Faye Dollar was 38 years old when she was murdered. Her body was found inside the trunk of her vehicle, which was parked in a parking lot at a hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, more than 40 years ago.
On the night of Nov. 29, 1980, Dollar tucked her two sons, who were 4 and 9 at the time, into bed and said goodnight.
When the children awoke the following morning, their mother was gone, as was her vehicle, a gold 1972 Monte Carlo, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The boys called their father, who then contacted the Atlanta Police Department and reported Dollar missing.
Police officials immediately suspected foul play after learning that Dollar had never missed a day of work in 13 years without informing her employer first.
Dollar was a popular mathematics teacher at Feldwood High School in the College Park community who was respected by her students and peers, according to students and her colleagues.
A nationwide BOLO (be on the lookout) was issued for Dollar and her vehicle, but authorities stated that her ex-husband had given the police the wrong tag number.
Another BOLO was later sent out after police received the correct tag number.
On the evening of Dec. 4, 1980, Officer J. A. Swope was making his rounds at the Admiral Benbow Inn at 1470 Spring Street (about 15 miles from Dollar’s home) when he discovered Dollar’s vehicle in the parking lot.
Personnel from the bureau’s identification section and a wrecker service were called to the scene to conduct an investigation.
When they opened the trunk of the vehicle, they found Dollar’s naked body inside. The red dress she was last seen wearing was nowhere to be found, but other items were found inside the vehicle.
Dollar was laying face down atop a spare tire, which left an imprint on her abdomen. Her hair was still in curlers, and she was wearing a gold necklace.
According to the Atlanta Police Department, her vehicle had been parked at the hotel for less than 12 hours.
The manager of the Admiral Benbow Inn told police that she did not register at the hotel, and he said the security guards did not notice Dollar’s vehicle in the parking lot.
He added, “We don’t know a thing. All I know is that the police found the car out there. No one in the hotel heard anything unusual.”
Dr. Robert R. Stivers performed an autopsy, which revealed that Dollar’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. She was struck behind the left ear with a blunt instrument.
Stivers said the autopsy also indicated that she had been dead for several days before her body was discovered.
Atlanta police questioned Dollar’s ex-husband.
Police said they were told that Dollar and her ex-husband had gone through a bitter divorce and that she was granted custody of their children.
Her ex-husband was never named a suspect in the case, but people in their community may have given him disparaging looks or comments after Dollar’s death.
He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1995 that throughout the years, “I could imagine there were whispers, things of that sort. But we never had a problem with it. There was a closeness we developed that really helped us.”
“As we got through this unfortunate thing, they were always good kids. I always tried to emphasize to them that you don’t want to use any setback in your life as an excuse for not doing anything. I told them we’re not going to use the fact your mother is not here to be bad.”
With little to go on, investigators speculated that Dollar either left her brick, ranch-style house on King Henry Street for a brief trip to a convenience store while her children were asleep or was forced to leave her house.
Throughout the years, investigators have worked diligently to find Dollar’s killer, but ultimately, her case remains unsolved.
Anyone with information regarding the unsolved murder of Faye Dollar is encouraged to contact the Atlanta Police Department at (404) 614-6544.