*
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. —
A notorious murder mystery that's gripped Cape Cod for decades is now a closed case.
A woman's dismembered body, which had her hands cut off in an effort to hide her fingerprints, was discovered in the dunes of Race Point in Provincetown on July 26, 1974.
Police believed the woman was killed several weeks before her body was found.
For years, she was unidentified, known only as the "lady of the dunes." Investigators worked for decades to identify her through various means, including neighborhood canvasses, reviews of thousands of missing-person cases, clay model facial reconstruction and age-regression drawings, officials said.
Just last year, investigators were finally able to identify her as Ruth Marie Terry, 37, of Tennessee, using a process known as forensic genetic genealogy, which can reach deeper into a victim or suspect's family tree.
The official cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to the head with signs of strangulation and sexual assault. In addition to both hands being amputated, it appeared the killer also tried to remove her teeth, officials said.'
On Monday, the District Attorney's office officially concluded that Terry's husband, Guy Muldavin, was responsible for her death.
Terry married Muldavin and the newlyweds traveled in the summer of 1974. But he returned alone driving her vehicle, telling her relatives they had a fight during their honeymoon and he had not heard from her again.
"My father, well, he left in '74, he went to California looking for her. And her husband at the time said she sold everything she had and joined a cult," said nephew John Randall Terry.
Muldavin was also the prime suspect in the disappearance of his prior wife and stepdaughter in the 1960s.
Muldavin died in 2002.
*
We now know the identity of Massachusetts' oldest unidentified murder victim. The FBI says they used investigative genealogy to discover her name: https://www.wcvb.com/.../fbi-significant.../41818740
Contributor: ditdit (47012745) 10/31/2022
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Birth 1936
Spouses: Billy Ray Smith (born 1931) (#123827987???)
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Spouses: Billy Roy Smith (born 1931)
*********
Crime Victim. The case has lingered for more than 40 years in police files without the young woman, estimated to be 25 to 40 years old at the time of her death, never having been identified. On July 26, 1974, the body of the woman, a Caucasian female, was found about one mile east of Race Point Beach by a hiker through the Province Land Dunes. Her hands had been cut off and were never found. Her head was almost severed from her body. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head. The woman was described as 5' 6 1/2" tall and weighing 145 pounds. She had long red or auburn hair and a bandana was found near her body. She also had extensive dental work--dental records were checked all over the world but no match. The case remains a "cold case" and has been featured on several television shows over the years. Her body had been exhumed several years back and returned to its original burial site for DNA testing--There is a stone marked "Unidentified Female Body Found Race Point Dunes" at St. Peters Cemetery with only the July 26, 1974 date on the tombstone.
*********
A new composite of the Lady of the DunesProvincetown Police DepartmentBy Mary Ann BraggSTAFF WRITERMay 05, 2010The ears, the nose, the color of her eyes and the shape of her lips are a bit of a guess. But the latest computerized images of the 1970s murder victim in Provincetown known as the "Lady of the Dunes" – recreated from a recent digital analysis of her skull - are ones that police hope could identity her and ultimately find her killer.More Times Breaking NewsThe "Lady of the Dunes" case is the only unsolved murder in Provincetown. The crime was a grisly and "horrific" one, said Jaran. The woman's head was nearly severed and both her hands were cut off.She was found in the sand dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore on July 26, 1974. Since then police have tried clay sculpting and DNA testing to try to identify the woman. They have tried age-regressions renderings, computerized photographs, artist sketches and even a television paranormal show.But to no avail.The woman had long dark brown reddish hair and remarkably good dental work, Jaran said. She was likely between the ages of 25 and 40 and a little over 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. In early November Provincetown police chief Jeff Jaran and detective Monica Hines met in Alexandria, Va., with Gerald Nance, head of the cold case unit of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The two also met with Dr. David Hunt, a forensic anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution. Jaran took some remains of the woman, including her skull from the state police crime lab and facts of the case with him. Jaran's idea was to try again to produce an image that someone might recognize."Every year that goes by, there's less and less chance that a person is alive who may have had contact with her," Jaran said. "This is our urgency."
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. —
A notorious murder mystery that's gripped Cape Cod for decades is now a closed case.
