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

[camracrazy]

It looks like Delaware, Ohio is in Delaware County. Here is a link to the Delaware County, Ohio Historical and Genealogical Society:

http://www.midohio.net/dchsdcgs/


The address for the Delaware County Courthouse is:

Delaware County Courthouse
91 N. Sandusky
Delaware, OH 43015-1703
(740) 369-8761


The Delaware Gazette has been published since 1920. It's website is:
http://www.delgazette.com/

I would think that all of these places would be useful in your research, especially in finding a marriage license if she was married in that county.

 

[meggilyweggily]

Two pictures of Ruth Baumgardner:

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baumgardner_ruth.jpg
http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baumgardner_ruth2.jpg

Pretty girl. I'll post her case on the Charley Project tomorrow.

 

[meggilyweggily]

It's called "Death Ride at Euclid Beach" by John Stark Bellamy II. It's part of a series on historical true crime and disasters in the Cleveland area. I have three or four of the series' books and they have some interesting stories in them, including at least three on disappearances: Ruth Baumgardner, Melvin Horst and Beverly Potts.

 

[meggilyweggily]

I'm pretty sure Ruth wasn't married before her disappearance, from what I read in "Death Ride." She was engaged to a guy back home, and her friends swore she wasn't seeing anyone else. Besides, wouldn't her parents' detective had figured out about the marriage pretty fast?

 

[camracrazy]

I'm pretty sure Ruth wasn't married before her disappearance, from what I read in "Death Ride." She was engaged to a guy back home, and her friends swore she wasn't seeing anyone else. Besides, wouldn't her parents' detective had figured out about the marriage pretty fast?

I guess that would depend on what kind of ID, if any, you had to show to get a marriage license back then. She could have applied for a marriage license under a different last name. If she roomed alone, I don't see how her friends could be 100% certain she wasn't seeing anyone else. Her comings and goings wouldn't be noted as closely as they would be with someone who had a roomate.

 

[meggilyweggily]

She lived in a girls' dormitory. It's pretty hard not to miss people's activities when you live in a girl's dorm. I have never spoken to the girl across the hall from me, but I know what she does with her boyfriend every night (and I wish I didn't know).

 

[smile22]

i know her fokes hired a private investigator what if he found her alive and the fokes were so discusted with her that they just let it go. also did they have any other children besides ruth

 

[Marilynilpa]

It looks like Delaware, Ohio is in Delaware County. Here is a link to the Delaware County, Ohio Historical and Genealogical Society:

http://www.midohio.net/dchsdcgs/


The address for the Delaware County Courthouse is:

Delaware County Courthouse
91 N. Sandusky
Delaware, OH 43015-1703
(740) 369-8761


The Delaware Gazette has been published since 1920. It's website is:
http://www.delgazette.com/

I would think that all of these places would be useful in your research, especially in finding a marriage license if she was married in that county.

Thanks for your post, I appreciate you taking the time to look up this information.

I have contacted several possible sources of information in Delaware, Ohio including the police department, Ohio Wesleyan, and the historical society. A search for a marriage license turned up nothing.

I have several articles from the Delaware Gazette about this disappearance, it was a fairly important story at the time. Shortly after Ruth's disappearance, however, the Hindenburg crashed and burned, and that story took over front page news for a while. It seems most of the local Ohio papers carried stories, off and on, about the progress of the investigation into Ruth's disappearance.

The police department destroyed the records relating to this case many years ago when they moved to a new building. For a while it was retained on microfilm, but that has also been destroyed and was not put into computerized form. I was directed to a gentleman who wrote a book about the Delaware, Ohio police department, and I have written to him asking if he has any information about this case. Hopefully he will have something to tell me.

The historical society may have some information for me, but I am not sure. I've contacted them, and was told a researcher would call me back to discuss this.

I had some good news from Ohio Wesleyan, it is possible that they have some records pertaining to this. I am waiting to hear from someone about this, she is supposed to contact me soon.

Thanks for your interest in this case.

