Stalked: The Disappearance of Cynthia Jane Scott

 

Real Name: Cynthia Jane Anderson

Nicknames: Cindy

Location: Toledo, Ohio

Date: August 4, 1981

Bio

Occupation: Legal Secretary

Date of Birth: February 4, 1961

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 115 lbs

Marital Status: Dating

Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Case

Details: In 1980, twenty-year-old Cindy Anderson was plagued by several bizarre and frightening dreams in which she was abducted from her home and murdered by a stranger. She told her mother about her dreams, but the mother did not take them seriously. The nightmares plagued her for the next year.

On August 4, 1981, Cindy arrived at the legal office where she worked as a secretary. During the mornings, she normally worked alone, so she always kept the door locked. At 12PM, two of her coworkers arrived to find the office empty. The doors were locked, mail was in the door, and a radio, the lights, and the air conditioner were all on. One coworker was surprised to find that the book she was reading was opened to the only violent part, and found other evidence that suggested that she met with foul play. It appeared that she had been abducted, despite having all of the doors to the office locked and an alarm to alert the store next door.

Cindy's family found no reason for her to disappear, especially because she was raised in a strict religious environment. Also, she was planning on quitting her job in two weeks and going to a Bible college with her boyfriend. Her father, however, noticed that she had been dieting and focusing more on her appearance around the time of her disappearance.

When investigating the case, police found that the only items missing were Cindy's car keys and purse, and that there was no evidence of forced entry or struggle in the office. Based on the fact that no calls were answered by Cindy after 10AM, it is believed that she was abducted around that time. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, and she has never been found.

Suspects: A client of Cindy's, Larry Mullins, claimed that the day before she vanished, she received a strange call from an unidentified person and that she was apparently upset or scared by the caller. The caller phoned the office twice while he was there. He asked her if there was something wrong, and she stated that they had been receiving several similar phone calls. However, she did not say what they were about. It is unknown if they are connected to the case.

Another lead police had was about an unidentified man writing "I Love You Cindy - By GW" on a wall near Cindy's office. She had first noticed it ten months before her disappearance. It had been visible for six months before it was covered up. She was disturbed when, just a few weeks later, it appeared again. Police were uncertain if it had anything to do with her disappearance. They questioned several people with the initials GW, including a maintenance man who happened to have keys to the legal office. However, there was no evidence that could directly tie him to her disappearance.

In September 1981, a month after Cindy vanished, police received an anonymous tip that claimed that she was being held against her will. The tipster appeared nervous and refused to give the investigator her name. She claimed that Cindy was being held in the basement of a white house and that there were two houses side-by-side that were owned by the same family. Apparently, they were out of town, but their son was home and he was the one holding her captive. However, the tipster did not give the address. When the investigator tried to ask her for more information, the call ended. A few minutes later, she called back. When another investigator tried to listen on the extension, she hung up again. She has not called back since, and it is unknown if her information is legitimate.

After Cindy vanished, nine people were indicted on drug-trafficking charges, and many suspected that she knew one of them and was killed because she knew too much about the drugs. None of these theories have been confirmed, however.

Extra Notes: This case first aired on the January 3, 1990 episode.

Results: Unresolved. The person who wrote the message has since been identified and is not believed to have any connection with the case.

Jose Rodriguez Jr. is a suspect in the case and was one of the nine people indicted on the drug charges. He had connections to Cindy's office; in fact, her employer, Richard Neller, had previously represented him. In 1995, while he was on trial for the drug charges, a witness testified that he had confessed to killing her. He allegedly did so to "send a message" to Neller because he did not adequately represent him at his previous trial. However, police could not confirm this confession and her case still remains officially unsolved. Both Neller and Rodriguez are currently serving prison sentences for drug trafficking and remain suspects in it.

Cindy's father has since passed away in 2008. Her mother passed away in 1982, prior to the broadcast.