On the morning of January 20, 1970; Renée Cohu Dana of Lafayette, California made plans with her husband to meet at 2:00 at the funeral of a friend, in downtown San Francisco. Before leaving for work on this Tuesday morning, Jack Dana, a prosperous insurance broker, gave his wife a city roadmap, marking the location of the funeral home: 350 Masonic Street. Their two teenagers had left the house earlier. He left the house at 9:15, expecting to see Mrs. Dana at the funeral home at 2:00.

She never arrived at 350 Masonic Street.

Jack Dana called several friends in hope that one of them might know the whereabouts of his wife. When he contacted the police that evening to report her absence he could give no reason why she vanished, stating that she had seemed her usual self of late. Her health was excellent. In fact, she she was quite fit; playing golf, tennis, and water-skiing. He stressed that there were no family or marital problems. He thought it possible that she had been kidnapped. The Dana's were described by newspapers as "wealthy" or "well to do". Mrs Dana was the daughter of Lamotte T. Cohu, former President of Trans World Airlines. Her husband was Jack Herbert Dana, a legendary Final Four player at Stanford University in 1942. Following service as a Navy lieutenant during WWII, he returned to Stanford and again led in basketball. It was at Stanford that he met Renée Cohu, who was due to receive a degree in psychology in June, 1948. They were married in July of that year. They lived in an upscale neighborhood of Lafayette called "Happy Valley". Renée Dana was well known in the community, a sustaining member of the Junior League. She was by all reports a skilled and effective fundraiser, the "spark plug" of several large projects benefiting the community. She had served as president of the Community Welfare Council of Contra Costa County. She was very active socially. She was outgoing and vivacious, and was well liked by all who knew her. At 42, she also was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. One friend attested that Renée was so outgoing that when shopping she would chat at length with sales associates until someone had to "drag her out of the store." She dressed fashionably and was particularly fond of jewelry, known for sporting a 7 and a half carat diamond ring. There had never been a hint of scandal about her.

Jack Dana and his family reacted in the way families usually react when a loved one is plucked from the world without warning or explanation: They assumed some traumatic event had happened to Mrs Dana; leaving her dazed, injured, or "in a ditch." Jack Dana's fear of kidnapping stemmed from his awareness that the Danas were seen as advantaged. Initially it was reported that Mrs Dana's ring was missing, but it was later located in her dresser drawer.

She had mentioned that she was considering attending the Crosby Open, though Mr. Dana said his wife wouldn't have traveled to Pebble Beach without telling him. During the morning she made two telephone calls to friends, mentioning to each her plans to attend the funeral.

In most contemporary newspaper stories about Renée Dana, she was referred to as a "socialite," as Jack was well aware, furthering his kidnapping theory. He reported that his house had twice been burglarized recently. Mrs. Dana's personal car was a Chevrolet, rather than a prestige make, possibly signaling a worry on Jack Dana's part that she was vulnerable to kidnap.

Within days of her disappearance it was learned that 4 days prior, Mrs. Dana had withdrawn $600 from a bank account of which Jack Dana had no knowledge. The family housekeeper and Renée's daughter attested that she had confided to them that she was planning to purchase a couch as a surprise for her husband, and the $600 was for that purpose. Newspaper reports did not reveal if either of them found that explanation plausible.

On January 24th, Mrs. Dana's Chevrolet was found parked on Beach Street on the waterfront, near Ghirardelli Square. It showed no evidence of forced entry. It was locked and the ignition key had been taken. Several tickets were on the windshield, the oldest from 11:30 am on January 20. The San Francisco city map with the funeral parlor marked by Jack Dana was open on the front seat. There was no note. Notably, Mrs, Dana reached downtown two and a half hours before the funeral. The Dana home is 21 miles from 350 Masonic Street, and that distance should have taken 34 minutes to drive. This fact complicates any attempt to establish Renée's intentions or destination when she left her home that morning. With the car being found in their city, San Francisco police launched a nationwide search.