 

[Marilynilpa]

i know her fokes hired a private investigator what if he found her alive and the fokes were so discusted with her that they just let it go. also did they have any other children besides ruth

The Baumgardners had a married daughter named Ora Hardwick. No other siblings.

I have wondered if the private investigator ever found Ruth. Of interest to me is the fact that the Baumgardners eventually asked the police department to close their investigation. Of course, several years had passed, but I wonder if maybe they DID find out what happened and that is why they asked for this case to be closed. I would think most parents would want a case kept alive forever if their child disappeared.

In Ruth's parents' obituaries, she is referred to as the LATE Ruth Baumgardner. But most likely this is because she had been declared legally dead.

 

[Marilynilpa]

She lived in a girls' dormitory. It's pretty hard not to miss people's activities when you live in a girl's dorm. I have never spoken to the girl across the hall from me, but I know what she does with her boyfriend every night (and I wish I didn't know).

You make a good point. Ruth did not have a roommate, but obviously there were other girls in the dorm. Since she was last seen around 11 p.m., it's pretty likely everyone was asleep when she left. None of her sorority sisters came forward to say they had seen or heard anything out of the ordinary that evening. They did notice, however, that Ruth seemed excited about something. In the prior weeks, she had appeared nervous.

Obviously in 1937 the dorms were not co-ed, so no one would have seen/heard anything coming from her dorm room involving a man. She was engaged to a fellow in Cleveland, Ohio, but I don't know if he ever visited her at college or not. She did receive three phone calls on the day of her disappearance from a man calling from a local number (according to a newspaper article I read). Whoever answered the phone at the dorm was unable to locate Ruth, and the caller left no message.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Two pictures of Ruth Baumgardner:

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baumgardner_ruth.jpg
http://www.charleyproject.org/images/b/baumgardner_ruth2.jpg

Pretty girl. I'll post her case on the Charley Project tomorrow.

Thanks, that would be great.

Yes, Ruth was very pretty, and from all accounts she was a nice young lady and a good student.

Her father described her was having light brown hair, with two lighter streaks in front, and having blue-gray eyes. She was five feet four inches tall and weighed 111 lbs. She combed back her hair usually with two rows of curls in the back. She walked with a "long stride".

 

[Marilynilpa]

This senario makes a lot of sense. I would also explain why she took one suit, but left her other belongings. I can see someone who is leaving for a new life with her new husband leaving her "old" pajamas behind. It could also explain why her parents stopped looking for her if they found out she eloped.

Major problem. If she was in her twenties in '37 she's very likely deceased by now. Unless she told someone who she really was, her secret may have gone with her.

I agree that her secret might have gone to her grave, but I am hopeful I can find out something. Although her parents and her sister are deceased, her sister had a son and a daughter, and I plan on contacting them to see if the family ever discussed Ruth with them.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I'm pretty sure Ruth wasn't married before her disappearance, from what I read in "Death Ride." She was engaged to a guy back home, and her friends swore she wasn't seeing anyone else. Besides, wouldn't her parents' detective had figured out about the marriage pretty fast?

Right, Ruth was engaged to Harry "Bud" Moore, in fact they had gotten engaged shortly before her disappearance.

The reason I feel there might be another man involved is that Ruth's sorority sisters said that on the day she disappeared, a man called for her three times, but she was available to take the call. Apparently the call came from a local number, and the caller left no message.

As for her friends swearing that Ruth was seeing anyone else, I have a feeling that if Ruth did have another man in her life, she was very secretive about it. Plus, as I've posted a couple of times before, Ruth skipped chapel several times (which was out of character for her), and no one knew where she went on those occasions. She was nervous for several weeks before her disappearance, but was described as "jovial" and "excited" on the day she vanished.

This case really has me hooked!

 

[meggilyweggily]

Her father described her was having light brown hair, with two lighter streaks in front, and having blue-gray eyes. She was five feet four inches tall and weighed 111 lbs. She combed back her hair usually with two rows of curls in the back. She walked with a "long stride".

