The Unforgotten

Season 3: Finding Dolores Wulff
Episode 6: Moving On
Release Date: September 8, 2025
Hosted by: Kyle Bonagura & Adam Rittenberg (Free Range Productions)

Overview

Episode 6, “Moving On,” examines the aftermath of Carl Wulff’s release following the dismissal of his murder charges and the profound ripple effects on the Wulff family. The episode poignantly chronicles Carl's spiral, his fractured relationships, efforts to reconnect, and his eventual death without ever revealing the truth about Dolores' disappearance. The narrative transitions to focus on the next generations, exploring how Dolores’ case lingers through familial silence and the power of modern internet investigation communities to keep hope alive for cold cases.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Carl Wulff After the Trial: Alienation, Family Fractures, and Downward Spiral

• Carl’s Life Post-1985: After acquittal, Carl couldn’t reclaim normalcy. Attempts to remain near family failed, as his sons refused contact.

• Notable Incident—Paul’s Football Game (01:50): A rare encounter when Paul played at the Rose Bowl, Carl appeared unexpectedly; Paul spoke to him briefly, “He was there at the game waiting for me outside the locker room...I acknowledged him and talked to him.” (03:04, Paul)

• Last Conversation with Paul: Their final exchange occurred by phone, “He was drunk and that was it. That was the last time I ever talked to him.” (03:26, Paul)

• Minnesota Exile and Familial Tensions: Carl returned to the family farm with help from his brother, Richard, but gratitude dissolved into hostility.

  • Richard recalls: “He did not appreciate all that Pat and I did for him. Instead, he caused trouble for us and for his parents and everyone else...” (10:17)
  • Carl’s behavior steadily deteriorated into belligerence, heavy drinking, and mental instability.
  • Pat (Richard’s wife): “He definitely had some mental problems...Well, he was mentally ill, for sure. He had anxiety issues. He had mental health issues.” (12:42)
  • Anna Wolf notes: “It became more and more obvious, the way he was acting, that he was guilty.” (12:59)

• Community Ostracism:

  • Tom, Carl’s son: “His family doesn’t want anything to do with him...He ended up just a miserable, totally messed up human being.” (14:40, 15:02)

• Final Breach of Family Trust: Upon the deaths of their parents, Carl stole their funeral savings and personal property.

  • Richard: “He waited for my parents to die so he could steal all the cash which they saved for their funeral...He stole everything from the parents, from us, and left here in a disgrace.” (15:23, 15:53)

2. The Complex Bond: Carl and Anna Wolf

• Anna, alone among Carl’s children, maintained contact out of hope for a confession:
  • “It was always in the back of my mind...that someday he will confess to me, so I’ll continue to keep in contact.” (18:57, Anna)
• Carl returned to California, living near Anna, who vouched for his character so he could rent an apartment, but Carl’s drinking and transient lifestyle persisted.
• Anna’s eventual reckoning: Her cousin, Toni Rocha, insists Anna admit Carl killed Dolores—Anna concedes: “I know, I know he did. I always did know. I was just confused.” (20:24, Toni/Anna)
• Anna’s return to Woodland and deep conversations with her uncle Slick lead to acceptance and understanding about her parents’ marriage and Dolores’ mindset.
  • “That was the time where I really processed a lot of the real truth, you know, that my dad probably did it.” (23:04, Anna)

3. Carl’s Final Years: Death Without Confession

• As Carl’s health failed, Anna and Tom traveled to see him hoping for a revelation, but “he was too...not 100% coherent all the time. So it wasn’t making a lot of sense...” (24:12, Anna)
• Tom’s aim: “My goal was to...get information out of him as to what he did with my mother’s body...But I saw him...he was ready to die...I just said goodbye, basically.” (24:40, Tom)
• Family universally agreed Carl never confessed; speculation centers on whether he might have told someone while drinking, but no evidence surfaces.
  • David (nephew): “How is this guy not told anybody in great detail what he did? Because that’s usually what gets people caught.” (26:17)
  • Tom: “I believe he never told anybody, period. I just...I know his nature enough, and I can’t imagine why he would.” (26:54, Tom)
  • Carly (eldest child): “His response was, I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know. She, I didn’t do anything wrong. He’d always say that to me.” (27:38)
  • Carly again: “He didn’t want to get caught. No matter how many years later, he didn’t want to get caught for killing her...” (27:51)
• Paul receives call notifying him of Carl’s hospitalization and eventual death in 2005, age 70, in San Marcos, California.
  • “He had passed.” (28:17, Paul)

