July 24, 2025 • 9 mins
We’re examining the case of Angela Marie Dawson, a 19-year-old aspiring nurse who vanished after a night out, leaving behind sparse clues and a mystery that remains proofless without her body or definitive answers. This is a story of ambition, a fleeting moment that changed everything, and a family’s relentless search for truth. Settle in for a deep dive into a case that still grips the Panhandle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/proofless-true-crime-podcast--6704212/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/proofless-true-crime-podcast--6704212/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to the twenty fourth episode of Proofless, where we
explore America's unsolved mysteries, cases that haunt families and communities
with unanswered questions. I'm your host, Anna Burger, and today
we're in Pensacola, Florida, where a young woman's disappearance in
nineteen seventy eight shattered a coastal city's sense of safety.
(00:40):
We're examining the case of Angela Mary Dawson, a nineteen
year old aspiring nurse who vanished after a night out,
leaving behind sparse clues and a mystery that remains proofless
without her body or definitive answers. This is a story
of ambition, a fleeting moment that changed everything, and Amy's
(01:00):
relentless search for truth. Settle in for a deep dive
into a case that still grips the Panhandle. It's October
nineteen seventy eight in Pensacola, a city of about sixty
thousand on Florida's Gulf Coast, known for its white sand
beaches and naval air Station Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels.
The city blends southern charm with military energy, its downtown
(01:23):
alive with seafood joints, bars, and the historic Sanger theaterre
Neighborhoods like East Hill feature modest bungalows, while Palafox Street
buzzes with sailors and locals. The late nineteen seventies are vibrant,
Disco dominates with the Beeg's Jimmy Carter as president, and
Pensacola thrives on tourism and the naval bays. Yet crime
(01:45):
is rising, with the FBI's nineteen seventy eight Uniform Crime
Report noting increased abductions in Florida's urban areas. East Hill,
where Angela lives, is tight knit but near gritty downtown,
with poorly lit roads like Twelfth Avenue vulnerable after dark.
Escambia Bay's murky waters and nearby marshes add a layer
(02:05):
of mystery to the city's beauty. Angela Marie Dawson is
a nineteen year old with curly blonde hair, green eyes,
and a warm smile. Born June third, nineteen fifty nine,
to Robert and Margaret Dawson. She's the middle child with
an older brother, Michael, and younger sister Sarah. A nineteen
seventy seven Pensacola High school graduate, Angela studies nursing at
(02:30):
Pensacola Junior College, dreaming of pediatric care. She's a straight
A student, volunteering at Baptist Hospital and working part time
at a waffle house on Navy Boulevard, where her charm
wins over customers. Her father, Robert, a machinist, and mother, Margaret,
a seamstress, raise their family in a bungalow on Twelfth Avenue,
(02:50):
its porch adorned with ferns. Angela is close with her siblings,
sharing music with Sarah and fishing with Michael. She rides
a red s twin bicycle, loves Pensacola Beach, and dances
to Abba at Flounders Chowderhouse with her best friend, Lisa Carter.
Angela dates David Powell, a Navy recruit, casually focusing on
(03:11):
her studies. Lisa recalls Angela mentioning a creepy waffle house customer,
a man in his thirties who stared and asked personal questions,
which she brushed off but seemed wary of. On October seventh,
nineteen seventy eight. Pensacola is warm, with golf breezes and
temperatures in the high seventies. Angela finishes her waffle house
(03:32):
shift at eight pm, telling her manager Betty Klein, she's
meeting friends at Flounders Chowderhouse on Pensacola Beach. Dressed in
a white blouse, embroidered denim skirt and sandals, she rides
her Shwin bike to the bar, arriving at eight thirty pm.
She joins Lisa, David and classmates dancing to disco hits.
Witnesses say she's cheerful, leaving around eleven pm to buike home.
(03:57):
Sighting an early class Lisa sees her pedals her bike's
reflector glinting. A bartender, Mike Russo confirms Angela left alone
around eleven fifteen pm. This is her last confirmed sighting.
Her route along Golf Beach Highway is dimly lit, flanked
by dunes. A gas station clerk Jenny Torres sees a
(04:17):
girl resembling Angela buying water at eleven thirty pm. When
Angela doesn't return by midnight, Margaret calls Lisa, then the
Pensacola Police Department PP doll by one A m Officer
James Foley takes the report. Five feet five inches one
hundred thirty pounds, blonde curls green eyes. The PPD initially
(04:37):
considers her a runaway, but Robert insists Angela is reliable.