A woman's dismembered body, which had her hands cut off in an effort to hide her fingerprints, was discovered in the dunes of Race Point in Provincetown on July 26, 1974.
Police believed the woman was killed several weeks before her body was found.
For years, she was unidentified, known only as the "lady of the dunes." Investigators worked for decades to identify her through various means, including neighborhood canvasses, reviews of thousands of missing-person cases, clay model facial reconstruction and age-regression drawings, officials said.
Just last year, investigators were finally able to identify her as Ruth Marie Terry, 37, of Tennessee, using a process known as forensic genetic genealogy, which can reach deeper into a victim or suspect's family tree.
The official cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to the head with signs of strangulation and sexual assault. In addition to both hands being amputated, it appeared the killer also tried to remove her teeth, officials said.'
On Monday, the District Attorney's office officially concluded that Terry's husband, Guy Muldavin, was responsible for her death.
Terry married Muldavin and the newlyweds traveled in the summer of 1974. But he returned alone driving her vehicle, telling her relatives they had a fight during their honeymoon and he had not heard from her again.
"My father, well, he left in '74, he went to California looking for her. And her husband at the time said she sold everything she had and joined a cult," said nephew John Randall Terry.
Muldavin was also the prime suspect in the disappearance of his prior wife and stepdaughter in the 1960s.
Muldavin died in 2002.
*
We now know the identity of Massachusetts' oldest unidentified murder victim. The FBI says they used investigative genealogy to discover her name: https://www.wcvb.com/.../fbi-significant.../41818740
Contributor: ditdit (47012745) 10/31/2022
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Birth 1936
Spouses: Billy Ray Smith (born 1931) (#123827987???)
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Spouses: Billy Roy Smith (born 1931)
*********
Crime Victim. The case has lingered for more than 40 years in police files without the young woman, estimated to be 25 to 40 years old at the time of her death, never having been identified. On July 26, 1974, the body of the woman, a Caucasian female, was found about one mile east of Race Point Beach by a hiker through the Province Land Dunes. Her hands had been cut off and were never found. Her head was almost severed from her body. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head. The woman was described as 5' 6 1/2" tall and weighing 145 pounds. She had long red or auburn hair and a bandana was found near her body. She also had extensive dental work--dental records were checked all over the world but no match. The case remains a "cold case" and has been featured on several television shows over the years. Her body had been exhumed several years back and returned to its original burial site for DNA testing--There is a stone marked "Unidentified Female Body Found Race Point Dunes" at St. Peters Cemetery with only the July 26, 1974 date on the tombstone.
*********
A new composite of the Lady of the DunesProvincetown Police DepartmentBy Mary Ann BraggSTAFF WRITERMay 05, 2010The ears, the nose, the color of her eyes and the shape of her lips are a bit of a guess. But the latest computerized images of the 1970s murder victim in Provincetown known as the "Lady of the Dunes" – recreated from a recent digital analysis of her skull - are ones that police hope could identity her and ultimately find her killer.More Times Breaking NewsThe "Lady of the Dunes" case is the only unsolved murder in Provincetown. The crime was a grisly and "horrific" one, said Jaran. The woman's head was nearly severed and both her hands were cut off.She was found in the sand dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore on July 26, 1974. Since then police have tried clay sculpting and DNA testing to try to identify the woman. They have tried age-regressions renderings, computerized photographs, artist sketches and even a television paranormal show.But to no avail.The woman had long dark brown reddish hair and remarkably good dental work, Jaran said. She was likely between the ages of 25 and 40 and a little over 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. In early November Provincetown police chief Jeff Jaran and detective Monica Hines met in Alexandria, Va., with Gerald Nance, head of the cold case unit of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The two also met with Dr. David Hunt, a forensic anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution. Jaran took some remains of the woman, including her skull from the state police crime lab and facts of the case with him. Jaran's idea was to try again to produce an image that someone might recognize."Every year that goes by, there's less and less chance that a person is alive who may have had contact with her," Jaran said. "This is our urgency."
*
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. —
A notorious murder mystery that's gripped Cape Cod for decades is now a closed case.
