UK UK - Ruth Wilson, 16, Dorking, 27 Nov 1995

[Atoz]

Just bumping this as I watched the vanished episode again.

I think Ruth was abducted and murdered that day personally. I don't think she's far from box Hill but not necessarily on it.

I think it's the most likely scenario too, however lovely it would be to think of her happily elsewhere.

 

[ekardh]

Where is the evidence of foul play?

 

[wary]

Where is the evidence of foul play?

Well, I believe there hasn’t been a sign of her since the time she disappeared. That creates a strong presumption of death. The law agrees with me. (In a situation like this, I don’t take sightings very seriously, unless it was a personal acquaintance who saw the missing person up close and talked to her/him.)

So, accident, suicide, or foul play. Foul play is the most likely scenario to have a missing body.

 

[ekardh]

So, accident, suicide, or foul play. Foul play is the most likely scenario to have a missing body.

That's debatable. There are significantly more cases of suicide per year in the UK than there are homicides. And in this case, there is physical evidence to suggest Ruth killed herself. There is no evidence of foul play.

 

[wary]

That's debatable. There are significantly more cases of suicide per year in the UK than there are homicides. And in this case, there is physical evidence to suggest Ruth killed herself. There is no evidence of foul play.

I agree that there are many more cases of suicide than of homicide. However, I would bet my Websleuths membership that a much higher percentage of suicides than murders are found—possibly not immediately, but certainly over the ensuing 25 years. The likelihood of someone not being found was my point.

I’ve forgotten what evidence pointed to suicide. Can you remind me?

 

[ekardh]

I’ve forgotten what evidence pointed to suicide. Can you remind me?

Farewell notes, alcohol and pills.

 

[alb1on]

Farewell notes, alcohol and pills.

I have never been sure about this aspect of the case. Whilst it seems that the notes are definitively connected to Ruth, I have not seen that the same can be said for the pills and alcohol which seem to have simply been found at the same time. Such finds are hardly unusual on Box Hill which, amongst other things, has long been a meeting place for bikers (not the heavy Hells Angels types but they still like a party). If the police were convinced by this evidence I would have expected them to be less focused on, for example, her friend in Sheffield. And in the absence of knowing the actual text of the notes, they could cover a whole spectrum from suicide to a simple goodbye.

I remain unconvinced by either the murder or suicide theories, but accept that all possibilities remain open, although accident seems the least likely to me - at least anywhere near Box Hill - as I am sure she would have been found..

 

[Officer Dibble]

Well, I believe there hasn’t been a sign of her since the time she disappeared. That creates a strong presumption of death. The law agrees with me. (In a situation like this, I don’t take sightings very seriously, unless it was a personal acquaintance who saw the missing person up close and talked to her/him.)

So, accident, suicide, or foul play. Foul play is the most likely scenario to have a missing body.

But there has been a sign. The parents confirmed the girl on the CCTV footage of a newspaper shop was her - iirc it was a year later

 

[Officer Dibble]

I have never been sure about this aspect of the case. Whilst it seems that the notes are definitively connected to Ruth, I have not seen that the same can be said for the pills and alcohol which seem to have simply been found at the same time. Such finds are hardly unusual on Box Hill which, amongst other things, has long been a meeting place for bikers (not the heavy Hells Angels types but they still like a party). If the police were convinced by this evidence I would have expected them to be less focused on, for example, her friend in Sheffield. And in the absence of knowing the actual text of the notes, they could cover a whole spectrum from suicide to a simple goodbye.

I remain unconvinced by either the murder or suicide theories, but accept that all possibilities remain open, although accident seems the least likely to me - at least anywhere near Box Hill - as I am sure she would have been found..

Were the bottles and the notes finger printed?

 

[alb1on]

Were the bottles and the notes finger printed?

I have not seen that confirmed although you would think so. In fact the police seem to have been unusually close about many things - which is unusual for Surrey Police as they have a reputation for leaking like a sieve. It is one aspect of this case which make me wonder - although not in any particular direction.

 

[Konstantin]

I think it’s pretty clear that Ruth planned to go away — whether that was to run away temporarily (as she had done before), try to run away for good or take her own life.

some thoughts:

—on the weekend before she vanished Ruth took her two male friends including her ex out for an Indian meal which she paid for saying it would be “something to remember her by.” Did her friends not ask her what she meant by that? I would have. The remark stood out enough for them to remember it. The context was that they knew she had been troubled.

