Endangered Missing: 4 July 1961
Missing From: Moab, Utah
Classification: Non-family abduction
Sex: female
D.O.B.: 5/27/1946 (78)
Age: 15 Years Old
Eyes: brown
Hair: brown, curly, short haircut below the ears.
Weight: 90 lbs.
clothing/ jewelry: A blouse, plaid pants, and sandals or red sneakers.
Associated Vehicles: Olive green 1960 Volkswagen (accounted for) Tan sedan (accounted for).
Distinguishing characteristics: Dennise has previously fractured her leg, She was also known to wear reading glasses. It is believed that she was not wearing them at the time of her abduction.
In 1961, Dennise resided with her mother, Jeanette and her four-year-old sister, Jeannie in Rockville, Connecticut. At that time, Jeannette was engaged and worked as a seamstress to make ends meet.
Image: Jeannette and Dennise Sullivan
Jeannette's fiancé, Charles Boothroyd, asked her and Dennise, or Denny, as she was fondly called, if they wanted to go on vacation to Utah that summer. The two said "yes", so they left little Jeannie with Jeannette's parents and drove across country in Boothroyd's 1960 Olive Green Volkswagen.
About 17 miles outside of Moab, Utah, there's a place called Dead Horse Point. This is near where the trio met a heavyset man, with black hair and a dark complexion. On that fateful Fourth of July in 1961.
The man spent two hours with the three tourists telling them the history of the area while they took photos. Without ever telling anyone his name, he drove off in his tan Ford sedan.
The Sullivan ladies and Boothroyd left at this point, as they intended on spending the night in Moab and it was getting dark.
A short distance down the road, they saw the familiar stranger they spend time with earlier, pulled over to the side of the road, lying underneath his car.
The family pulled over and asked the stranger if he needed help. Boothroyd could see that the man was jiggling spark plug wires, but the man said he believed it to be generator trouble and asked if they had a flashlight he could borrow. Boothroyd retrieved the flashlight from his car and returned to the man and handed over the flashlight. The man then reached into the window of his own car, pulled out a .22 caliber rifle and demanded the family's money
An argument ensured between the two men. Jeanette Sullivan furiously got out of the family car and walked fearlessly towards them, leaving Denny in the Volkswagen Beetle.
The hostile stranger told Boothroyd to place his wallet on the ground, which he did. Jeannette then immediately picked the wallet up, containing the rest of their vacation funds, totaling $250, pulled out a small amount of cash, no more than $20-30, and tossed the bills on the dusty road shoulder, turned around and started back towards the Beetle.
The man screamed at Jeannette to stop. She turned and coldly said "You've got your money, what else do you want?" He replied, "I guess I will decide that."
Jeannette muttered something as she turned to walk away. In a matter of seconds, Boothroyd later recalls, the man shot Jeannette in the back of the head and then turned the rifle on him and shot Boothroyd in the face. He then realized Boothroyd was still alive and shot him again in the face, just below his right eye, almost the same position as the first gunshot wound. He soon lost consciousness.
When the stranger shot Jeannette, the force of the blow knocked her literally out of her shoes. The stranger then began moving Jeannette's body about 25 feet away and laid her shoes at her feet. He went back to Boothroyd's body and started to move his body out of the roadway, when he saw the brake lights of the Volkswagen and griding of gears. The man had forgotten that Dennise was in the car when he shot her mother and her mother's boyfriend. The man, soon to be known to law enforcement as Benny Aragon, jumped in his sedan and sped after Dennise.
Boothroyd then regained consciousness. Miraculously, he was still alive, having survived two gunshot wounds to his face. He was eventually rescued by a passerby to stopped to help he and Jeannette. At the time, Jeannette was still clinging onto life. The man laid Jeannette in the backseat and Boothroyd was able to sit in the front seat. Eventually, they made it to hospital and word was put out that Dennise was missing.
Benny Aragon had a two-hour head start and could be anywhere. Law enforcement found the Volkswagen beetle belonging to Charles Boothroyd on July 5th, 1961. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Dennise in or around the car. It is believed to have later been towed away to be searched for any evidence.
Aragon was later tracked down in his sedan and there was a standoff between he and the Sheriff's department which resulted in Aragon shooting and killing himself.
Dennise was never seen or heard from again.
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