Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 12/27/1983
- Missing From:
- Missing From Delavan, Kansas
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Age:
- Age 68 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’3, 85 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description Unknown, but Stoddard usually wore men’s gray work pants, a flannel shirt, a heavy coat, a big scarf on her neck, sneakers and a straw hat.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Gray hair, brown eyes. Stoddard may use the last name Hart. Her nickname is “the Dog Lady.”
- Details of Disappearance:
- In December 1983, a woman named Stoddard disappeared from her home near Delavan, Kansas. She was last seen trying to get her truck unstuck from the snow. Several days later, neighbors noticed the truck was still there and she was gone, so they called the police.
Police found around 100 starving dogs on her property—many were dead. Stoddard’s purse was missing, but her cane was found near her truck. She lived alone, was very private, and loved rescuing stray dogs. She’d often pick up abandoned dogs along Highway 77. Over time, she had accumulated perhaps as many as 200 dogs living on her property.
Her house was in terrible shape—dirty, run-down, no running water or phone, and parts of it were even collapsing. It seemed like the upper floors hadn’t been used in years. Stoddard apparently lived in the messy basement.
Police aren’t sure what happened. One idea is she got exhausted and froze to death while walking to a nearby airfield to use the phone and get water. Another is that the dogs ate her body, but there’s no proof of that. Sadly, her disappearance remains a mystery.
- Agency:
- Morris County Sheriff’s Office
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 12/27/1983