On February 5th the San Francisco Examiner published the story, "The Missing Lady of Happy Valley". The accompanying photo was of Jack Dana sitting next to a swimming pool, his expansive ranch style house in the background. Mr. Dana was calm and methodical in discussing the possibilities of what may have happened to his wife. Much as Charles Lindbergh reacted to the kidnapping of his son by taking an organized, methodical approach, Jack Dana produced a binder with 15 pages of charts for the various possibilities: Amnesia, Voluntary Departure, Involuntary Departure, Kidnapping, Suicide, Murder, etc. Under each was his perceived likelihood of each result. For example under "Voluntary Departure" was a negative: the presence of the map in the car disproved that eventuality in his analytical mind. He and both children felt certain that she never would have left of her own volition. "Suicide" was the explanation at dead last in his list of probabilities. "Amnesia" was near the top.

The investigation by Contra Costa county and San Francisco detectives accelerated through early February and bulletins were issued nationwide. Photographs of Mrs. Dana and a detailed description of the clothing she was wearing when she left the house on that Tuesday morning were widely distributed in Lafayette and San Francisco. The Dana family lived with the torture of the unknown for almost 3 weeks. Mrs. Dana's sister arrived from her home in Honolulu to keep vigil with her brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Her plan was to hire a private detective to "get to the bottom" of her sister's disappearance. Unfortunately her arrival in Happy Valley coincided with the dénouement of this story.

Back on Wednesday, January 21st, the day following the funeral in San Francisco that she never attended, Renée Cohu Dana arrived at the registration desk of the Howard Johnson motel on Alton Road in Miami, Florida at 6:30 in the darkening evening. She registered for a room and paid $23 in cash for one night. She carried no luggage. She registered as "Maybelle Diaz," using a fake Miami address. The desk clerk thought she seemed "nervous". The next morning she requested ice be brought to her room. She locked the room from the inside, which automatically caused the outside handle to display "Do Not Disturb". After 3 days a maid expressed concern, and the manager opened the room to find Mrs. Dana on the bed, dead. She was dressed in undergarments. Nearby was a new outfit that she had purchased locally, a new wallet containing $4 and some change, new shoes and a purse that matched the outfit. The Miami Herald commented that the green knit dress and matching outfit were "expensive" and purchased at a department store in Miami. There was nothing to identify her; no credit cards, or driver's license. She wore no jewelry. She left no note. In the room were found unmarked containers with 2 types of tranquilizers, Placidyl and Doredin. Her body was taken to a local morgue where it was listed as a "Jane Doe". An autopsy was performed (though published articles do not say if this occurred at the time the body was discovered or 3 weeks later after positive identification was made.) The finding was death by ingestion of barbiturates (Placidyl). The coroner stated the amount of drugs in her system all but ruled out accidental overdose.

Though the nationwide search for Mrs. Dana had been robust, for reasons unclear in news reports it was February 9th before Miami officials saw a missing persons report and communicated with San Francisco police. In these pre-DNA days examiners relied on dental records and scars. That was when Miami officials confirmed that their Jane Doe was Renée Cohu Dana. A photograph was taken of the remains and air mailed to San Francisco. An unidentified family friend viewed the picture and confirmed it was Mrs. Dana.

Jack Dana was delivered the news later on February 9th by The San Francisco Examiner. "I don't know what to do. I just don't know what I'll do" he said." They're still checking but there seems to be no doubt. It's been 3 weeks and we've been through hell. People should know a great and fabulous person is gone. She had so much to give to the community, to her friends and to her family--It's just a tragic loss to all of us. He said her family and friends "will always remember her as the loving, vivacious, and beautiful person she was."

A San Francisco Examiner article on February 10, "Mystery in Socialite's Death," raised the obvious, heartbreaking questions. Why did Renée Cohu Dana travel 3000 miles to end her life in a lonely hotel room? Why did she make a careful, calculated effort to erase her identity, condemning her family to--as Jack Dana put it--three weeks of hell? An unidentified friend, according to the article, said that Renée had been confiding to them that she had been suffering from nightmares. This "close friend" in San Francisco said that she had spoken often of suicide lately, saying that when the time comes "no one will find me". This person stated further that Renée said she had raised her children to be self-sufficient after her passing. This information was not made public during the disappearance. The reporter offered no second source for this statement.

