NC - Raleigh woman's garden became her husband's grave

Raleigh woman's garden became her husband's grave
Monday, June 27, 2011 8:05 AM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Ruth Huber Bostic carefully tended to her flower garden every day, even though the rest of her home and property were in shambles.

Neighbors said she appeared to talk to herself while she cared for the hosta plants and violets. These seemed to be moments of tranquility for a troubled elderly woman whose husband had apparently departed long ago.

Then, more than a year after she died at age 78, police discovered Bostic had not been entirely alone during her daily garden visits: Underneath the ivy and bricks, detectives found the remains of her husband, David Ellis Bostic.

David Ellis Bostic had been missing for at least 14 years before Ruth's death in 2010. Friends and family still wonder exactly what happened.

"It's a mystery. Things happen no one ever expects," said Carl Willis, David Ellis Bostic's 59-year-old nephew and closest living relative. Willis lives in Newport News, Va., and last spoke to his uncle in 1994.

http://www.myqwest.com/news/read.php?rip_id=<D9O437Q00@news.ap.org>&ps=1011

A man who disappeared 14 years ago has been found buried in his wife's flowerbed in North Carolina.

Police only started searching for David Ellis Bostic after his wife died last year, aged 78, and they realised she had been collecting his social security payments, NY Daily News reports.

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video at link:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8266316/missing-man-found-buried-in-wifes-flowerbed

Snipped from the article and BBM--
"Police said Mrs Bostic was estranged from her family, and appeared to suffer from a mental illness."

Ya think?! LOL!! What a bizarre story.

What town did that happen in? They don't mention it in the article, and I can't even find a place on the web site saying where the channel is located. (Maybe it's just me?)

STEADFAST said:

What town did that happen in? They don't mention it in the article, and I can't even find a place on the web site saying where the channel is located. (Maybe it's just me?)

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here's some more info on it:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/06/27/2011-06-27_longmissing_north_carolina_mans_remains_found_buried_under_wifes_garden.html

Here's a very detailed and complete article. Seems the woman may have had mental issues. Too bad no one attempted to help her.

JMHO
fran

Raleigh woman's garden became her husband's grave

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) —

Ruth Bostic died in her living room in January 2010. She was discovered a month later after Taylor realized she was no longer checking her mailbox. Police said her death was from natural causes.

Within months, Raleigh police began to get inquiries about David Bostic's Social Security checks. Apparently they were being deposited into a joint account that was no longer active.

The case intrigued detectives, who spent months searching the house, digging through public records, questioning neighbors and contacting distant family members to find traces of the missing man. There were few results — no death certificate or any record of his marriage to Ruth Bostic.

"We found his voting record from 1996. That's the last time we can say he was alive," Detective Andy Murr said.

After hearing stories about Ruth Bostic's gardening habits, detectives began to dig in the couple's yard.

First they turned up the concrete slab out front, then moved to the back yard to the garden Ruth Bostic tended so lovingly.

Police say the autopsy revealed nothing suspicious about David Bostic's death.

Willis is left only with a list of questions.

"Why didn't she call on family if she needed help? Why did she bury him in the yard? Did she do it alone? I guess these are questions that will never be answered."

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/...her-husband-s-grave-1441491.php#ixzz1QauA2qRx

That's pretty sad! They said she was mean, she just sounded feisty to me and maybe she did know the czar of Russia! I love that she poured concrete on her front yard instead of mowing it!

What a tale! It's clear she had mental issues, paranoia, dillusions of grandeur or at the very least, a vivid imagination. Maybe she needed his Social Security check or simply wanted to keep him nearby.

If only we knew the tone of her chatter while gardening... "Sweetheart, your hostas are beginning to bloom" or "You old fool, that iron skillet cracked your skull" would mean entirely different things. I would rather believe he went to sleep & just didn't awaken one morning, she couldn't bare sending him away & buried him at home. It seems she pushed everyone else away so he was all she had. Rest In Peace Mr & Mrs Bostic.

justanother said:

That's pretty sad! They said she was mean, she just sounded feisty to me and maybe she did know the czar of Russia! I love that she poured concrete on her front yard instead of mowing it!

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I lived in Sacramento on 15th and E street during the "Nightmare on F Street" in 1988. Never underestimate what a woman in her 60s can do alone. Dorothea Puente was 61 when she buried seven men after killing them then planted flowers on top. I stopped walking the alley behind her house a long time before she was caught. Something was just not right back there.

Sherlock61 said:

I lived in Sacramento on 15th and E street during the "Nightmare on F Street" in 1988. Never underestimate what a woman in her 60s can do alone. Dorothea Puente was 61 when she buried seven men after killing them then planted flowers on top. I stopped walking the alley behind her house a long time before she was caught. Something was just not right back there.

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Whoa. That's crazy.

Man, if anyone was burying bodies here in their back yard half the news bag neighbors would be coming out asking you what you were doing.