Identified! MA - Provincetown, Race Point, 'Lady in the Dunes' WhtFem 27-49, UP11840, Jul'74 - Ruth Marie Terry

[Natasha (Tash) Simp]

the removal of LOD's hands and several of her teeth to prevent identification tells me two things - one, we are dealing with someone who was intelligent enough to know quite a bit about police forensics and two, he wasn't a garden variety criminal.

 

[amber1]

Could she then have been killed by someone who knew her or had a personal connection to her? The removal of objects that could identify her makes more sense from someone who knew her then someone who did not. It makes me think that if her identification was discovered, her killer could be easily linked to her murder. The person responsible probably contemplated and knew that the discovery of her identity could mean the end for them. If she was killed by a stranger, the same reasoning is still possible, but it would be more difficult to link the two together, even with her identity known.

 

[Natasha (Tash) Simp]

He also had a tool or tools with him that were able to remove her hands and pull out many of her teeth. Again, where would an average man get those?

 

[Markybug]

Where is the removal of teeth mentioned? I've only read about the hands and the attempted head removal?

 

[Natasha (Tash) Simp]

It was mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

 

[carbuff]

The attempted head removal has been mentioned in other articles, but I've never seen anything about the teeth. The article needs to be checked and probably corrected.

 

[anne11]

I found a reference in this articlehttp://http://www.masslive.com/bostonspirit/2014/10/whitey_bulger_gays_and_the_lad.html abut the teeth removal and on a tv program when they were working on a facial reconstruction the upper and lower front teeth were missing.
Has there been any news on the isotope analysis?

 

[alliemay]

Someone who works in construction might have those type of tools.

 

[carbuff]

The head removal was said to have been done with a trenching tool. That's a kind of shovel with a sharp edge. Half the people in New England have one in their garage and many people who work outside carry them in their trunk or truck for clearing vines away from where they're working.

 

[Ambercat]

I noticed that missing person Elizabeth “Connie” Eaton Converse had lived in New York City working as a songwriter prior to her disappearance (though it doesn’t mean that she necessarily had dental work there). It also seems like the Lady of the Dunes’ age estimate is increasing (at least on her NamUs file which estimates her to have been between 25 and 49 years old); Connie was 49 or 50 at the time of her disappearance. NamUs estimates her height as being 67 to 70 inches and weight as 140 to 170 lbs. Although her hair is listed as brown, in some of the photos in her NamUs profile, it looks like it might have a red tint. An article in The Awl describes her as blonde.

Although Connie was living in Michigan at the time of her disappearance, she was originally from New Hampshire and attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts on an academic scholarship. It’s my understanding that Provincetown has different events during the summer for artists and Connie was involved in the arts, so it is possible that she traveled there after she left Michigan (I’m not sure if her VW Beetle was ever located).

Timing is sort of a problem – NamUs lists August 1, 1974 as the date she was last seen (the details seem sort of vague) --

Elizabeth Eaton "Connie" Converse was a singer-songwriter who was active in New York City in the 1950s. She disappeared in 1974, after writing goodbye letters to her friends and family, and has not been heard from since.

She wasn’t reported missing until March 18, 2014, so I wonder if the August date could be incorrect or at least not exact?



https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/23656/150
http://www.theawl.com/2010/08/the-story-of-connie-converse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Converse

 

[Ambercat]

There are some people who believe that the Lady of the Dune's murderer removed her hands either because she had a criminal record or her fingerprints had been taken for another reason when she was alive. Recently, the Michigan Department of Corrections added more photos of wanted criminals to their website (they might have also added more criminals or revised their list of the MDOC most wanted escapees) http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/mostwanted.aspx.

I noticed that Frankie McGraw, a woman who escaped from the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti on May 28, 1974, looks a lot like many of the composites that have been done of the Lady of the Dunes or at the as far as I can tell by the photo of her mugshot photo. With the exception of her age being a bit younger (23 years old) than the estimated age for the UID, the rest of her vital statistics seem close to those of the UID.


http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=132913

 

[FiveFelines]

There are some people who believe that the Lady of the Dune's murderer removed her hands either because she had a criminal record or her fingerprints had been taken for another reason when she was alive. Recently, the Michigan Department of Corrections added more photos of wanted criminals to their website (they might have also added more criminals or revised their list of the MDOC most wanted escapees) http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/mostwanted.aspx.

I noticed that Frankie McGraw, a woman who escaped from the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti on May 28, 1974, looks a lot like many of the composites that have been done of the Lady of the Dunes or at the as far as I can tell by the photo of her mugshot photo. With the exception of her age being a bit younger (23 years old) than the estimated age for the UID, the rest of her vital statistics seem close to those of the UID.

View attachment 73100
http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=132913

I like this suggestion a lot. Did a little Googling on Frankie. McGraw was her married name, she had a few children, at least one of whom was put up for adoption, and her record seems mostly to involve bad checks. I think her husband is still living. My only question is about the expensive dental work.

 

[anne11]

I read that there was a bandana found with her does anyone know if there is a photo available

 

[rcoope23]

Feedback on possibly submitting Rosemary Buck? https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/7592/28?current_page=photos

Pluses-
*From New York where dental work was done

*Spoke of travelling to MA to meet with mystery man.

*Time frame is good. She went missing in 1973.

Negatives
*I don't think she looks much like the recon
*Her hair is listed as blond, not red/auburn

 

[carbuff]

Rosemary seems like a possibility.

 

[heptgb]

About the removal of hands---I read that one hand was removed at wrist and the other at elbow. Always thought that was strange. I'm wondering there is a reason for that---like a tattoo or scar on that specific arm that the perp would try to remove.

 

[RubyJuno]

Hey, check this out...an interesting theory.

http://www.avclub.com/article/jaws-extra-victim-unsolved-murder-case-224799

 

[mommylicious]

Interesting idea. I'm not familiar with Tumblr. I see a lot of likes and re blogs, is there a way to write/view comments, too? Just wonder if there was a response.

 

[FiveFelines]

Interesting theory but really not based on much. I could get you a photo of my mother from that time period and general location and she'd look pretty much the same.

 

[carbuff]

It's a close enough resemblance to be worth checking out. She has to be somebody.