I found one of the letters---typed address to Miss Dorothy Madigan, Valley Falls, N.Y. Postmarked from Schaghticoke on August 21, 1956 at 8 AM and sent with a 3c stamp. Dorothy would have been a new high school graduate, and 16 years old.
"Dear Dorothy, Once again I must tell you what a pleasure it is to look upon your beautiful hair. If I may suggest it, it would be nice to see it worn in another style. Only please don't cut it; don't ever cut it. Now that you are probably going to college, someone may suggest that you wear shorter hair, but don't be persuaded. It is just too beautiful for shearing.
I suppose you take good care of your hair. It always looks bright and shining. I think that you owe it to others to keep it that way. Hair is a woman's crowning glory and none matches yours. Keep it that way, Dot, by letting it grow down to your heels.
You're a good looking girl, Dorothy, mainly because of your beautiful red hair. Stay that way by keeping your hair nice and long. When you start courting, find a boy, like me, that loves beautiful hair. You'll be his inspiration for the rest of his life.
God forbid, but if you ever do decide to cut your hair, save a good big lock of it for me."
Not signed, typed on half a page of lined notebook paper. Now it seems even creepier than it did back then when everything seemed funny to us. Too bad our sleuth wasn't in the family then; she may have solved the mystery, though I remembered my father's trying to. He loved detective stories.
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