Missing
Doloris May Siddall
Siddall, approximately 1961; Hugh Pheaster
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/23/1961
Missing location (approx) :
Long Beach, California
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
Age at the time of disappearance: 29 years old
Height / Weight : 5'7, 160 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A long black knit coat, a black sheath dress and black high heels.
Medical conditions : Siddall was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Siddall may spell her middle name "Mae" or her first name "Dolores". She may use the names Dee Gill and/or Doloris May McHenry.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Siddall was last seen in Long Beach, California on August 23, 1961. She left her three children in the care of a babysitter and has never been heard from again.
She lived in the 700 block of Redondo Avenue at the time of her disappearance, and worked as a barmaid. She disappeared after telling multiple people that she was "in trouble" and going to see Hugh MacLeod Pheaster to have an abortion, which were illegal at the time. She borrowed $100 from a friend to pay for it. A photo of Pheaster is posted with this case summary.
Pheaster was subsequently tried for Siddall's murder and for performing an illegal abortion, but in early 1962 a jury acquitted him of both charges. He was later convicted of abortion in three other cases, and also of federal armed robbery and auto theft charges. After these convictions, he confessed that he had in fact performed the abortion on Siddall in his Long Beach apartment, and that she had accidentally died during the procedure.
Pheaster said he put her remains in the trunk of his car and dumped the body in deep a ravine in the Lake Arrowhead-Big Bear Lake region in San Bernardino County. Although he passed a lie detector test about his statement, searches of the area turned up nothing. He was subsequently convicted of participating in the 1974 kidnapping for ransom of a sixteen-year-old Palm Springs, California boy, the son of a multimillionaire. The boy's skeletal remains were found in 1977.
Siddall's body has never been found.
Other information and links : ncy
Long Beach Police Department
562-570-7260
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Whereabouts Still Unknown
The Sacramento Bee
The Long Beach Independent
The San Bernardino County Sun
October 12, 2004. March 4, 2021; picture added.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
