It was a warm Saturday evening in 1984 when 39-year-old Barbara disappeared from the streets of Washington, D.C. Almost 40 years later, the blatant missteps in the early days of the investigation still haunt her case… and may be what stands in the way of it being solved.
Courtesy of DC Crime Stoppers
Episode Info
If you know anything about the disappearance or murder of Barbara Dreher in 1984, please call the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099 — you can request to remain anonymous. Or you can text 50411 to submit an anonymous tip. If you provide information leading to an arrest and conviction, you could be eligible for a reward of up to $25,000.
Barbara is described as 5’2”, 130 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a green shirt and white slacks. She would be in her late 70s today.
To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, visit www.seasonofjustice.org
An undated photo of Barbara. Courtesy: Jim Trainum
An article published by The Washington Post on September 1st, 1984, about Barbara’s disappearance. Courtesy: Jim Trainum / The Washington Post
A 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, the kind of car Barbara was last seen driving and that RP was caught driving weeks later.
Episode Source Material
- Almanac: Weather history for Washington, DC.
- Metropolitan Police Department: Missing.
- NamUs: Missing person / NamUs #MP7962.
- The Charley Project: Barbara Jean Dreher.
- The Doe Network: 2420DFDC – Barbara Jean Dreher.
- Original Newsbreak: A mother of five vanished, her son caught a convicted murderer driving her car and the police lost all her case evidence, by The Vivid Faces of the Vanished.
- The Washington Post: Court told of fatal stabbings and rape, by Stephen Green.
- The Washington Post: In 1984, she went missing. Could the skeletal remains found in a D.C. apartment crawl space in April belong to this mother? By Peter Hermann.
- The Washington Post: Police connect remains to three women who vanished in Southeast Washington in 2006, by Peter Hermann and Paul Duggan.
- The Washington Post: Police suspect foul play in woman’s case, by John Ward Anderson.
- The Washington Post: Youth admits murder, 103 other crimes, by J. Y. Smith.
- The Washington Post: Youth gets life terms for part in two murders, by J. Y. Smith.
- Washington Examiner: Cold case: D.C. police find car, ski mask and rope, but woman still missing, by Scott McCabe.