Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior’ is a five-episode true crime docuseries that delves into several murders, including the 1986 disappearance and murder case of 6-year-old Michele Dorr. When she vanishes into thin air from her father’s backyard, the detectives spent more than a decade to locate her remains and the perpetrator responsible for her killing. The series features in-depth and exclusive interviews with the loved ones of Michele and the officials who were involved in the investigation, providing the viewers with a detailed account of the crime and its aftermath.
Michele Dorr Disappeared in 1986 and Her Remains Were Found in 2000
Carl and Dorothy Jean Dorr entered parenthood on October 12, 1979, when they gave birth to Michele Lee Dorr in Silver Spring, Maryland, a year after their marriage in 1978. Over the years, cracks began to develop in the couple’s relationship and their married life gradually deteriorated. By January 1986, they had separated and were in the middle of divorce proceedings. On May 31, 1986, the 6-year-old Michele was on weekend visitation with her father in his Silver Spring residence, where she grew up.
At about 12 pm that day, Michele and Carl ran some errands before returning to the house. While the former started playing in her small plastic wading pool in the backyard, her father was staying in watching television. A few hours later, when he went to check on his daughter, she was nowhere to be found. After combing the neighboring houses in search of Michele, he still could not locate her. Thus, he decided to get the police involved and filed a missing persons report. The authorities launched an extensive search for the missing 6-year-old girl. It took about 14 years until her remains were found 12 miles away from Carl’s house in a wooded area near Route 29 in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, in January 2000.
Michele Dorr’s Killer Was in the Neighbor’s House
In the initial phase of their investigation, the police suspected Michele Dorr’s father, Carl Dorr, of being involved in the disappearance of his daughter. When they reached out to her mother, Dorothy, she did not hesitate to put the blame on her estranged husband. The investigators looked for evidence or traces of foul play in and around his house, where Michele was last seen. Their suspicion intensified further when he failed the polygraph test. Since he was in the middle of a divorce and his daughter’s disappearance, the pressure seemed to get to him as he confessed to murdering Michele, as per the police’s claims. However, he later recanted the confession.
Once they ruled Carl out as a suspect, the detectives widened the search area and found out that Michele had gone to the neighbor’s house, the Clarks, to play with her friend, Elizabeth. When she reached there, she met with Hadden Clark, who was ordered by his brother Geoff Clark to pack his stuff and leave his house. The 33-year-old cook at Chevy Chase Country Club was in the process of moving out and was home alone when Michele visited the residence. Finding it to be the perfect opportunity to get revenge against his brother, he directed the 6-year-old girl to his niece’s bedroom upstairs.
The Perpetrator Was Brought to Justice Nearly 13 Years After the Murder
Hadden followed her into the room with a chef’s knife and killed her with it in Elizabeth’s bedroom. Reports suggested that he did not stop at killing her, he even tried to sexually assault her, ate a piece of her flesh, and drank some of her blood. In order to get rid of the evidence from the gory crime scene, he scrubbed the floor and placed her in a duffel bag before burying her 12 miles away in a park. At some point, the investigators obtained a search warrant for the Clark residence in hopes of collecting incriminating evidence against Hadden. During their search for clues, they tested Elizabeth’s bedroom for traces of blood and found some underneath the cracks in the wooden floorboards.
While he was in custody for the murder of 24-year-old Harvard graduate Laura Houghteling in September 1999, Hadden confessed to stabbing Michele Dorr to death. A few months after his confession, the detectives convinced him to reveal the burial site of his neighbor’s daughter. So, in January 2000, he led them to the exact spot where he buried his victim. Before that, he finally stood trial for the murder of Michele. During the trial, the defense tried to sway the jury in the defendant’s favor, but the incriminating evidence against him was overwhelming. Thus, in October 1999, the jury returned with a guilty verdict, and Hadden Clark was convicted of second-degree murder of Michele Dorr. The judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison for the same.
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