— The notes were left under a bush. That’s very odd. It was a rainy and windy night when she went missing. She can’t have been sure the notes would have been found anyway but given the weather either they’d blown there from somewhere else suggesting that they were in a bundle or she or someone else had put them there in a container or something to make sure they weren’t ruined. But even so she can’t have been sure they would be found

yet she went to the trouble of arranging flowers to be sent to her step mum.
So she sent that message— of flowers — to her step mother but the second message to her and her dad was just left under a bush?
Strikes me as very odd.

suicide notes are typically left near the body for someone to find when they discover the body. But in this case there was no body. Just some vermouth— weird choice of alcohol to wash pills down with (did her parents have it in their drinks cabinet?) - abs paracetamol which would not have killed her.

— Ruth’s parents called the police to report her missing the night she vanished. Yet it was not the first time she’d gone missing. She had run away before and hid out at her friends house. So did her parents call the police that time too? Did her friends parents call her family? Were they not already on the alert for her running off since she’d done it before?

did they call round her mates first to ask if she was there?

— if the girl in the newsagents a year later was Ruth it suggests to me she had maybe been living outside the area abs came back on the anniversary to check up on if anyone still cared about her and were still looking for her.

— it seems that Ruth really had some issues with her parents. Serious ones that made her troubled and run away. Her friends and Catherine’s mum knew about it. Or knew she was unhappy at home. Her family seem very reluctant to admit this publicly which is to some degree understandable.

— if Ruth did run away that night then someone knows something about it

— if she did run away it doesn’t mean she’s still alive now. It’s weird she’d break off all contact with her friends and family, her sister especially. It suggests she might have been afraid of something. Real or imagined. But I find it hard to imagine that she managed to live all these years with no one knowing where she is. Never making contact.

 

[alb1on]

One small new thought has occurred to me. I am fairly sure that the police do not know what happened and are not concealing her new identity (if that were the case). Apart from the multiple case reviews, which would be unnecessary if they had found her, there is the involvement of Mark Williams Thomas. I think I have made my view of him pretty clear in past posts, but the one thing that can be said in favour of his knowledge is that he almost certainly retains good sources within Surrey Police and would know if she had been found alive. And if that was the case I cannot imagine any circumstances in the world which would stop him going public with that information.

 

[Konstantin]

One small new thought has occurred to me. I am fairly sure that the police do not know what happened and are not concealing her new identity (if that were the case). Apart from the multiple case reviews, which would be unnecessary if they had found her, there is the involvement of Mark Williams Thomas. I think I have made my view of him pretty clear in past posts, but the one thing that can be said in favour of his knowledge is that he almost certainly retains good sources within Surrey Police and would know if she had been found alive. And if that was the case I cannot imagine any circumstances in the world which would stop him going public with that information.

yeah if she had been found they’d close the case. End of.

 

[alb1on]

yeah if she had been found they’d close the case. End of.

It is a bit more complicated as UK police procedures are very clear about not putting information into the public domain if a found person does not wish it, and that would include by announcing a case closure. But the subsequent actions would certainly not be needed.

 

[chimpface]

I think it’s pretty clear that Ruth planned to go away — whether that was to run away temporarily (as she had done before), try to run away for good or take her own life.

some thoughts:

—on the weekend before she vanished Ruth took her two male friends including her ex out for an Indian meal which she paid for saying it would be “something to remember her by.” Did her friends not ask her what she meant by that? I would have. The remark stood out enough for them to remember it. The context was that they knew she had been troubled.

— The notes were left under a bush. That’s very odd. It was a rainy and windy night when she went missing. She can’t have been sure the notes would have been found anyway but given the weather either they’d blown there from somewhere else suggesting that they were in a bundle or she or someone else had put them there in a container or something to make sure they weren’t ruined. But even so she can’t have been sure they would be found

yet she went to the trouble of arranging flowers to be sent to her step mum.
So she sent that message— of flowers — to her step mother but the second message to her and her dad was just left under a bush?
Strikes me as very odd.

suicide notes are typically left near the body for someone to find when they discover the body. But in this case there was no body. Just some vermouth— weird choice of alcohol to wash pills down with (did her parents have it in their drinks cabinet?) - abs paracetamol which would not have killed her.

