Dodd was last seen near Beckley, West Virginia on September 7, 1977. She stopped her vehicle at a vacant service station four miles from her workplace, the Cardinal State Bank. Witnesses saw her being forced, screaming, into an unidentified vehicle. Dodd has never been heard from again. There is no description of the kidnapper(s) or the abduction car, but authorities announced they were seeking three suspects.

James Hendree, an ex-convict in Akron, Ohio, claimed to have kidnapped Dodd or at least to be connected to her kidnappers. He called her parents, who also lived in Akron, three times. The first call was on September 22, two weeks after Dodd's disappearance, Hendree at first claimed Dodd was being held outside of Ohio, then stated she was in Akron. He demanded a $10,000 ransom for her safe release.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent posing as Dodd's father met with Hendree to give him the money and get information as to Dodd's whereabouts. During the meeting, Hendree held a concealed object to the agent's head, claimed it was a gun, and threatened to shoot him if he wasn't given the ransom money. Another FBI agent hidden in the car ordered Hendree to drop the weapon, but Hendree refused, so the agent shot and killed him. Afterwards it was discovered that Hendree's "gun" was in fact a pencil.

Authorities do not know whether Hendree was in fact connected to Dodd's abduction or whether he was an opportunist who had no real knowledge of her kidnapping. The kidnappers were never identified and no one was charged in Dodd's case.

Dodd is originally from Akron and at the time of her disappearance she was living in West Virginia with her husband. Some agencies state she disappeared from Beaver, West Virginia. Her case remains unsolved.