There seemed to be endless Macguffins in Mrs Dana's sad journey that newspapers failed to sort out. Why was the city map still on the seat of Mrs. Dana's Chevrolet as if she had intended to meet her husband at the funeral? Why did she drive to downtown San Francisco in mid-morning when the funeral was scheduled for 2:00? Why did she leave her car parked in a neighborhood that was nearer to the funeral she didn't attend than to either San Francisco International or Oakland Airport? Why didn't she drive directly to the airport? Did she lock the car and take the keys out of habit or did she see a possibility she would return to it? Did she plan to do some shopping first, maybe as a way of calming whatever turmoil was in her mind? Assuming she acted alone is there any way she could get to an airport other than taxi? Were taxi drivers questioned? Were airline ticket sales checked? Didn't it arouse suspicion that a well dressed woman bought an airplane ticket at the counter, with cash and without luggage? As the daughter of the one-time president of TWA could she have possessed a special privilege pass that would allow her to travel gratis and incognito? Where did she spend the night of January 20th? Did she get a flight that day and spend the night in the Miami airport? Did she perhaps spend all day in San Francisco or Oakland airport waiting for a cancellation? Did she get any sleep? Did she eat anything? Did she take a taxi or walk from Miami airport to Howard Johnson on Alton Avenue along a busy highway? Where and how did she dispose of her clothing, credit cards, license, or anything that could identify her? How did she end up with $4 and change, as if in her careful planning she knew almost exactly how much she'd need? Did she miscalculate and run out of cash before carrying out some further step in her journey? Why was she found in undergarments rather than her new outfit? Mrs. Dana withdrew the $600 from a bank account her husband wasn't aware of. When did she open the account? Did she close the account? If not, how much was left? Why was the initial possibility that the 7 and a half carat diamond ring had been taken released to the press it had been found in the home? As an attractive but distracted woman wandering the streets of San Francisco or Miami Beach with a wad of cash in her purse, was she hassled or the victim of a crime?

Jack Dana traveled to Miami to return his wife's body. A memorial service was held for Renée at the Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian church on Friday, February 13th 1970 in Lafayette, California. Both her sisters and her mother were living at the time of Renée's death. Follow-up reporting all but disappears after that date, with the exception of the report containing the friend's assertion that Renée had weighed suicide. There was no 2nd source for that information.

Jack Dana died in 1983 at 61, with the cause of death unlisted. He had remarried. His obituary mentioned that he was predeceased by his 1st wife, "Socialite Renée Cohu Dana". As with Renée, his mother was still living at the time of his death.

One omitted fact in the coverage of Renée Cohu's case seems pertinent. Renée's father, Lamott Turck Cohu, died by suicide in September, 1968--just 16 months before his daughter ended her life. That he had been the president of TWA was mentioned in most newspaper articles about Renée. That he took his own life with a revolver was not. (It was mentioned in his New York Times obituary.)

The Dana's were married in 1948, an optimistic time despite the developing Cold War. Renée led the life of a privileged young woman, studying in Switzerland for 3 years, and at Chadwick Seaside School in Rolling Hills, California. During WWII she volunteered as a nursing aide, and in that capacity met film stars Ida Lupino and Jennifer Jones, photographed meeting a convolescent sailor for the social pages. Her very type of life is one that was envied. The fact that Renée was beautiful would have added to the envy she probably engendered.

