OH OH - Ruth Baumgardner, 21, Delaware, 4 May 1937

[Coffeelover]

If she was 21-22 when she disappeared in 1937 she would have been born about 1916. Makes sense to me.

OMG wait until you see this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Baumgardner

I'm not following. Is this person related?

 

[Stella]

I found another article with pictures of Ruth. If there was one case I could solve, this would be it; so frustrating!

http://ohhowpeculiar.tumblr.com/post/113163627221/what-happened-to-ruth-baumgardner-ruth

 

[shari2]

What did you want us to see in the link about Jennifer Baumgardner?

 

[lgr]

I just caught up on this thread.

I think one of the two Italian men (not Sereno, and I can't recall the other guy's name) met and sweet-talked Ruth. She was titillated by the attentions of this man; however, he was grooming for sexual slavery. An upper-class, Waspy girl would probably be a good draw to a brothel.

He talked her into meeting him the night she disappeared, probably by telling her he wanted to run away with her. He said not to take anything that might have been traceable back to her (such as her sorority pin, watch, keys, etc.). She ditched the dorm key on the stairs after locking her dorm room, and she dropped her car key outside.

The testimony of one or more of the four guys at the OSHP officer's murder trial said they drove and picked her up, as if it was just another errand they were running. When the one man she was waiting to meet arrived with three other guys in the car, she panicked and tried to run away. He forced into the car and drugged with the "hypo" (the guy was prepared). She ended up in a brothel for a time, until the Pinkertons found her. The family was mortified, institutionalized her, and later let her quietly come home.

There was a note from one of the police officers (from a survey taken after the Conn murder trial) stating a woman reported that several of Ruth's college friends visited Ruth while she was in an institution in Cleveland.

I wonder if any Cleveland mental institutions/sanatoriums that were around in 1937 are still around today and if they still have records from that time. It might also be helpful to track down some of her sorority sisters and see if they told family members about what happened to Ruth. Hmmm...

My apologies for failing to remember names here. I'm totally drawing a blank on some of them.

 

[VikingBookLady]

Ruth in 1937:
22 years old, 5 foot 5, 110 pounds, blond/light brown hair, fair complexion.

Jane Doe found in Cleveland in 1938 (888UFOH. Cleveland Torso Victim):
25-30 years old?
5 foot 3 to 5 foot 5
115-125 pounds
Blond or brown hair
Fair to medium complexion
Possible appendectomy and c-section scars
Lacerated cervix (abortion?) Head never found.

Has 888UFOH been absolutely, positively ruled out as being Ruth? Was this something her parents could have covered up--if they didn't want to admit that she'd been killed and dismembered by a serial killer?

Sources: http://doenetwork.org/cases/888ufoh.html

"In the Wake of the Butcher" by James Jessen Badal

 

[Boomeroreo]

Some of the victims had to do with the Cleveland

Sent from my Z755 using Tapatalk

 

[STANDREID]

Has 888UFOH been absolutely, positively ruled out as being Ruth? Was this something her parents could have covered up--if they didn't want to admit that she'd been killed and dismembered by a serial killer?

Sources: http://doenetwork.org/cases/888ufoh.html

"In the Wake of the Butcher" by James Jessen Badal

She looks like a pretty good match, including, from her picture, being flat chested. In the negative, the scars don't seem to line up with anything we know plus she is not of the class that were believed to be the Torso Murderer's prey.

 

[Boomeroreo]

I just caught up on this thread.

I think one of the two Italian men (not Sereno, and I can't recall the other guy's name) met and sweet-talked Ruth. She was titillated by the attentions of this man; however, he was grooming for sexual slavery. An upper-class, Waspy girl would probably be a good draw to a brothel.

He talked her into meeting him the night she disappeared, probably by telling her he wanted to run away with her. He said not to take anything that might have been traceable back to her (such as her sorority pin, watch, keys, etc.). She ditched the dorm key on the stairs after locking her dorm room, and she dropped her car key outside.

The testimony of one or more of the four guys at the OSHP officer's murder trial said they drove and picked her up, as if it was just another errand they were running. When the one man she was waiting to meet arrived with three other guys in the car, she panicked and tried to run away. He forced into the car and drugged with the "hypo" (the guy was prepared). She ended up in a brothel for a time, until the Pinkertons found her. The family was mortified, institutionalized her, and later let her quietly come home.

There was a note from one of the police officers (from a survey taken after the Conn murder trial) stating a woman reported that several of Ruth's college friends visited Ruth while she was in an institution in Cleveland.

I wonder if any Cleveland mental institutions/sanatoriums that were around in 1937 are still around today and if they still have records from that time. It might also be helpful to track down some of her sorority sisters and see if they told family members about what happened to Ruth. Hmmm...

My apologies for failing to remember names here. I'm totally drawing a blank on some of them.