4. The Next Generation: Silence, Curiosity, and Digital Hope

• Holly Wolf (Johnson), Dolores’ granddaughter, describes the subject as taboo:
  • “It was kind of a taboo subject, to be honest with you. It wasn’t talked about.” (32:29, Holly)
  • Stories and wild rumors circulated in Woodland; Holly’s curiosity intensified as she grew up, especially after finding a trunk of Carl’s belongings: “It was kind of eerie, and I just remember opening it...It was like, a black trunk, and it was just old newspapers.” (33:58, Holly)
  • She finds a photo of Dolores: “She was just glowingly beautiful. And I was just like, I’m gonna take this. I stole it. And I felt more guilty than anything...” (34:16, Holly)
• As an adult, Holly turns to internet resources to research Dolores’ case:
  • “Every few years, I would just google her name and see what someone talked about...Very, very rarely was there anything.” (34:43, Holly)

5. Digital Detectives: The Doe Network and Modern Cold Case Advocacy

• Exploration of NamUs and the Doe Network:

  • Introduced as communities giving new hope for the missing and unidentified, with volunteers operating largely through “deductive reasoning.” These efforts solve and assist in cold cases—“Our mission is to give the nameless back their names and return the missing to their families.” (36:25, Tara Kennedy)
  • Tara explains: “Missing people, unidentified people, have no voice...I feel that people want to provide agency for these folks.” (37:43, Tara)
  • Technology and volunteer crowdsourcing, paired with databases, have led to “135 missing persons cases” being solved as of April 2025. (41:06-41:31)
  • Tara Kennedy: “You might be the key to identifying someone or finding someone. And I think there really is no greater gift than being able to do that.” (41:31, Tara)

• Holly’s Investigation:

  • Inspired by other missing-person cases, Holly dives into databases, ultimately submitting a potential Jane Doe match for her grandmother, Dolores, in 2019.
  • “Like, I don’t know anything about true crime. Like, there’s just no way that I stumbled upon Jane Doe report that actually is my grandmother.” (43:34, Holly)
  • Despite not getting a response, Holly’s efforts mirror decades of family hope and the frustrating inertia of cold cases, but also the possibility for change. “It was like, just send the damn email. Does it matter? So I sent the email.” (43:58, Holly)

6. Closing Thought

• Dolores’ case has entered a new phase: “In 2016, the Dolores Wolf case was added to the NAMUS database and a DOE network profile followed. They were steps that allowed anyone to take a closer look at what happened back in 1979.” (42:09, Kyle Bonagura)
• The episode ends with the promise that persistent efforts—by both family and strangers—might yet illuminate what happened to Dolores.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Paul Wolf on last encounter with his father:

  “I acknowledged him and talked to him. And then I went back to the majority of my family who was there.” (03:04, Paul)

• Richard, Carl’s brother, on taking Carl in:

  “He did not appreciate all that Pat and I did for him. Instead, he caused trouble for us and for his parents and everyone else that he had contact with in Onamia.” (10:17, Richard)

• Anna Wolf, on hoping for a confession:

  “It was always in the back of my mind ... that someday he will confess to me, so I’ll continue to keep in contact.” (18:57, Anna)

• Holly Wolf on family silence:

  “It was kind of a taboo subject, to be honest with you. It wasn’t talked about.” (32:29, Holly)

• Tara Kennedy, Doe Network:

  “Missing people, unidentified people, have no voice. And that is a tragedy in itself. So I feel that maybe people want to be able to provide agency for these folks.” (37:43, Tara)

Key Timestamps

• 00:16–04:39: Carl’s post-trial life, last attempts at reconnecting with his sons, Paul’s last conversation with Carl
• 04:57–15:53: Carl’s return to Minnesota, impact on family, mental decline, bridge burning
• 17:57–24:50: Relationship with Anna, Anna’s struggle for clarity, Anna and Tom’s final visit to Carl
• 26:17–28:05: Family analysis on Carl’s silence, speculation on confessions
• 32:29–34:16: Holly’s discovery of family secrets and personal artifacts
• 34:52–41:31: The Doe Network, NamUs, the rise of internet-sleuthing in cold cases
• 42:55–44:16: Holly’s own efforts to spark new inquiry through NamUs

Episode Tone

The episode is meticulously narrated with a somber, reflective tone, blending personal pain with investigative persistence. The voices of family—often raw, at other times measured—highlight the generational scars left by Dolores’ disappearance, but also a stubborn resolve in seeking truth.

Conclusion

“Moving On” details how the Wulff family endured Carl’s years of self-destruction and obfuscation, and how the loss of Dolores affected not only her immediate kin but also grandchildren like Holly. In a resonant full-circle moment, the episode closes with the new tools and communities spearheading hope for closure in cold cases—reminding listeners that digital footprints and shared resolve can still bring the unforgotten home.