C.S.I. Carousel of Progress: The Missing Person Case

Reported Crime: Missing Person

Location: Magic Kingdom's Carousel of Progress

First Officer on Scene: Officer Thomas Morrow

Initial Report

This was supposed to be an open-and-shut case, I mean, Disney Imagineers don't just forget a characters, right? Turns out, I was dead wrong.  Tomorrowland is Officer Morrow's beat, and he was the first on the scene.

The crime? A missing person — a child, no less. For now, we’re referring to the victim as Jane Doe. According to Officer Morrow:

"She was there in one scene... and gone in the next. Never seen again for the rest of the show."

I told Morrow to start from the top.

Witness Statements

Morrow flipped open his pad.

"The girl shows up in the first scene of Carousel of Progress — you know, the classic Disney attraction that follows a family through the 20th century. There’s the Father (John), Mother (Sarah), Son (James), Older Daughter (Patricia), Grandfather, Grandmother... and Jane Doe, the little girl."

He shook his head.

"After the family boasts about doing five loads of laundry... BAM. She's gone. No explanation. No goodbye. She never makes it out of the 1900s."

Witnesses snapped a few photos — the house looked normal, no signs of stress. (Although there was an issue with the son sneaking a peek at risqué material, that's a separate matter.)

Analysis at the Scene

I asked Morrow the obvious question: Why did every character, even Rover the dog, have a name... except the little girl?

He laughed,

"Even those futuristic-looking ushers with name tags have names. Hell, even Uncle Orville — the guy hogging the bathtub — has a name! But not her."

I reminded Morrow to watch his language on the job and released him from the scene.

Lab Results

After digging into Disney Wiki, Wikipedia, and several Disney fan sites, the facts were clear:

• The core family members (Father, Mother, Son, Daughter) stay consistent across all scenes.

• The little girl? Vanishes after the 1900s scene. No name. No explanation.

Could she have been inserted just to work the washer crank? A tragic oversight? Or something deeper?

The little girl was basically an extra character added just to fill out the family feel of the turn-of-the-century scene, making it feel like a bustling home where there were lots of children and household chores. She was not considered a "main character" to carry through the decades.

In short:

• She’s there just for atmosphere and to better represent a busy family life around 1900.

• It would have overcomplicated things to keep track of her aging alongside Patricia (the main daughter).

• It would have required extra animatronics and complicated the script (and the already tight staging).

It’s a little like a movie where minor characters appear in one scene for flavor but aren’t intended to be followed through the whole story.

Current Status: Open Investigation

We’re at a dead end.

If you’ve got any information on the identity or fate of Jane Doe, leave your tips below.

Reward negotiable... after results are in.