Florida should be a new beginning for Rose Marie Gayhart. The 23-year-old woman from Dansville, New York, went through some difficult years, including the loss of her baby at the age of six months and the choice to deliver her second baby for adoption.
But things seemed to be changing for Rose when she moved to Fort Myers, Florida, with her boyfriend, Bob Paddock and his mother, Dorothy Rittenhouse.
Rose’s sister, Laurie Travis, told Dateline that Rose looked happy in her new life.
“She seemed happy where she was,” said Laurie. “And she just begged and begged me to move to Florida to be close to her.”
Laurie and Rose, just a year apart, have always been extremely close.
“We shared a room and listened to the same song,” Laurie told Dateline. She was 22 when her sister disappeared. “We were very close. I miss her so much. ”
Laurie told Dateline that she was considering moving to Florida, but she had two jobs in her hometown, Dansville, and did not feel that she could destroy her life at that time.
So the sisters kept in touch, writing letters to each other. On March 5, 1985, Laurie received a letter from Rose in which she looked happy, but lonely. Rose wrote that they hoped to buy a house in Cape Coral and continued to ask Laurie to move or at least come to visit her.
In the letter, which Laurie shared with Dateline, Rose also wrote that she wanted to return to New York while Bob was away for two weeks in the National Guard, but that he would not leave her.
“He’s afraid that I won’t come back,” wrote Rose. “I would also like to get away from Bob’s mom, because she is going crazy.”
Laurie explained that at the time, Rose, Bob and Bob’s mother lived in cramped rooms in a trailer and that there may have been tension between the three.
Rose’s letter was the last time Laurie heard from her sister. Laurie replied to Rose, but her letter was returned.
On March 19, Laurie said that her mother received a letter from Bob’s mother, Dorothy Rittenhouse. In that letter, also shared with Dateline, Dorothy stated that Rose was missing and that she had not appreciated everything that Dorothy had tried to do to help her.
According to a Cape Coral police report, a neighbor told authorities that she witnessed an argument between Rose and Bob on March 17, where Rose indicated she was pregnant and wanted to have the baby, but Bob wanted her to have an abortion. The argument ended with Dorothy letting Rose call her mother before driving her out of the house and telling her not to come back.
In the letter, Dorothy also stated that she later tried to give Rose a bus ticket back to New York, but Rose refused to accept it. The ticket, acquired on March 17, accompanies the letter to the mother.
On March 19, Rose was hired at Big Howie’s Hot Dogs restaurant at 47th Terrace in Cape Coral, Florida. On her third day on the job, Rose’s boss reportedly watched her get into a red truck with an unknown white man. She never returned to receive her payment and has not been seen since.
After receiving the letter and being unable to speak to Rose, her parents reported her disappearance to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in New York. The department then sought help from the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, as it was where she was last seen. Both agencies continue to work on the case.
Detective Thomas Kortright, who has been on the case since 2018, told Dateline that Rose’s disappearance is an archived case, but as new information arrives, detectives continue to investigate.
“Rose’s case is still under investigation and we are doing everything we can to resolve it,” Det. Kortright said, adding that investigators suspect crime in the 36-year-old case.
“With the time that has passed, we suspect that something has happened to her,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened and, without a body, it has been difficult to move on.”
Detective Kortright told Dateline that many people have been interviewed and re-interviewed over the years, including his family, friends, co-workers and his boyfriend Bob Paddock and his mother Dorothy Rittenhouse.
Detective Kortright added that no one has been cleared of being a person of interest and until Rose is found, or someone comes forward, her disappearance remains a mystery.
“Our hope is that someone in that area will remember something from that time and show up,” Det. Kortright said. “Any information can help.”
According to the detective, Rose had left behind a metal box that contained a scrapbook with important documents of her firstborn son who had died and the second baby she had put up for adoption. His family does not believe that she would have left him behind.
Rose’s sister Laurie told Dateline that her family had always suspected that her disappearance was involved in a crime.
“She would never just take off and never contact us,” said Laurie. “We were best friends, she would have looked for me.”
Laurie told Dateline that Bob Paddock and his mother returned to New York after Rose’s disappearance. Although she still sees Bob around town, the two are not in contact. Dateline tried to contact Bob by phone, but the calls were not answered. Bob’s mother, Dorothy, has passed away.
Laurie said her family only wants answers after all these years, especially her parents, who are almost 70 and struggling with cancer.
“They deserve to know the truth before they die,” said Laurie. “We all just want to know what happened to Rosie. And we want justice. ”
In 2018, Rose’s past emerged bringing a little happiness to the family. The baby she gave up for adoption, Joel, was back in their lives. Married with two daughters, he had been looking for his birth mother for years.
“It was a bright spot in the darkness we lived in,” said Laurie. “And now we have a part of Rosie back.”
Laurie, who helps manage the Missing Rose Marie Gayhart page on Facebook, recently posted a photo of Joel’s daughters writing: “Rose, these are your beautiful granddaughters”.
This month will mark 36 years since Rose’s disappearance, but Laurie told Dateline that she will not give up until she meets her sister or at least finds out what happened to her. Three years ago, Laurie finally did what her sister always wanted – she traveled to Florida.
“I wanted to see the place my sister loved so much – the place where she was happy,” said Laurie. “I know that I may never be able to bring her home, but I just hope to find out what happened to her.”
Anyone with information that can help resolve Rose’s case should call the Cape Coral, Florida Police Department at (239) 574-3223 or Livingston County, New York Sheriff’s Department at (585) 243-7120.