Her nursing books and clothes remain at home. On October eighth,
of fishermen finds Angela's shwin in a ditch off Golf
Beach Highway two miles from Flounders, with her purse containing
her id and twelve dollars tangled in the handlebars. Detective
(04:57):
Paul Whittaker escalates the case. Volunteers, including East Hill Baptist members,
search beaches and Escambia Bay. On October ninth, a jogger
finds Angela's sandals, one scuffed one hundred yards from the bike.
The FDL lab finds no blood er fingerprints, only sand
Lisa confirms Angela was happy at Flounders. David at the
(05:21):
bar until closing has an alibi. Jenny Torres mentions a
pickup truck near the gas station and a truck driver
Carl Benton, saw a girl biking followed by a truck
at eleven forty pm. Rain erases a partial tire track
near the sandals. The PPD searches Escambia Bay and the
coast but no trace emerges. The case dominates the Pensacola
(05:44):
News Journal and w CoA Radio. A headline teen vanishes
after Beach Night features Angela's photo. The Dawsons offer a
three thousand dollars reward, raised to fifty thousand dollars with donations.
Tips A motel sighting in Mobile A teen near Perdido
key fizzle. The FBI joins, citing it ten's proximity, but
(06:07):
finds no evidence. Angela left Florida by November nineteen seventy eight.
The case is a suspected homicide stalled by no body
or forensic evidence. John Johnny Malone, a thirty two year
old mechanic and waffle house regular, is a key suspect.
He asked Angela about her schedule and followed her. Once
questioned on October thirteenth, Malone claims he was at the
(06:29):
Handlebar Bar, but his alibi is shaky. His boots have
ditch soil, but it's common, and he fails a polygraph
sighting nerves. No direct evidence links him. Mark Reynolds, a
twenty five year old sailor, danced with Angela at Flounders
and suggested a drive. He stayed at the bar until
one a m confirmed by friends, and his truck doesn't
(06:51):
match the tire track. A drifter, Eddie Vaughan, seen near
the highway has a verified alibi in Biloxi. Theories include
an opportunistic abduction supported by the bike and sandals suggesting
a struggle. Escambia Bay or Blackwater River State Forest are
likely disposal sites. A nineteen seventy nine forest search finds nothing.
(07:12):
A stalking theory points to Malone, but evidence is thin.
A trafficking angle tied to Pensacola's naval traffic lacks proof.
Despite a nineteen seventy eight FBI report on Florida smuggling,
Robert and Margaret become advocates, funding searches and distributing flyers.
They appear on Good Morning America in nineteen seventy nine,
(07:33):
raising the reward to seventy five thousand dollars. In nineteen eighty,
they found the Angela Dawson Foundation, aiding missing persons cases
and school safety, reaching five thousand students by nineteen eighty five.
Robert battle's depression, Margaret keeps Angela's room intact, and Sarah
drops out of school. Guilt ridden vigils at East Hill
(07:56):
Baptist draw hundreds Angela's photo glowing by candlelight. In nineteen
eighty five, Detective Laura Bennett reinterviews Malone now in mobile,
who fails another polygraph. A nineteen ninety tip about a
forest purse leads nowhere. In two thousand five, DNA testing
on the Sandals fails due to degradation. A twenty eighteen podcast,
(08:17):
Panhandle Shadows gains three million downloads, prompting a twenty twenty
tip about a sailor's confession, which dead ends In twenty
twenty three. The FBI profiles the abductor as a local
mail twenty five to forty and nineteen seventy eight, likely
a stalker. A twenty twenty four drone search of Escambia
Bay finds no evidence. Angela's case prompts East Hill street
(08:41):
lights and a college buddy system. The Angela Dawson Foundation
supports twenty cases by twenty twenty five. Robert's nineteen eighty
three testimony aids Florida's Missing Persons database. Reddit and ex
posts link Angela's case to a nineteen seventy seven mobile disappearance,
but no evidence confirms a serial killer. The Dawsons, in
(09:02):
their seventies, keep Angela's shwin in their garage. Margaret tells
the Pensacola News Journal in twenty twenty five, Angela's still
out there. This Proofless case hinges on unknowns, No body,
no answers. Contact the PPD at eight five zero four
three five one nine zero zero or Angela Dawson Foundation
(09:23):
dot org with tips, Share thoughts at prooflesspodcast dot com,
or on x with hashtag Angela Dawson. Join us next
time for another mystery. Keep searching
Welcome to the twenty fourth episode of Proofless, where we
explore America's unsolved mysteries, cases that haunt families and communities
with unanswered questions. I'm your host, Anna Burger, and today
we're in Pensacola, Florida, where a young woman's disappearance in
nineteen seventy eight shattered a coastal city's sense of safety.
