A 12-year-old chasing after her barking canine found the mutilated physique of a girl within the Race Level Dunes of Provincetown, Massachuestts, on July 26, 1974. Regulation enforcement was unable to establish the sufferer, who grew to become often called the “Woman of Dunes.” Almost 50 years later, on October 31, the FBI introduced it lastly recognized the lady as Ruth Marie Terry, a local of Tennessee who was 37 on the time of her demise.
The identification was made through genetic family tree strategies: a mix of DNA testing and profiling with conventional genealogical evaluation to hint household bushes—the identical strategy used to establish the Golden State Killer (former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo) in 2018. Based on the FBI, Terry was born in 1936; had “connections” to the states of California, Massachusetts, and Michigan; and was a “daughter, sister, aunt, spouse, and mom.” Additional particulars haven’t been launched out of respect for her household—and likewise as a result of the homicide investigation is ongoing.
“Whereas we’ve got recognized Ruth because the sufferer of this horrific homicide, it doesn’t ease the ache for her household—nothing can,” Joseph Bonavolonta, a particular agent from the Boston department of the FBI, stated at a press convention saying the identification. “However hopefully, they reply some questions whereas we proceed to search for her killer. That is, definitely, a serious break within the investigation that can hopefully convey us all nearer to figuring out the killer.”
The Woman of the Dunes was discovered bare and mendacity face down beneath lengthy grass on that fateful summer season day. The lady who discovered her initially thought it was a lifeless deer. The physique was badly decomposed, with insect exercise indicating she had been lifeless for about two weeks. She was almost decapitated from a brutal strangulation, however reason behind demise turned out to be blunt drive trauma to the facet of the top.
There was no signal of a battle, however there was proof of sexual assault that probably occurred after demise. In reality, plainly her attacker had been mendacity subsequent to her, based mostly on the angle of the blow to the top. Each her palms and one forearm had been lacking and several other tooth had been eliminated. Her final meal consisted of a burger and fries. Her physique was buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery close to the middle of city, with an inscription on a small headstone: “Unidentified feminine physique discovered Race Level dunes July 26, 1974.”
Apart from two units of footprints resulting in the physique and a set of tire tracks, there wasn’t a lot to go on by way of leads. Police ran the license plates of everybody who had visited the park across the time of the lady’s homicide. There was no report of her arrival to the realm, so she could have been killed elsewhere and dumped on the web site. Potential suspects over time included Irish mob boss Whitey Bulger (recognized for eradicating his sufferer’s tooth), serial killer Tony Costa (dominated out as a result of he died in Could 1974, two months earlier than the homicide), and serial killer Hadden Clark. (Clark truly confessed to the crime, however suffered from extreme schizophrenia, so it was regarded as a false confession.)
