Local residents remember a different 'Linda'

The way she was...

Those who knew Mrs. Dollar when she was a Bowling and lived in the New Marion area, were shocked when they were told it was really her, who along with husband John, had been accused of such horrific crimes.

"She was the kind of student you wanted to have in class," remembered Mary Margaret Moorhead, who was her teacher in high school. "She was a good citizen and an excellent student who was always prepared."

Mrs. Moorhead went on to say that Mrs. Dollar was one of the best business students she could remember. "She won all the awards," she noted, adding, "It's really shocking to hear this, I can't imagine someone doing that, especially Linda."

A 1971 South Ripley year book backed up Mrs. Moorhead's words with a quote beneath her photo that read, she "received much recognition for her outstanding and rare typing abilities."

Classmates remember her outstanding typing skills as well. Ripley County Clerk Ginger Bradford was in Dollar's class and noted she was a fantastic typist. "I would describe Linda as smart and friendly. She was a quiet girl," Bradford noted. "She was in Student Council with us," she recalled.

Mrs. Jane Hance, who with her husband John, owned Hance's Grocery Store in Rexville, said Mrs. Dollar or Linda as she referred to her, worked at their business while she was in high school. "She was an excellent worker. The customers all liked her. "When she wasn't busy at the front counter, she would find something to do in the back. She was never idle."

Mrs. Hance remembered that after graduating from high school, Linda married "a Robert Brinson and then they divorced, but never had any children." She believed Brinson went on to have a career in law enforcement.

Some classmates recalled seeing Mrs. Dollar at her father's (Goebel Bowling) funeral in recent years. They said the Dollars had a big bus-like-vehicle where the children stayed, but they never saw them.

The news of the couple allegedly committing such horrific crimes as pulling out the toenails of the children, locking them in the closet, routinely chaining them in various places throughout the house and starving them, leaves residents in southern Ripley County in shock.

Most describe Mrs. Dollar, or Linda as they knew her, as a meticulous, smart person.

Senior picture of Linda Bowling Dollar, taken from 1971 South Ripley Year Book