(00:40):
We're examining the case of Angela Mary Dawson, a nineteen
year old aspiring nurse who vanished after a night out,
leaving behind sparse clues and a mystery that remains proofless
without her body or definitive answers. This is a story
of ambition, a fleeting moment that changed everything, and Amy's
(01:00):
relentless search for truth. Settle in for a deep dive
into a case that still grips the Panhandle. It's October
nineteen seventy eight in Pensacola, a city of about sixty
thousand on Florida's Gulf Coast, known for its white sand
beaches and naval air Station Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels.
The city blends southern charm with military energy, its downtown
(01:23):
alive with seafood joints, bars, and the historic Sanger theaterre
Neighborhoods like East Hill feature modest bungalows, while Palafox Street
buzzes with sailors and locals. The late nineteen seventies are vibrant,
Disco dominates with the Beeg's Jimmy Carter as president, and
Pensacola thrives on tourism and the naval bays. Yet crime
(01:45):
is rising, with the FBI's nineteen seventy eight Uniform Crime
Report noting increased abductions in Florida's urban areas. East Hill,
where Angela lives, is tight knit but near gritty downtown,
with poorly lit roads like Twelfth Avenue vulnerable after dark.
Escambia Bay's murky waters and nearby marshes add a layer
(02:05):
of mystery to the city's beauty. Angela Marie Dawson is
a nineteen year old with curly blonde hair, green eyes,
and a warm smile. Born June third, nineteen fifty nine,
to Robert and Margaret Dawson. She's the middle child with
an older brother, Michael, and younger sister Sarah. A nineteen
seventy seven Pensacola High school graduate, Angela studies nursing at
(02:30):
Pensacola Junior College, dreaming of pediatric care. She's a straight
A student, volunteering at Baptist Hospital and working part time
at a waffle house on Navy Boulevard, where her charm
wins over customers. Her father, Robert, a machinist, and mother, Margaret,
a seamstress, raise their family in a bungalow on Twelfth Avenue,
(02:50):
its porch adorned with ferns. Angela is close with her siblings,
sharing music with Sarah and fishing with Michael. She rides
a red s twin bicycle, loves Pensacola Beach, and dances
to Abba at Flounders Chowderhouse with her best friend, Lisa Carter.
Angela dates David Powell, a Navy recruit, casually focusing on
(03:11):
her studies. Lisa recalls Angela mentioning a creepy waffle house customer,
a man in his thirties who stared and asked personal questions,
which she brushed off but seemed wary of. On October seventh,
nineteen seventy eight. Pensacola is warm, with golf breezes and
temperatures in the high seventies. Angela finishes her waffle house
(03:32):
shift at eight pm, telling her manager Betty Klein, she's
meeting friends at Flounders Chowderhouse on Pensacola Beach. Dressed in
a white blouse, embroidered denim skirt and sandals, she rides
her Shwin bike to the bar, arriving at eight thirty pm.
She joins Lisa, David and classmates dancing to disco hits.
Witnesses say she's cheerful, leaving around eleven pm to buike home.
(03:57):
Sighting an early class Lisa sees her pedals her bike's
reflector glinting. A bartender, Mike Russo confirms Angela left alone
around eleven fifteen pm. This is her last confirmed sighting.
Her route along Golf Beach Highway is dimly lit, flanked
by dunes. A gas station clerk Jenny Torres sees a
(04:17):
girl resembling Angela buying water at eleven thirty pm. When
Angela doesn't return by midnight, Margaret calls Lisa, then the
Pensacola Police Department PP doll by one A m Officer
James Foley takes the report. Five feet five inches one
hundred thirty pounds, blonde curls green eyes. The PPD initially
(04:37):
considers her a runaway, but Robert insists Angela is reliable.
