffrey Curley, Danielle and Dorothy Pitcher, and Caleigh Harrison.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/slain_warren_teenager_molly_an.html#/0
 
In a 2003 interview with the Range News, Dana Pitcher Hills said her mother and sister left their home near the Ash Creek School about 1 p.m. that Sunday to walk to the "RV Park store" at the intersection of Routes 181 and 191.

They went to buy cigarettes for Dorothy's husband, John "Jack" Pitcher, who stayed at home with the other five brothers and sisters to cook dinner, she said.

The mother and daughter made the three-mile walk one way from their home to the store, where they bought cigarettes and ice cream. They were last seen at about 3 p.m., heading back along 181 toward their home, Hills said.

Dorothy and Danielle Pitcher haven't been seen or heard from since.

http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/news/article_ea142e1f-cf88-5c6f-8115-4ce95bef3bf5.html

2009 article:

New evidence concering persons missing since 1993 was discovered on property in Elfrida today.On Monday August 17, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on a property in the area of North Moore Road in Elfrida in connection to a missing persons cold case from 1993...

New evidence concering persons missing since 1993 was discovered on property in Elfrida today.On Monday August 17, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on a property in the area of North Moore Road in Elfrida in connection to a missing persons cold case from 1993...

A Cold Case Investigator with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office began a review of the case earlier this year and revisited old leads which led to new ones being generated. As a result of these leads, a search warrant was obtained and served on the property described above. As part of the warrant requirements a period of three days was allocated to conduct a search of the property, buildings, and excavation of the land...

As a result of this search warrant, items of evidence were located and the investigation continues to move forward with additional leads being followed.

http://www.douglasdispatch.com/news...cle_22ab97ca-e12a-5223-b0d7-4754f91d46cb.html
 
[h=1]VANISHED: Dorothy & Danielle Pitcher, missing since 1993[/h]
SUNIZONA, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - The sound of silence is common in Sunizona, Arizona.

It's a small and quiet town, nestled deep into the southwest corner of the state, about 95 miles east of Tucson and 45 miles north of Douglas. The rural town is home to around 200 people.

It's also home to a mystery, surrounding the disappearance of a mother and her young daughter. On May 23, 1993, Dorothy Pitcher and her daughter Danielle vanished, after they left their home on Ash Creek Rd. on a walk to the store.

"Nothing was different," Dawn Pitcher said about the day her sister and mom disappeared. "There was nothing different with the situation, except they never arrived back home."

On that May afternoon, the two made it to a store located at what is now the junction of Highways 181 & 191, which is a few miles from their home. From there, they were last seen on their route home on a prominent "s"-curve that runs through town.
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/vanished-dorothy-danielle-pitcher-missing-since-1993
 
The podcast, "In Sight" (apparently one of their last podcasts before ending the podcast series) covers this case and one other missing mother and daughter.
 

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