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- [00:00]
A
Hey there. To all the listeners of the Unforgotten podcast, we are your co host of Season finding, Dolores Wolf. I'm Adam Rittenberg, he is Kyle Bonagara. And we're here to break down episode one, tell you a little bit more about what we learned in reporting that episode and obviously putting it out there for all of you to listen. And we certainly appreciate all the downloads and the support so far for episode one, Life of the Party. You know, so one thing that Kyle and I really wanted to emphasized throughout this podcast is, you know, yes, this is a true crime case. This is a case that we're going to break down extensively for the rest of the rest of the run of episodes. But we also wanted to highlight Dolores as a person. And that's why we thought the Unforgotten was such a great fit for this particular story, because she was someone who was such a light, a positive light in many people's lives, whether it was her father, four children, or her large extended family or her community in and around Woodland, California, where she essentially spent her entire life. And you know, Kyle, when we put this together, what were some of the big things about, you know, Dolores? Upbringing, her origins and her life as a young adult? And then obviously a little bit of an older adult and a mother. What were some of the things that you felt were important that we highlighted about her?
- [01:27]
B
It's interesting because everyone essentially said the same thing, is that it was something about either her smile or her sense of humor, her ability to make people laugh. Right. I think we heard a little bit about that from a few different people, starting with her brother, Slick. And he made it clear that she liked to joke around dating all the way back to when they were little kids growing up in the Woodland area. We heard a lot about that where quick wit, big smile, big toothy smile. All those things were consistent from all her family. I think with a story like this, we have the true crime hook at the start of the episode. But I think really to care about this story, you have to care about Dolores. And I think I know that we wanted to share a lot about her personality with the listeners, and I think we did that right. I think people got a pretty good sense. Those who listened to the episode already got some insight into who she was and why people cared about her, how she was able to integrate with the school. And he heard from Tom, her son Tom, about the troublemakers. Like to go see her. There was. She was an equal opportunity, you know, friend to the community, friend to her family. People in her family and beyond.
- [02:37]
A
Right. And I think, you know, even when we were asking, you know, people in her family or people that knew Dolores about the case, you know, they would bring up stories that they remembered about her and what, you know, something that happened as, you know, a trip or just a funny family dinner moment. They really wanted us to lift up Dolores and lift up her memory because, you know, that's how they remember her. And that was certainly a really, really important part of this whole story. You know, I mean, the other thing, too, is just, you know, how her family and how they came to this area, you know, from. They were immigrants, and, you know, she didn't grow up speaking English, and, you know, her father and his brother came over on a steamship from the Azores, this group of islands off the coast of Portugal. And, you know, Tony Rocha, who you'll hear from a lot in the podcast, really went into that origin story, which we played a little bit of, but even more so with us about his grandfather and the last time that his grandfather saw his father. I mean, what do you remember? Just about learning that Portuguese side and how that was such an important part of Dolores upbringing, but then also how she passed that along to her four children.
- [03:53]
B
It was everywhere, and it permeated throughout their lives. Right. Paul talked a little about going to the Sopas feeds. Like, there's the Cabrillo Club in town, where the Cabrillo. It was very. They were very integrated into their heritage. The quote from Tony that has stuck with me. It didn't end up getting included in episode one, but his father spoke with his father on the docks in the Azores, and his father says to him, I'll see you in heaven. There was just an understanding that, hey, you're going to start this new life in America. I'm never going to see you again. That was an understanding. At 18, 19 years old, they went to start a new life, and really did that. They succeeded. They were people who settled in Northern California and were an important part of the community in Woodland and Beyond.
- [04:46]
A
I think what we tried to establish, and we'll continue to do it throughout the whole run of episodes, is just how large and supportive and loyal and intimidating in some cases, this Rocha family was. You know, it's just a family. That man, I certainly would not want to mess with one of their members. And unfortunately, that happened here, which is sort of the tragic irony of this story.
- [05:11]
B
They were very integrated in this community, and I think we saw a little bit of that visually. Right. With the anniversary party that occurred Just before Dolores went missing, when we were reporting the story initially for espn, we saw, you know, we were able to get our hands on that Super 8 footage to see that glimpse into what this family looked like at that time, what Dolores looked like. I remember. I forget what the family member I got the Super 8 tape from, but they sent it to me, and I went down to a local video shop and had it converted to digital video. It came back on a USB drive. I remember being so excited to thumb through that and see about halfway through, there she is, right as Rainbow. That's Dolores Wolf. There was no ambiguity to it. She's wearing this vibrant blue dress again, big smile. It was very clearly her. And to see her move and just come to life in front of me was a really cool moment, just because we had invested so much time in learning about her and her family. And then another cool part kind of connected to that was when I was able to share that, you know, with. With Paul for the first time. And I remember talking with him after the fact. And I know that hit him really hard because his mother went missing when he was 12 years old. And from that point forward, he never actually saw any video of her. They had these Super 8 tapes somewhere in storage, but no one in the family had ever, or at least Paul hadn't, had never watched it in the years since. So by the time I had that converted and shared with Paul, it had been over 40 years since he had seen video of his mother. So that was a really emotional moment for him to be able to see his mother come to life, see her move, see her smile for the first time. All he had was his own memories of her. Right. And so to see it on a computer screen or on his phone or however he watched, it was cool for him. Like, very cool for him. It was cool for me. I can't imagine what that experience would have been like for him and others in the family who were in a similar spot.
- [07:06]
A
Yeah, and again, I mean, this is a really enjoyable story to report on a lot of levels. But one of the hard parts was that, you know, we didn't have a lot of video. We didn't have a lot of, you know, Dolores speaking, for instance. And so this was really a find for us to at least be able to, you know, capture just a split second, honestly, on the Super 8 footage, a couple of seconds that we. That we actually use for our ESPN story. And also seeing some of the other people, we saw a young Paul Wolf. We saw Tony Rocha, who is a very young man at the time, you know, other. Other relatives that we'd heard about in that scene. And it was very emblematic of what her life was like in that family, in that community at that time. And so to be able to actually visualize that and see even though we couldn't hear anyone, the movements was really helpful for us as we reported that story. And it was obviously a really important event because for many people, it was the last time that they saw Dolores as it occurred just a few days before she went missing from Woodland on July 31, 1979. And, you know, we'll obviously be back to talk about episode two, Afraid of the Dark, which comes out on Monday, and we'll spend more time on, you know, the immediate aftermath of the disappearance. Those first few days in August of 1979 and some of the other elements that followed introduce you to the kind of the official investigation as it gets going for the podcast. But we really appreciate your support, certainly if you'd like to connect with us and, you know, leave comments wherever you're listening to the podcast. We're also on social media on X, on Instagram, on TikTok, obviously on YouTube as well. So we'd love to interact with you and answer any questions you have and certainly appreciate your support. And yeah, we'll be back in a week or so to break down the next episode of the Unforgotten. Season three, Finding Dolores Wolf. It's Adam and Kyle so long for now.