Lady Vanished in 1974 — 49 Years Later, DNA Breakthrough Brings Justice скачать в хорошем качестве

Lady Vanished in 1974 — 49 Years Later, DNA Breakthrough Brings Justice

Lady Vanished in 1974 — 49 Years Later, DNA Breakthrough Brings Justice In the summer of 1974, a young girl walking her dog on Race Point Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts, stumbled upon a horrifying sight — the partially decomposed body of a woman lying face down on a green beach towel. Her hands were missing, her head nearly severed, and there were no signs of clothing, jewelry, or identification. Investigators called her “The Lady of the Dunes.” For nearly fifty years, her identity — and her killer — remained a mystery. Detectives and forensic experts across decades tried everything: facial reconstructions, national missing persons searches, and later, DNA testing. Each attempt brought only dead ends. Despite exhumations in 1980, 2000, and 2013, the woman’s name remained lost to time. The brutality of the crime suggested the killer had anatomical knowledge and a motive to erase every trace of who she was. Then, in 2022, technology finally caught up. The FBI partnered with Othram Laboratory, using forensic genealogy — the same technique that solved the Golden State Killer case. Scientists extracted a viable DNA profile from her remains and traced it through distant relatives to a woman named Ruth Marie Terry, born in Tennessee in 1936. Her family had lost contact with her in the early 1970s after she married a man named Guy Rockwell Muldavin. Further investigation revealed that Muldavin was a conman with multiple aliases, linked to other suspicious deaths. After Ruth disappeared, he told her family she had died of cancer — an elaborate lie that prevented them from searching for her. The FBI concluded that Ruth had been murdered shortly after her marriage, and her body left on the dunes to erase her identity. In October 2022, the Cape & Islands District Attorney announced that Muldavin was responsible for Ruth’s murder. Unfortunately, he had died in 2002 — twenty years before the case was solved. There would be no trial, no confession, only the truth that arrived nearly half a century too late. For Ruth’s family, the revelation was bittersweet. They had mourned her once for a peaceful death and again for the truth of her violent murder. In 2024, they held a memorial at Race Point Beach, transforming the site of tragedy into one of remembrance. Ruth’s case became a landmark in forensic science — proof that even the coldest mysteries can be solved. Her story inspired new funding for genetic genealogy, leading to breakthroughs in dozens of other cold cases. After forty-nine years, The Lady of the Dunes was no longer an anonymous victim. She was Ruth Marie Terry — daughter, sister, mother, and woman finally brought home.