When Dorian Corey appeared on screen in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, she was the voice of reason. She was the "mother" of the House of Corey, a philosopher in sequins who famously mused about leaving a mark on the world. "If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you," she said, draped in a housecoat, dispensing hard-earned wisdom about the fleeting nature of fame.
She died in August 1993 from AIDS-related complications. That should have been the end of the story.
Instead, it was just the prologue to one of the most bizarre true crime mysteries in New York City history. While her friend Lois Taylor was cleaning out Corey's Harlem apartment on West 140th Street, she stumbled upon a large trunk. Inside, tucked away amidst decades of high-fashion gowns and feathers, was a mummified human body.
The man was eventually identified as Robert Worley. He had been missing for over 25 years.
The Discovery of Robert Worley
Honestly, the scene sounds like something out of a pulp novel.
Lois Taylor wasn't looking for a body; she was looking for Halloween costumes. She and two friends were rummaging through Corey’s vast collection of drag history when they found a green-plaid garment bag inside a trunk. It was wrapped in layers of Naugahyde and plastic, sealed tight with tape.
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When the police arrived and peeled back the layers, they found a man in a fetal position. He was wearing tattered blue-and-white boxer shorts. His skin had turned a mottled purple and yellow, preserved by an amateur but effective mummification process involving baking soda.
Identifying a Ghost
Detective Raul Figueroa was the one who caught the case. It wasn't easy. The body was so decayed that pulling prints seemed impossible, but Figueroa managed to get a set.
The prints matched a man named Robert "Bobby" Worley.
He was born in December 1938. His criminal record was short but grim: an arrest for rape and assault in 1963, for which he served three years in Sing Sing. His family hadn't seen him since roughly 1967 or 1968.
What Really Happened with Dorian Corey and Robert Worley?
The most haunting detail wasn't just the body; it was the cause of death. Robert Worley had been shot in the back of the head.
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How does a legendary drag queen end up with a mummified ex-convict in her closet for a quarter of a century? There are a few theories that have floated around Harlem for decades, and most of them paint a much more complicated picture of Corey than the "kindly auntie" persona she projected in film.
- The Abusive Lover Theory: This is the one most people in the ballroom scene believe. Robert Worley’s brother, Fred, actually remembered Bobby calling him while drunk and rambling about someone named "Dorian." It’s widely speculated they were in a relationship. Given Worley's violent criminal history and the high rates of domestic abuse against trans women in that era, many believe Corey shot him in self-defense during a domestic dispute.
- The Robbery Theory: Some of Corey’s friends suggested she might have been the victim of a break-in. Harlem in the late 60s and 70s was a tough place. Jessie Torres, a close friend, later admitted that Dorian did own "a little .22." If Worley broke in, she might have just finished the job.
- The "Protector" Theory: A less popular but persistent rumor suggests Corey wasn't the killer at all, but was hiding the body for a friend or a "child" from her house who had nowhere else to turn.
One of the most chilling "clues" was a short story Corey had written. It was a third-person narrative about a trans woman who kills her lover after he pressures her into a surgery she doesn't want. It was loosely autobiographical, sprinkled with references to the Pearl Box Revue, the touring drag show Corey performed with in the 60s.
Why Didn't She Get Rid of the Body?
You've gotta wonder why she kept him. For 25 years, Corey lived, slept, and worked just feet away from a corpse.
She even moved. In 1988, she moved from 150th Street to 140th Street. Think about that for a second. That means she likely hauled a trunk containing a mummified Robert Worley ten blocks down the street, up the stairs, and back into a closet.
Maybe she was terrified of the police. A Black trans woman in the 1960s claiming self-defense against a man with a "macho" reputation wouldn't have had much of a chance in court. It’s possible that once she hid him, she simply couldn't figure out how to stop hiding him.
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The case inspired the FX series Pose, where the character Elektra Abundance finds herself in a similar predicament. But the real-life version had no Hollywood resolution.
Practical Insights from the Case
The mystery of Dorian Corey and Robert Worley serves as a stark reminder of the "invisible" lives led by marginalized people in mid-century America.
- Understand the Context: To understand why Corey kept the secret, you have to understand the era. The legal system in the 1960s was openly hostile to the LGBTQ+ community. "Self-defense" wasn't a reliable plea for someone like Dorian.
- Legacy is Complicated: Corey is still a hero to many in the ballroom community for her mentorship and artistry. The discovery of Worley's body doesn't necessarily erase her contributions, but it adds a layer of survivalist grit to her story.
- The Mystery is the Point: No one was ever charged, and since both parties are dead, there will never be a trial. The "truth" lives in the space between Corey's silence and Worley's tattered boxers.
If you're looking to dive deeper into this era of NYC history, the 1994 New York Magazine article "The Drag Queen Had a Mummy in Her Closet" remains the definitive primary source. You can also re-watch Paris Is Burning to see Corey through a different lens—knowing now that while she was talking about leaving a mark on the world, she was also keeping a secret that would eventually become her most famous legacy.
Explore the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture if you want to understand the Harlem that Dorian Corey actually lived in. It wasn't just glitter; it was a battleground.
Next Steps for Research
- Search for: "The Drag Queen Had a Mummy in Her Closet" 1994 New York Magazine archive.
- Watch: Paris Is Burning (1990) to observe Corey's demeanor and "the story she told" versus the one she hid.
- Compare: The Pose Season 2 episode "Mummy's the Word" with the factual police reports from the Worley case.