OH OH - Ruth Marie Hurlbert, 20s, 1920s

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Is it possible that she could be one of the unidentified victims of the Cleveland Torso Murders?

doenetwork.org/cases/885ufoh.html
doenetwork.org/cases/886ufoh.html
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doenetwork.org/cases/889ufoh.html

It appears that they do not have any DNA on these UIDs, and we don't have a physical description of your aunt, so it's hard to say. I wonder if they would still be able to extract DNA.
 
Very interesting possibility Odyssey!! I often forget there are still vics without names from the Torso Murders!!
 
Shamrocker99 said:
Very interesting possibility Odyssey!! I often forget there are still vics without names from the Torso Murders!!
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I wonder if it is worth a shot at trying to get them exhumed for DNA. I know it was done with the Boulder Jane Doe and she was successfully identified, I think her remains were found in the 1950's.

Trino, do you have any description of her? Height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc?
 
Trino said:
Yes. This is her. I've had this info for quite a while. However, it doesn't indicate anything about her disappearance.

Ruth's last letter was in 1927. (NY)

I'm also aware of the NY article - Miss Roche. This isn't Ruth either. For some reason the NY Times carried an article about Roche's speech to Radcliffe grads. (Radcliffe is located in Massachusettes.) Radliffe at that time was an elite finishing school for debutants. Attending Radliffe during the Depression required $$$. Ruth would have have neither the clout nor $ to attend Radcliffe. And, of course, she would have been 31 yrs old in 1936.
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Social Security numbers were first issued in November 1936.

HURLBERT, RUTH E was born 09 October 1906; received Social Security number 535-01-7156, which corresponds to Washington; and died June 1995.

HURLBURT, RUTH was born 06 March 1905; received Social Security number 399-20-7268, which corresponds to Wisconsin; and died January 1983.

HURLBURT, RUTH was born 18 June 1905; received Social Security number 122-30-4842, which corresponds to New York; and died May 1992.

HURLBERT, RUTH M was born 07 February 1915; received Social Security number 030-14-6728, which corresponds to Massachusetts; and died 9 April 2004

There are many others with both spellings but I wonder if the birth year might be off by a year or a few? Do you know of a birth month for her or does your aunt know?

Also was she blonde, brunette or redhead?
 
Thanks, Hilda.

Her birthdate was Feb 4, 1905. This is certain, as I have documentation.

Somehow, I think she must have died soon after writing the letter to my grandmother because she and my grandmother were very close. From what I've been told I don't believe she would have abandoned her mother. The Cleveland serial killer theory proposed by Odyssey is interesting. especially since two of the victims were deemed to have been pregnant at some time during their lives.

How sad it is that none of these victims appear to have been missed by anyone.
 
Trino said:
Thanks, Hilda.

Her birthdate was Feb 4, 1905. This is certain, as I have documentation.

Somehow, I think she must have died soon after writing the letter to my grandmother because she and my grandmother were very close. From what I've been told I don't believe she would have abandoned her mother. The Cleveland serial killer theory proposed by Odyssey is interesting. especially since two of the victims were deemed to have been pregnant at some time during their lives.

How sad it is that none of these victims appear to have been missed by anyone.
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It's truly heartbreaking and disturbing. I hope you get some answers about your aunt either way.
 
Do you think she could have remained in Ohio?

I've found a couple of results for "Ruth Hulbert" (notice the misspelling) born in 1905.

Here the name shows up as the mother of someone who died in 1940. Notice the husband and the daughter don't have the last name Hulbert. I found a couple of other hits, one of them is for someone who married in California when she was 68 and the other one is for someone from Ohio - but the parents' name don't fit. Would it be possible for someone to lie about the names of their parents when getting married?

For Hurlbert, I found a death record from 1931 in Ohio, here. I also found a stillbirth record, where the mother's name (I assume it's her maiden name as she has a different last name from the father) is given as Ruth also, it dates from 1941 but it's from Illinois.

Just a heads up, I think familysearch.org have added new records to their database so you may be able to find more info now.

That death record is very vague by the way, but perhaps you could contact someone - the archives? - and ask if they have any information about relatives and such. None are listed so I assume perhaps they didn't know.
 
