William G. Dolan was 27 when he disappeared while swimming at Sodus Point, New York, on the evening of June 26, 1953. An Airman First Class stationed at Sampson Air Force Base, he attempted to swim the roughly 300-foot channel from Sodus Bay into Lake Ontario around 9:30 p.m. Witnesses including his sister and his girlfriend saw him appear to be in distress about halfway across and then vanish beneath the surface.

A large multi-day search followed, with the United States Coast Guard, New York State Police and the Sodus Point Fire Department all participating, but no trace of Dolan was found and the search concluded without success. He was described at the time as 6 feet 1 inch, 180 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. The official circumstances point to a probable drowning, but no body was recovered and the case remains unresolved.