A mere 22 years later, the same number of years since 2001, the very lifestyle that was coveted in the 40's was now held in very different esteem. The word often occurred in news reports about heiresses in serial crises of bad men and poor judgement. And the emerging counterculture saw figures like Renée as representing hollow values. This change in culture was everywhere. 1970 was actually peak "late sixties". No published information reveals how Renée felt about the cultural changes she saw or how they affected her, especially with two teenage children. If she felt this opprobrium it would have been a cruel irony, since Renée lived most of her married life serving the community in general, and her career as a fundraiser and chairman of a Community Health board suggested not only an absence of snobbery but a commitment against it. Both the Dana children attended public school. The last major fundraising campaign she completed was for an indoor track for her son's high school. While the generation that wanted to end the war in Vietnam would have seen Renée as representing a system that allows the mis-distribution of wealth, almost none would have carried it to the lengths of the Manson family. The murders at Sharon Tate's mansion and at the LaBianca home occurred in August, 1969, before Mrs. Dana's crisis. The Labiancas were targeted for no other reason than their affluence, and their style of consumption. This was confirmed by the people who committed the murders. The word "pig" was scrawled on their walls in a final act of contempt. For anyone living in the US in 1970, these horrors were impossible to avoid. Mrs. Labianca even bore a resemblance to Renée.

Eleven months prior to Renée's father, Lamotte Turck Cohu, committed suicide by gunshot in San Diego. The news and images of the Labianca murders hit while Renée was certainly still grieving for her father, and processing the fact that he had ended his own life.

On February 11 a Contra Costa Times reporter asked a "visibly distraught" Jack Dana if knowledge of a terminal illness might have caused "the 42-year-old Lafayette socialite" to have taken her life. Mr. Dana at first refused to comment, but moments later told the Times, "Let me answer your question this way: When funeral arrangements are made, we will request that contributions be made to the American Cancer Society." What Jack Dana did not tell the Times was that the friend whose funeral Renée didn't attend, Thomas M Howard, was 50 years old--nearly Jack's age. Howard's obituary requested donations to the American Cancer Society, suggesting that was the cause of his death. On February 13, the Contra Costa Times reported that the Dade County Coroner's office in Miami made a statement that it would not routinely make public any information regarding a terminal illness, since it would have been unrelated to the cause of death, which was clearly the ingestion of an overdose of Placidyl. It appears that when given a more conventional or acceptable explanation for what had happened to his wife by a reporter, Jack Dana welcomed the opportunity to at least place that possibility in the public's mind, especially occurring just after his 50-year-old friend died of the disease. It's worth noting that this Contra Costa Times article contains the only mention of Lamotte Cohu's suicide, though it incorrectly stated that it was in 1948, not 1968.

At the end of the day, the reason that Renée Dana chose to end her life in such an incomprehensible way is a secret she took to her grave. We have no medical records for Mrs. Dana and writer is not a clinician but it can be speculated that with revisions in the DSM and half a century of research in neuroscience and psychotropics, whatever diagnosis she had been given at the time she was prescribed Placidyl and Doredin wouldn't suffice today. The latter was introduced in 1954 as a safe slumber-inducing alternative to barbiturates but was later found to be highly addictive. Placidyl was also a hypnotic which is no longer prescribed in the United States (for availability, not safety reasons). It can fairly be questioned if an ethical doctor in the late sixties would prescribe both these medications for one patient. And, doctor shopping is not unheard of. Mrs. Dana was probably experiencing a deep dysphoria consistent with bipolar disorder, which could today be managed with antidepressants. The inner darkness that Renée was experiencing, exacerbated by her father's suicide and a world that had labeled people who lived as she did "pigs", could not be sustained forever.

It's worth asking if the unnamed San Francisco friend who allegedly stated that Renée had spoken of suicide assisted her in a misguided show of support. Was Beach Street near Ghirardelli Square the meeting point for Renée and a friend who--acting out of a sense of loyalty--assisted her out of the world she could no longer tolerate? Did the friend drive her to the airport?

In the end, one must reach a conclusion as to why Renée Cohu Dana took her life and why she did so in a way designed to leave her family in permanent doubt as to her fate. To this writer the former can be deduced more readily than the latter. What now would probably be recognized as bi-polar disorder may have been affecting Renée for some time, exacerbated by her father's death by suicide and the diminished status for offspring of The Four Hundred. An individual experiencing such a dysphoria learns to cover-up and act "normal".