Veidt said:
Do you think she could have remained in Ohio?

I've found a couple of results for "Ruth Hulbert" (notice the misspelling) born in 1905.

Here the name shows up as the mother of someone who died in 1940. Notice the husband and the daughter don't have the last name Hulbert. I found a couple of other hits, one of them is for someone who married in California when she was 68 and the other one is for someone from Ohio - but the parents' name don't fit. Would it be possible for someone to lie about the names of their parents when getting married?

For Hurlbert, I found a death record from 1931 in Ohio, here. I also found a stillbirth record, where the mother's name (I assume it's her maiden name as she has a different last name from the father) is given as Ruth also, it dates from 1941 but it's from Illinois.

Just a heads up, I think familysearch.org have added new records to their database so you may be able to find more info now.

That death record is very vague by the way, but perhaps you could contact someone - the archives? - and ask if they have any information about relatives and such. None are listed so I assume perhaps they didn't know.
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Thanks, but I've checked these, except for contacting archives.
I voted out the Montgomery Co - wrong parents - but I also vetoed a Ruth in Sandusky, which seemed a good fit. I contacted the library there, and they (so nice) determined she was much too young.

I suspect Ruth may have been pregnant. Ruth's best friend was her mother, and there was no contact after the last letter. I think Ruth may have died somehow, somewhere - maybe even murdered - soon after that. Maybe she died in another state. Maybe from complications of pregnancy. From her last letter (see previous posts) it does appear someone may have been supporting her.

Records and family notifications were so bad then that when my grandfather died in Cleveland, OH, less than 60 miles from his home - he was a musician - he was buried in a pauper's grave there. It took nearly a year for another Cleveland musician to track my grandmother via letter. She thought he had deserted her and the family. He died around 1931.
 
Like Veidt, I'm also wondering if she stayed in Ohio.

Was there any proof she had traveled? It's strange, imo, that the letter she writes is from the very area from where she has gone missing. And in those 7 months, she says she's been to Toledo (not too far) and Canada (which I think would be considered quite a distance, back in the 20s). ETA, now that I think of it, both destinations would have been kind of far because there were no expressways back then. If she really did go to Canada, she probably would have passed through Toledo on the way, so that part of her letter does make sense. Was there train service for long distance travel between those areas? Would she be traveling by car or train?

But back then, wouldn't it have been expected that someone who's traveling would send a postcard from their location, "Greetings From Canada!" or something like that? It seems to me that especially if she had been in another country (Canada) or NY, she would have sent correspondence from there so her mother would have a keepsake of her travels.
 
Well, I've given up trying to find what happened to Ruth. It's just been too long. BUT, IMO, she sent the postcard locally because, presumably, she could not go home. Her father was very angry with her. And, as I previously stated, her mother was her best friend. I have concluded Ruth was probably pregnant. What happened after this remains a mystery.
 
Placed a link to this thred on DoE Network Guestbook
Preahaps you can contact them to do a profile on Hurlbert>
 
If she went to Canada there should have been a record of her leaving and re-entering the country.
 
Did you enter your DNA into ancenstry or 23andme or one of those websites, in case she did give birth and the child survived and might be looking for family that way?

I assume she died not too long after sending those letters. I don't think she would have left her mother like that.
 
Having a relative submit DNA for testing is a very good idea. All of the big DNA genealogy companies offer sales this time of the year too.

As for date of birth - it is not unusual for a DOB to be off by 2-5 years in records over the course of a lifetime. This is based on my research into genealogy -- census records, death certificates, SSN records - can all be inconsistent. I've seen a couple that were off by as many as 10 years...it just depends on the source of the data and who the informant was that provided the data.
 
Vivette said:
Did you enter your DNA into ancenstry or 23andme or one of those websites, in case she did give birth and the child survived and might be looking for family that way?

I assume she died not too long after sending those letters. I don't think she would have left her mother like that.
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I was going to suggest the same thing. If she died in childbirth or while the child was young, he or she would've been taken into state care and adopted out. And could presumably be looking for biological relatives, as could his or her kids.
 
Bumping up.
Wondering if there has been any old newspapers looked from the year she stopped writing.
Any accidents or unusual deaths maybe.

If she did travel by train, any rail accidents?
 
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