The Unforgotten – Episode 1 Breakdown: Life of the Party

Podcast: The Unforgotten
Hosts: Adam Rittenberg & Kyle Bonagura
Episode Air Date: August 9, 2025
Season 3 Focus: The 41-year-old disappearance of Dolores Wulff, a beloved mother and community pillar from Woodland, California.

Overview

This episode features a behind-the-scenes discussion between hosts Adam Rittenberg and Kyle Bonagura as they reflect on the making of Episode 1, “Life of the Party.” The central aim is to deepen listeners’ understanding of Dolores Wulff—not only as the subject of a true crime mystery but as a vibrant, cherished person whose disappearance rippled through her community and family for decades. The hosts share insights from their reporting, illuminate Dolores’s Portuguese heritage, and recount poignant moments that brought her story to life.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Humanizing Dolores Wulff

• Central Mission:
  The hosts stress their goal to represent Dolores as a “positive light” to family and community, not just as a true crime subject.

  • [00:17] Adam: “We also wanted to highlight Dolores as a person... she was someone who was such a light, a positive light in many people's lives...”

• Character and Personality:
  Both hosts reflect on interviews that universally described Dolores as warm, funny, and inclusive.

  • [01:28] Kyle: “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... Quick wit, big smile, big toothy smile. All those things were consistent from all her family.”

• Her Role as a ‘Community Friend’:
  Dolores connected effortlessly with people across age groups and backgrounds—being described as “an equal opportunity, you know, friend to the community...”

  • [02:07] Kyle: “She was an equal opportunity, you know, friend to the community, friend to her family. People in her family and beyond.”

Heritage and Family Background

• Immigrant Roots:
  Dolores’s family story is shaped by their journey from the Azores, Portugal—an integral part of her identity and the family’s presence in Woodland.

  • [02:51] Adam: “Her father and his brother came over on a steamship from the Azores... Tony Rocha, who you'll hear from a lot in the podcast, really went into that origin story...”

• Inter-generational Impact:
  This sense of heritage strongly influenced Dolores and her four children, remaining a “permeating” force in their lives.

  • [03:56] Kyle: “It was everywhere, and it permeated throughout their lives... They were very integrated into their heritage.”

• A Notable Family Quote:
  While not featured in the main episode, Kyle recalls Tony Rocha’s poignant recounting of a farewell in the Azores:

  • [04:08] Kyle (quoting Tony Rocha’s father): “I'll see you in heaven. There was just an understanding... I'm never going to see you again.”

The Rocha Family’s Presence and Reputation

• Family Unity and Influence:
  The Rocha family is described as “large and supportive and loyal and intimidating in some cases.” Their close-knit, protective nature runs throughout Dolores’s life story.
  • [04:47] Adam: “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.”

The Super 8 Footage—A Moving Discovery

• Visual Memories Uncovered:
  The hosts recount obtaining and digitizing old family Super 8 footage from an anniversary party days before Dolores vanished. This footage became a rare and emotional window into Dolores’s vibrant presence.

  • [05:25] Kyle: “I remember being so excited to thumb through that and see about halfway through, there she is, right as Rainbow. That's Dolores Wolf... She's wearing this vibrant blue dress again, big smile... to see her move and just come to life in front of me was a really cool moment...”

• Impact on the Family:
  Sharing the converted video with Dolores’s son Paul was a powerful experience—he hadn’t seen moving images of his mother since he was 12.

  • [06:13] Kyle: “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...”
  • Memorable moment: “All he had was his own memories of her. Right. And so to see it on a computer screen... it was cool for him. Like, very cool for him.”

• Journalistic Challenge:
  The lack of audio or extensive media of Dolores made these few seconds of video especially significant, enhancing the episode’s emotional depth.

  • [07:09] Adam: “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...”

Setting Up What’s Next

• Next Episode Preview:
  The hosts tease “Afraid of the Dark,” which will focus on the crucial days after Dolores’s disappearance in 1979, the beginnings of the investigation, and the procedural challenges ahead.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Dolores’s Personality:

  • [01:30] Kyle: “Quick wit, big smile, big toothy smile. All those things were consistent from all her family.”

• On the Family Heritage:

  • [04:08] Kyle: (Quoting Tony Rocha’s father) “I'll see you in heaven.”

• On Seeing Dolores in the Super 8 Footage:

  • [05:31] Kyle: “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.”

• On the Emotional Impact for Paul Wolf:

  • [06:13] Kyle: “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...”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00]–[01:26] — Hosts introduce the episode’s purpose and mission: humanizing Dolores Wulff
• [01:26]–[03:53] — Dolores’s personality, family memories, and her universal impact on community and loved ones
• [03:53]–[04:45] — Discussion of Dolores’s Portuguese roots and immigrant journey
• [04:45]–[05:10] — The Rocha family: size, reputation, and tragedy
• [05:10]–[07:06] — Discovery of Super 8 footage; the emotional process of sharing it with Dolores’s son Paul
• [07:06]–end — Reflections on challenges in reconstructing Dolores's life; preview of the next episode and ongoing investigation

Tone and Takeaways

The episode stands out for its heartfelt, compassionate tone and deep respect for Dolores’s memory. Adam and Kyle’s approach is both investigative and empathetic, aiming to place Dolores—and her family’s enduring grief—at the heart of a decades-old mystery. By prioritizing personal stories and rare home video clips, the hosts set up the wider audience not just to follow the case, but to truly care about the woman at its center.

Next episode: “Afraid of the Dark” will explore the immediate aftermath of Dolores Wulff’s disappearance and the launch of the investigation.