My book has her as blonde, 5'5 and 110 pounds, with just one irregular streak.

I have wondered if the private investigator ever found Ruth. Of interest to me is the fact that the Baumgardners eventually asked the police department to close their investigation. Of course, several years had passed, but I wonder if maybe they DID find out what happened and that is why they asked for this case to be closed. I would think most parents would want a case kept alive forever if their child disappeared.

You'd think, but I write about a lot of missing people and I've seen several cases where the parents finally asked the police to close the case. I'm guessing that they can't take the pain anymore and just want to lay the thing to rest. I have another case where the parents have consistently refused to get an age-progression done for their missing child; I have a feeling they just want to forget the whole experience.

I wish I still had my NewspaperArchive subscription.

 

[Marilynilpa]

My book has her as blonde, 5'5 and 110 pounds, with just one irregular streak.


You'd think, but I write about a lot of missing people and I've seen several cases where the parents finally asked the police to close the case. I'm guessing that they can't take the pain anymore and just want to lay the thing to rest. I have another case where the parents have consistently refused to get an age-progression done for their missing child; I have a feeling the just want to forget the whole experience.

I wish I still had my NewspaperArchive subscription.

I have a NewspaperArchive subscription, which is how I've been able to locate numerous articles about Ruth Baumgardner. What is frustrating me is that often an article appears in a newspaper, but there is no follow up. For instance, I have an article saying a thank you note written by a female hitch-hiker (matching Ruth's description) was being studied by a handwriting expert. The private detective hired by her family said there was some similarity in the handwriting on the note to samples of Ruth's handwriting. But there is NO follow up to that story. I assume the expert determined that the writing wasn't Ruth's but it would be nice if there had been a follow up in the paper.

I have ordered, but not yet received, the book you refer to. I'm looking forward to reading it just to see if there is any information I haven't found yet.

There is a discrepancy between her father's description and what was reported in some newspaper articles. Many of the articles refer to Ruth as being blonde, while others refer to her as having brown hair. I figure her father's description is probably the most accurate one.

 

[shadowangel]

Don't know if it means anything at all, but I did find something while looking into a completely different subject (baseball-go figure). In 1941-42, Zanesville OH had a team, part of the Middle Atlantic League (a farm league for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians). In 1942, they recruited a rookie by the name of Harold "Bud" Moore.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Don't know if it means anything at all, but I did find something while looking into a completely different subject (baseball-go figure). In 1941-42, Zanesville OH had a team, part of the Middle Atlantic League (a farm league for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians). In 1942, they recruited a rookie by the name of Harold "Bud" Moore.

That's interesting, I'll definitely look into that. In 1941, Bud Moore would have been about 27 years old, assuming he and Ruth were about the same age.

Funny you should mention Zanesville, Ohio, as doing some research on that city is how I got interested in Ruth's disappearance. I was researching some young girls who were reported missing in the 1950's, and one newspaper I pulled up had the story about Ruth Baumgardner.

Thanks for the info!

 

[camracrazy]

Marilyn,

Did you try looking for an obit on Harold Moore? Probably nothing of interest, but you never know.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Marilyn,

Did you try looking for an obit on Harold Moore? Probably nothing of interest, but you never know.

I searched the Ohio obituary databases and found nothing pertinent. He may have moved away from Ohio and, since his name is not that unusual, it would be hard to figure out which obituary pertained to the right Harold Moore.

However, since he was in his very early 20's when the U.S. entered WWII, it is possible he enlisted in the military. I have not yet checked out military records, but plan to do that soon. That might give me a lead on him, who knows.

 

[shadowangel]

I did just a quickie search, found a 1996 NYobit for a Harold B.Moore, age 89. This would have made him 30 at the time of the disappearance...Doesn't seem to fit the story, but 70-some years later, who knows? Maybe the folks were unhappy about an engagement to an older man and they eloped?

**slight edit, I couldn't read my own notes!