Her nursing books and clothes remain at home. On October eighth,
of fishermen finds Angela's shwin in a ditch off Golf
Beach Highway two miles from Flounders, with her purse containing
her id and twelve dollars tangled in the handlebars. Detective
(04:57):
Paul Whittaker escalates the case. Volunteers, including East Hill Baptist members,
search beaches and Escambia Bay. On October ninth, a jogger
finds Angela's sandals, one scuffed one hundred yards from the bike.
The FDL lab finds no blood er fingerprints, only sand
Lisa confirms Angela was happy at Flounders. David at the
(05:21):
bar until closing has an alibi. Jenny Torres mentions a
pickup truck near the gas station and a truck driver
Carl Benton, saw a girl biking followed by a truck
at eleven forty pm. Rain erases a partial tire track
near the sandals. The PPD searches Escambia Bay and the
coast but no trace emerges. The case dominates the Pensacola
(05:44):
News Journal and w CoA Radio. A headline teen vanishes
after Beach Night features Angela's photo. The Dawsons offer a
three thousand dollars reward, raised to fifty thousand dollars with donations.
Tips A motel sighting in Mobile A teen near Perdido
key fizzle. The FBI joins, citing it ten's proximity, but
(06:07):
finds no evidence. Angela left Florida by November nineteen seventy eight.
The case is a suspected homicide stalled by no body
or forensic evidence. John Johnny Malone, a thirty two year
old mechanic and waffle house regular, is a key suspect.
He asked Angela about her schedule and followed her. Once
questioned on October thirteenth, Malone claims he was at the
(06:29):
Handlebar Bar, but his alibi is shaky. His boots have
ditch soil, but it's common, and he fails a polygraph
sighting nerves. No direct evidence links him. Mark Reynolds, a
twenty five year old sailor, danced with Angela at Flounders
and suggested a drive. He stayed at the bar until
one a m confirmed by friends, and his truck doesn't
(06:51):
match the tire track. A drifter, Eddie Vaughan, seen near
the highway has a verified alibi in Biloxi. Theories include
an opportunistic abduction supported by the bike and sandals suggesting
a struggle. Escambia Bay or Blackwater River State Forest are
likely disposal sites. A nineteen seventy nine forest search finds nothing.
(07:12):
A stalking theory points to Malone, but evidence is thin.
A trafficking angle tied to Pensacola's naval traffic lacks proof.
Despite a nineteen seventy eight FBI report on Florida smuggling,
Robert and Margaret become advocates, funding searches and distributing flyers.
They appear on Good Morning America in nineteen seventy nine,
(07:33):
raising the reward to seventy five thousand dollars. In nineteen eighty,
they found the Angela Dawson Foundation, aiding missing persons cases
and school safety, reaching five thousand students by nineteen eighty five.
Robert battle's depression, Margaret keeps Angela's room intact, and Sarah
drops out of school. Guilt ridden vigils at East Hill
(07:56):
Baptist draw hundreds Angela's photo glowing by candlelight. In nineteen
eighty five, Detective Laura Bennett reinterviews Malone now in mobile,
who fails another polygraph. A nineteen ninety tip about a
forest purse leads nowhere. In two thousand five, DNA testing
on the Sandals fails due to degradation. A twenty eighteen podcast,
(08:17):
Panhandle Shadows gains three million downloads, prompting a twenty twenty
tip about a sailor's confession, which dead ends In twenty
twenty three. The FBI profiles the abductor as a local
mail twenty five to forty and nineteen seventy eight, likely
a stalker. A twenty twenty four drone search of Escambia
Bay finds no evidence. Angela's case prompts East Hill street
(08:41):
lights and a college buddy system. The Angela Dawson Foundation
supports twenty cases by twenty twenty five. Robert's nineteen eighty
three testimony aids Florida's Missing Persons database. Reddit and ex
posts link Angela's case to a nineteen seventy seven mobile disappearance,
but no evidence confirms a serial killer. The Dawsons, in
(09:02):
their seventies, keep Angela's shwin in their garage. Margaret tells
the Pensacola News Journal in twenty twenty five, Angela's still
out there. This Proofless case hinges on unknowns, No body,
no answers. Contact the PPD at eight five zero four
three five one nine zero zero or Angela Dawson Foundation
(09:23):
dot org with tips, Share thoughts at prooflesspodcast dot com,
or on x with hashtag Angela Dawson. Join us next
time for another mystery. Keep searching
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.