A woman's dismembered body, which had her hands cut off in an effort to hide her fingerprints, was discovered in the dunes of Race Point in Provincetown on July 26, 1974.
Police believed the woman was killed several weeks before her body was found.
For years, she was unidentified, known only as the "lady of the dunes." Investigators worked for decades to identify her through various means, including neighborhood canvasses, reviews of thousands of missing-person cases, clay model facial reconstruction and age-regression drawings, officials said.
Just last year, investigators were finally able to identify her as Ruth Marie Terry, 37, of Tennessee, using a process known as forensic genetic genealogy, which can reach deeper into a victim or suspect's family tree.
The official cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to the head with signs of strangulation and sexual assault. In addition to both hands being amputated, it appeared the killer also tried to remove her teeth, officials said.'
On Monday, the District Attorney's office officially concluded that Terry's husband, Guy Muldavin, was responsible for her death.
Terry married Muldavin and the newlyweds traveled in the summer of 1974. But he returned alone driving her vehicle, telling her relatives they had a fight during their honeymoon and he had not heard from her again.
"My father, well, he left in '74, he went to California looking for her. And her husband at the time said she sold everything she had and joined a cult," said nephew John Randall Terry.
Muldavin was also the prime suspect in the disappearance of his prior wife and stepdaughter in the 1960s.
Muldavin died in 2002.
*
We now know the identity of Massachusetts' oldest unidentified murder victim. The FBI says they used investigative genealogy to discover her name: https://www.wcvb.com/.../fbi-significant.../41818740
Contributor: ditdit (47012745) 10/31/2022
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Birth 1936
Spouses: Billy Ray Smith (born 1931) (#123827987???)
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Spouses: Billy Roy Smith (born 1931)
*********
Crime Victim. The case has lingered for more than 40 years in police files without the young woman, estimated to be 25 to 40 years old at the time of her death, never having been identified. On July 26, 1974, the body of the woman, a Caucasian female, was found about one mile east of Race Point Beach by a hiker through the Province Land Dunes. Her hands had been cut off and were never found. Her head was almost severed from her body. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head. The woman was described as 5' 6 1/2" tall and weighing 145 pounds. She had long red or auburn hair and a bandana was found near her body. She also had extensive dental work--dental records were checked all over the world but no match. The case remains a "cold case" and has been featured on several television shows over the years. Her body had been exhumed several years back and returned to its original burial site for DNA testing--There is a stone marked "Unidentified Female Body Found Race Point Dunes" at St. Peters Cemetery with only the July 26, 1974 date on the tombstone.
*********
A new composite of the Lady of the DunesProvincetown Police DepartmentBy Mary Ann BraggSTAFF WRITERMay 05, 2010The ears, the nose, the color of her eyes and the shape of her lips are a bit of a guess. But the latest computerized images of the 1970s murder victim in Provincetown known as the "Lady of the Dunes" – recreated from a recent digital analysis of her skull - are ones that police hope could identity her and ultimately find her killer.More Times Breaking NewsThe "Lady of the Dunes" case is the only unsolved murder in Provincetown. The crime was a grisly and "horrific" one, said Jaran. The woman's head was nearly severed and both her hands were cut off.She was found in the sand dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore on July 26, 1974. Since then police have tried clay sculpting and DNA testing to try to identify the woman. They have tried age-regressions renderings, computerized photographs, artist sketches and even a television paranormal show.But to no avail.The woman had long dark brown reddish hair and remarkably good dental work, Jaran said. She was likely between the ages of 25 and 40 and a little over 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. In early November Provincetown police chief Jeff Jaran and detective Monica Hines met in Alexandria, Va., with Gerald Nance, head of the cold case unit of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The two also met with Dr. David Hunt, a forensic anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution. Jaran took some remains of the woman, including her skull from the state police crime lab and facts of the case with him. Jaran's idea was to try again to produce an image that someone might recognize."Every year that goes by, there's less and less chance that a person is alive who may have had contact with her," Jaran said. "This is our urgency."
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. —
A notorious murder mystery that's gripped Cape Cod for decades is now a closed case.
A woman's dismembered body, which had her hands cut off in an effort to hide her fingerprints, was discovered in the dunes of Race Point in Provincetown on July 26, 1974.