— Ruth’s parents called the police to report her missing the night she vanished. Yet it was not the first time she’d gone missing. She had run away before and hid out at her friends house. So did her parents call the police that time too? Did her friends parents call her family? Were they not already on the alert for her running off since she’d done it before?

did they call round her mates first to ask if she was there?

— if the girl in the newsagents a year later was Ruth it suggests to me she had maybe been living outside the area abs came back on the anniversary to check up on if anyone still cared about her and were still looking for her.

— it seems that Ruth really had some issues with her parents. Serious ones that made her troubled and run away. Her friends and Catherine’s mum knew about it. Or knew she was unhappy at home. Her family seem very reluctant to admit this publicly which is to some degree understandable.

— if Ruth did run away that night then someone knows something about it

— if she did run away it doesn’t mean she’s still alive now. It’s weird she’d break off all contact with her friends and family, her sister especially. It suggests she might have been afraid of something. Real or imagined. But I find it hard to imagine that she managed to live all these years with no one knowing where she is. Never making contact.

Welcome and great post, all very good points.

 

[Lima Fox]

There have been several case reviews by Surrey Police over the last 25 years. The most recent was certainly in the last 5 years and carried out by a Chief Superintendent (Jon Savell). Whilst I have no great regard for Surrey Police (as I have said before) I am pretty sure that any oversights in the original investigation have now been thoroughly followed up. As for reinterviewing; I would be sure that they confirmed the taxi drivers story through taxi firm logs and/or cctv (as she took the taxi from Dorking station). Again, repeating something I have said before, a real question for me is why she was at the station. Dorking station is out of the town and she should have been able to get a taxi in town - so did she have another reason to be there such as looking at train times? And I am not sure of the purpose of further interviews of the parents. They were extensively interviewed before and it seems unlikely they have more to add. Going beyond a simple review of past statements would undoubtedly leak to the press and risk lazy journos inventing stories. Past experience of cases such as Christopher Jefferies would make any police force wary of such risks.

Whilst this is an odd case there are no grounds to suspect anyone of involvement based on the known facts. The real problem is that the facts all point to a voluntary disappearance and the real question is what happened next.

To clarify a small point. Dorking Library, at the time, was at Pippbrook House, only 5-7 minutes walk away from Dorking Station. The station is also opposite Ashcombe School. There were always taxis there, more so than the taxi rank on Dorking High Street.

 

[alb1on]

To clarify a small point. Dorking Library, at the time, was at Pippbrook House, only 5-7 minutes walk away from Dorking Station. The station is also opposite Ashcombe School. There were always taxis there, more so than the taxi rank on Dorking High Street.

Thanks for this - it clears up the station issue completely. I had assumed the current library went back rather longer.

 

[Aurora90]

Question for any locals... how deep is that quarry? There have been huge advancements with regards to the ability to search deep waters. Could she have been there all this time? I read that the notes were found under a bush. But I also saw on the Facebook group that the notes were found on the edge of the quarry....

 

[alb1on]

Question for any locals... how deep is that quarry? There have been huge advancements with regards to the ability to search deep waters. Could she have been there all this time? I read that the notes were found under a bush. But I also saw on the Facebook group that the notes were found on the edge of the quarry....

I am local but am not sure of the depth of the fishing lake (which is the only water of which I am aware). However it would be surprising if a body were there for several reasons. Firstly, it would have to have been concealed by a third party. If she had committed suicide and fallen into the water the body would have been found. Secondly, there was a full professional search of the quarry area by LE including the use of search dogs. Whilst I cannot confirm that divers were part of that search they would have been available if thought necessary as local LE has its own unit. Thirdly, it is a well used commercial fishing lake. Even if a body were sunk it is unlikely in the extreme that it would not have been detected over 25 years by snagging or during maintenance.

 

[Resourceress]

Really silly question - the articles say police searched 100 acres in Box Hill area with heat seeking helicopters and sniffer dogs.

• It's worth mentioning firstly - Box Hill encompasses 1200 acres (1100 acres then unsearched?)
• Also if heat seeking helicopters were used would they actually detect a dead body ?

I am very local to this case and as morbid as it is, often poke around bushes and hedgerows in vain.

I think the evidence here does point towards suicide or at the very least, a runaway met with foul play/ accident.

It is just so surprising how nothing has been found in such a small town. And I think that she must be somewhere in the very rural and rugged hilly terrain we have on Box Hill.