Yes there, especially in Hinckley Ohio up on state road but Hinckley police deny there was ever one. I and my sister and sister in-law were there and both my uncle's visited the building which is very much haunted

 

[MickyWrangle]

Bump :heartbeat:

 

[luvcats6@hotmail.com]

I've been researching this case since I posted this thread in 2005, and it is still puzzling to me. I've come to the conclusion that Ruth was pregnant, but I'm not so sure she staged her own disappearance. I am more inclined to think that she died either while undergoing an abortion or as a result of the abortion, and her body was disposed of in some manner. What's more, I am of the opinion that at some point, her family discovered what happened to her. My reason for thinking this is: the family hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to look for her, in addition to the intense police search. However, several months after Ruth's disappearance, her family asked the police and the detective agency to discontinue their search.

Ruth had recently become engaged, and I believe her fiance eventully told Ruth's family about the pregnancy and the abortion. That would explain why her family quit searching for her.

Marilynilpa
I was wondering about that exact same circumstance. Have you ever been in contact with any of Ruth's or her France's family to see if that was the case?

 

[Joyce Josette]

I have nothing of particular worth to add, however, whenever reading about or thinking on Ruth's disappearance, and that her parents requested the investigation be closed, I always find myself asking if instead of knowing what happened to Ruth (whatever it was they believed happened to her), they only thought they knew what had happened to her? Were they, for example, led to believe that Ruth had met her demise at the hands of an abortionist by someone with motivation to mislead them? Were they somehow convinced that Ruth had run away to live in a manner they considered disreputable by someone with interest in concealing their own involvement in her disappearance?

 

[BostonSu]

A number of years ago, in a previous thread about Ruth, a sleuther posted a clip from a newspaper. It was a report from a state police officer. It said Ruth had been found in Philadelphia, in a sex slave situation. She had been kidnapped & sold to a brothel. When found, she was returned to her parents, but it was decided at the time, put her into a mental health hospital. A few years later, I found a similar reference in an Ottawa Canada newspaper archive.

 

[EllieBee]

A number of years ago, in a previous thread about Ruth, a sleuther posted a clip from a newspaper. It was a report from a state police officer. It said Ruth had been found in Philadelphia, in a sex slave situation. She had been kidnapped & sold to a brothel. When found, she was returned to her parents, but it was decided at the time, put her into a mental health hospital. A few years later, I found a similar reference in an Ottawa Canada newspaper archive.

I think that clip is posted upthread.

I binge-read the thread this weekend and am still "fresh" re: resources (for an old crone).

FWIW, I am usually a "plain as the nose on your face" kinda gal, but I can get behind the whole brothel-via-illegally-obtained-abortion scenario. It does read a bit "True Detective", but after reading other contemporary newspaper accounts, I could see it as a plausible narrative.

That said, journalism in the first half of the Twentieth century was (how shall I say it?) "yellow". As the rule rather than the exception.

 

[BostonSu]

I think that clip is posted upthread.

I binge-read the thread this weekend and am still "fresh" re: resources (for an old crone).

FWIW, I am usually a "plain as the nose on your face" kinda gal, but I can get behind the whole brothel-via-illegally-obtained-abortion scenario. It does read a bit "True Detective", but after reading other contemporary newspaper accounts, I could see it as a plausible narrative.

That said, journalism in the first half of the Twentieth century was (how shall I say it?) "yellow". As the rule rather than the exception.

It definitely was, but what makes me think there is a good deal of truth is that the article had nothing to do with Ruth, it was just mentioned as a BTW, relating to another case. The facts may vary some, but to me, it seems the most likely, and only "documented" (give or take) solution so far. Glad you had fresh eyes!!

 

[Stella]

Marilynilpa
I was wondering about that exact same circumstance. Have you ever been in contact with any of Ruth's or her France's family to see if that was the case?

Do you think that Harry Moore, Ruth's fiancé, was the baby's father or do you think another man got her in trouble?

 

[Ohio Mysteries]

I'm researching info for a podcast on Ruth, and this forum has been a wonderful resource. In looking over old clippings, I was also struck by other headlines about "white slavery" rings in the day. Human trafficking is definitely not something new.

 

[Ohio Mysteries]

Our episode on Ruth Baumgardner will be available 8 p.m. Sunday. Subscribe to Ohio Mysteries podcast so you don't miss it! And while you're add it, send me your favorite unresolved cases from Ohio. feedback@ohiomysteries.com

 

[Mysteries1974]

A number of years ago, in a previous thread about Ruth, a sleuther posted a clip from a newspaper. It was a report from a state police officer. It said Ruth had been found in Philadelphia, in a sex slave situation. She had been kidnapped & sold to a brothel. When found, she was returned to her parents, but it was decided at the time, put her into a mental health hospital. A few years later, I found a similar reference in an Ottawa Canada newspaper archive.

Can someone try and find this clipping again? Doesn't that mean she was found or was it a hoax?

 

[Mysteries1974]

Honestly they should reinvestigate this case!!

 

[Stella]

Our episode on Ruth Baumgardner will be available 8 p.m. Sunday. Subscribe to Ohio Mysteries podcast so you don't miss it! And while you're add it, send me your favorite unresolved cases from Ohio. feedback@ohiomysteries.com

How about 16 year old Beverly Jarosz? Murdered in broad daylight in her own home in Garfield Heights, suburban Cleveland, a few days after Christmas 1964?