Police believed the woman was killed several weeks before her body was found.
For years, she was unidentified, known only as the "lady of the dunes." Investigators worked for decades to identify her through various means, including neighborhood canvasses, reviews of thousands of missing-person cases, clay model facial reconstruction and age-regression drawings, officials said.
Just last year, investigators were finally able to identify her as Ruth Marie Terry, 37, of Tennessee, using a process known as forensic genetic genealogy, which can reach deeper into a victim or suspect's family tree.
The official cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to the head with signs of strangulation and sexual assault. In addition to both hands being amputated, it appeared the killer also tried to remove her teeth, officials said.'
On Monday, the District Attorney's office officially concluded that Terry's husband, Guy Muldavin, was responsible for her death.
Terry married Muldavin and the newlyweds traveled in the summer of 1974. But he returned alone driving her vehicle, telling her relatives they had a fight during their honeymoon and he had not heard from her again.
"My father, well, he left in '74, he went to California looking for her. And her husband at the time said she sold everything she had and joined a cult," said nephew John Randall Terry.
Muldavin was also the prime suspect in the disappearance of his prior wife and stepdaughter in the 1960s.
Muldavin died in 2002.
*
We now know the identity of Massachusetts' oldest unidentified murder victim. The FBI says they used investigative genealogy to discover her name: https://www.wcvb.com/.../fbi-significant.../41818740
Contributor: ditdit (47012745) 10/31/2022
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Birth 1936
Spouses: Billy Ray Smith (born 1931) (#123827987???)
Ruth Marie Terry
Bride
Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002
Marriage 21 October 1956
Marion, Tennessee, United States
Spouses: Billy Roy Smith (born 1931)
*********
Crime Victim. The case has lingered for more than 40 years in police files without the young woman, estimated to be 25 to 40 years old at the time of her death, never having been identified. On July 26, 1974, the body of the woman, a Caucasian female, was found about one mile east of Race Point Beach by a hiker through the Province Land Dunes. Her hands had been cut off and were never found. Her head was almost severed from her body. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head. The woman was described as 5' 6 1/2" tall and weighing 145 pounds. She had long red or auburn hair and a bandana was found near her body. She also had extensive dental work--dental records were checked all over the world but no match. The case remains a "cold case" and has been featured on several television shows over the years. Her body had been exhumed several years back and returned to its original burial site for DNA testing--There is a stone marked "Unidentified Female Body Found Race Point Dunes" at St. Peters Cemetery with only the July 26, 1974 date on the tombstone.
*********
A new composite of the Lady of the DunesProvincetown Police DepartmentBy Mary Ann BraggSTAFF WRITERMay 05, 2010The ears, the nose, the color of her eyes and the shape of her lips are a bit of a guess. But the latest computerized images of the 1970s murder victim in Provincetown known as the "Lady of the Dunes" – recreated from a recent digital analysis of her skull - are ones that police hope could identity her and ultimately find her killer.More Times Breaking NewsThe "Lady of the Dunes" case is the only unsolved murder in Provincetown. The crime was a grisly and "horrific" one, said Jaran. The woman's head was nearly severed and both her hands were cut off.She was found in the sand dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore on July 26, 1974. Since then police have tried clay sculpting and DNA testing to try to identify the woman. They have tried age-regressions renderings, computerized photographs, artist sketches and even a television paranormal show.But to no avail.The woman had long dark brown reddish hair and remarkably good dental work, Jaran said. She was likely between the ages of 25 and 40 and a little over 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. In early November Provincetown police chief Jeff Jaran and detective Monica Hines met in Alexandria, Va., with Gerald Nance, head of the cold case unit of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The two also met with Dr. David Hunt, a forensic anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution. Jaran took some remains of the woman, including her skull from the state police crime lab and facts of the case with him. Jaran's idea was to try again to produce an image that someone might recognize."Every year that goes by, there's less and less chance that a person is alive who may have had contact with her," Jaran said. "This is our urgency."
Inscription
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE BODY
FOUND RACE POINT DUNES
JULY 26, 1974
Family Members
Siblings
Half Siblings
